Project Description

Because of extreme poverty, children are sold on the streets of Hyderabad, India for $10-15 and used as laborers in fields and factories, prostitutes in brothels, and human sacrifices in Hindu temples. The male/female ratio is off because parents kill their infant daughters rather than face paying a wedding dowry in the future. The Banjara Tribe is particularly vulnerable, as they are considered "untouchables" in the culture, 90% of them are illiterate, and most are born into the debt bondage that has enslaved their ancestors for generations. Banjara Tribal Ministries (BTM) Orphanage began in 1994 when Christopher and Rambai Boda, a Banjara couple, took five abandoned children into their home to feed, educate, and minister to them. Today they care for more than 1950 children, and they turn away hundreds each year. Banjara Tribal Ministries is working to pull their entire tribe out of their desperate conditions by rescuing, loving, educating, and training thousands of youth to change their world.

Lifeblood is a student group at Bryan College in Dayton, TN that has partnered with Banjara Tribal Ministries and ZLB Plasma Services in Chattanooga, TN to provide financial support for as many orphans as possible. It costs $25 to provide food, clothing, education, safety, and discipleship for a child at the BTM orphanage. Lifeblood transports students donate blood plasma at ZLB Plasma, ZLB reimburses the students, and Lifeblood sends the money to India.

1 BLOOD plasma donation = $25 = 1 month of LIFE

That's Lifeblood. We encourage and empower students to make a difference around the world RIGHT NOW while they are still broke, and we help them form a lifelong habit of sacrificial giving. We started this October, and by mid-March we have already raised over $6,000. We hope to raise $10,000 by the end of the school year. If you account for the fact that we did not operate for a month and a half due to vacations, we have been able to sponsor about 53 orphans each month we have been in operation. And we are just getting started! Visit www.lifebloodministries.com for more information.

Project Description

Epilepsy Maine is a website I'm in the process of creating to help Maine residents with Epilepsy, or who have loved ones with Epilepsy gain the knowledge, support and resources they need to lead better lives. It will include:

1.) A listing of recommended doctors separated into sub-categories starting with Epitologists, Neurologists, Neurosurgeons etc...

2.) Support group times and dates and where they are being held. There are now support groups being held! Visit the website for times and dates, and topic information!

3.) Event information, whether that be for fund-raisers for the Epilepsy Foundation, or H.O.P.E. Presentations (Helping Other People With Epilepsy) or various other conferences that might be being held throughout the year.

4.) Seizure First Aid - Something very important for both people with, and without seizures to know, inside and out.

5.) Medical Alert Jewelry - A common complaint of many people (not just with Epilepsy, but with all people who have to wear Medical Alert Jewelry) is how horribly unattractive it is. I have a comprehensive list of attractive and useful medical alert jewelry that people won't want to "forget" to wear. Thus, less people will be unidentified as having a seizure disorder if rendered unable to communicate for themselves.

6.) Advocacy - The main goal of this website, aside from providing as many resources available to the residents of Maine who live with Epilepsy as possible, is to provide advocacy to a disorder filled with stigma. In Maine the resources available to a newly diagnosed person are slim, and a website such as this would provide a valuable wealth of information, and most importantly....let them know that they're not alone. Seizures are a scary thing, and even scarier when you think nobody around you understands what you're going through.

7.) Driving and Epilepsy - The law in Maine for driving when one has Epilepsy and one's responsibility to keep themselves and others safe. Another really important page of information.

8.) Legal Help - Links to legal resources and information.

9.) Health Information - Describing different types of Epilepsy, the Ketogenic diet, Epilepsy and Depression, etc....

Project Description

http://www.seniorbeacon.info/neveralone

When I was first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in January of 2000, my parents and I felt as if there was nowhere to turn. As my disease rapidly progressed, my family was afraid and alone. No specialist in Pueblo, Colorado would deal with a patient so young, so we had to resort to making long trips back and forth to the Denver Children's Hospital for treatment. Even the doctors there were baffled by the virulence of my disease. My case was unprecedented. There was no support group for us - no one to guide us, to tell us what to do, or to ease our fears. We were utterly alone.

By March of that same year, my colon ruptured, and I underwent two emergency surgeries to save my life. I spent six weeks in the hospital enduring all the horrors that an open abdominal wound, an ostomy bag, abdominal drains, lung drainings, tracheal tubes, nasal gastric tubes, and ivs could bring. Each day was a never ending fight - a never ending misery as I realized the inevitable truth that my life would never again be the same. I no longer had a colon, I had lost a third of my hair, and I was too weak to even walk. What was worse was that I had no idea what to expect. I felt as though I were the only little girl in the world who was suffering so much.

Eight years later, after countless wound scrubbings, a skin graft, four more extensive abdominal surgeries, a perforation in my small intestine, another emergency surgery, numerous painful procedures, medical infusions, terrible drug allergies, and a new doctor at the Mayo Clinic, I am finally back on track. I no longer have an ostomy bag, but the ruthless disease within me keeps me constantly on antibiotics and steroids and in the bathroom six times a day.

As the years went by, my family and I heard more and more stories of other people, many of them children and adolescents, who were suffering with the same kind of disease I was - inflammatory bowel disease. We heard the terrible stories of people having to go to the bathroom upwards to twenty times a day while losing blood and strength as time passed. One woman with Crohn's disease had been suffering with it for about as long as me and was only getting worse. Another boy was told that his only option was the removal of his colon to give him relief from the pain of the disease. It seemed as if history was repeating itself, and because of my experiences, I decided to do something about it.

I could not bear to hear about these other people suffering so much all on their own. I wanted to be there for them, to tell them what to expect and how I was able to get through each day. Most of all, I wanted them to never feel alone in their struggles because that was the worst part of all.

With the help of my parents, I gathered support from community members who were either linked with inflammatory bowel disease, whether through a family member or themselves, or were just caring individuals who wanted to help my cause. Together, we met with a lawyer and set forth the foundations that would soon become the "Never Alone Foundation, Inc."

The "Never Alone Foundation, Inc." is southeastern Colorado's first and only nonprofit organization designed to support youngsters with inflammatory bowel disease and their families through their difficult time. The other six executive board members and I are the leaders of a system of financial support, emotional support, medical discussions, and education. Our bellwether fundraiser is my annual Charity Golf Tournament. Together we have reached over 85 people in the past five months providing them with the support and guidance they need along with the assurance that they are "never alone" in their suffering.

My foundation has shared treatments that have greatly impacted the overall well-being of inflammatory bowel disease victims and has steered people away from dangerous drugs that have only further sickened others. It has helped guide people through the complete process of the preparation, duration, and post trauma that is a colectomy as well, all the while providing comfort to those patients that there are other people out there who know exactly what they are going through. Inflammatory bowel disease is a debilitating illness – one that no one should have to endure. However, when you can share your troubles and receive support from others, it does not have to be as horrible as it would otherwise.

The "Never Alone Foundation, Inc." stands for compassion, empathy, support, and care. It is a beacon of hope for those who feel that all has been lost. Its slogan is "Right on 'Tract'" - keeping you on the right 'tract' with the right information, the right support, and the right care.