Soul Searching

Hi lovelies,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well. For those who were affected directly by Hurricane Sandy, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Being a New York organization, we have noted the impact Sandy has had on the Northeast. While things have changed, one thing is for sure: as a community we will persevere.

So...

I've been a little off the radar. Not because I love this organization any less, more so because I've been struggling with managing this organization, school, and my multiple work positions. I am trying to find a healthy balance, where my sanity and well being aren't jeopardized.

If I am not blogging as much as I should be, please forgive me. We are NOT receiving any compensation- other than seeing the smiles on our viejito's faces- and as such, we need to prioritize our work and school first. The successes in both arenas will benefit the Camelia Institute in the long run, I am SURE!

While the time devoted to the CI isn't as much as we would all like, we will still be collecting donations and working on various ways to help seniors worldwide. If things aren't picking up pace, please forgive us.

We love you, we love the Camelia Institute, and most importantly we LOVE our seniors!

Hugs,
Jennifer






 

Why we do what we do...

Here is a quick reason WHY we do what we do!

We need YOUR help!

(Part of) My DR Experience

Howdie!

It's been about a month since I had the pleasure of accompanying NTD to 1 nursing home & 2 day centers in Neyba, San Juan & Vallejuelo. Overall the experience was wonderful! It helped me see areas of the Dominican Republic I wouldn't have otherwise visited, & more importantly I witnessed first hand the conditions many of these seniors live in. I was also able to see the amazing work NTD Ingredientes is doing, which helped me realize partnering with them is the best thing for our viejitos in the DR.

The Camelia Institute will be partnering with NTD Ingredientes for projects in the Dominican Republic. NTD has conducted extensive research of nursing homes & day centers throughout the DR. That being said, they have an established relationship with Directors and are easily able to identify existing needs. This is how our partnership will work:

•  The Camelia Institute will continue collecting non-intrusive medical equipment in NYC. We will be storing the equipment until we have a significant number to send to the DR.
• The Camelia Institute will transport the equipment to a shipping port in NJ, where NTD Ingredientes is allowing us to ship with them. This will significantly help us financially (we have been absorbing the shipping costs)
• NTD will distribute equipment, after having first identified center needs.
• Donations will be made on behalf of both organizations.

There have been a few people with concerns regarding the donations being done directly by NTD & not the Camelia Institute. To these individuals I say, please look at the bigger picture. Our ultimate goal is to help seniors have a higher quality of life. NTD has greater resources & a larger team to continuously make these donations possible. The Camelia Institute isn't quite there yet.

That's it for tonight. Before I go, I though I'd share a few images from a Domino Tournament hosted by NTD with nursing homes/ Day Centers from different regions in the DR.

I'll be back soon, I promise!


-Jennifer

P.S. Does anyone know how to have a picture as part of one's signature on gmail? I'd really love to start using this in collaboration with NTD:

 

Road Trip!

Buenas Noches Amigos!

Just a very quick update:

• NTD & the Camelia Institute will be partnering to help the elderly in the Dominican Republic! (more on this in an upcoming blog)
• I will be travelling with Tiffany and Maria-Fernanda, members of Fundacion NTD, to Neyba (Neiba) tomorrow early in the A.M. -- I will be honest and say I almost wasn't going to make it. There was a storm coming to the DR from Puerto Rico. And, well, if you know how Dominicans on the island drive you would understand where the anxiety was coming from! (Pray for me, send positive vibes my way, positive energies, etc!)

Until next time! I'm hoping to come back with lots of pictures and stories from this trip!

-Jen

P.S. I have lots to tell you about what we've been up to in the Dominican Republic. Stay tuned! 

From sticks to canes…

Good day everyone,

I know it has been a while since my last post, but I know my partner Jennifer has been doing a great job keeping everyone updated on our progress. Today I would like to give a progress report about our trip to Bangladesh. But before I get into the actual event, I want to share some knowledge on the country’s background in terms of its elderly population:

• People are living longer; the average life expectancy at birth in Bangladesh has increased to over 60 years.
• Most of the elderly people of Bangladesh aren’t in a good socio-economic condition due to various problems such as poverty, wage discrimination, want of essential goods and commodities, shelter and compulsory retirement from job when age limit is attained.
• A small proportion (around 6%) of the total population of Bangladesh constitutes the elderly population, but the absolute number of them is quite significant (about 7.2 million).
• About 90% of the urban elderly males live alone and are married, whereas 89 percent of the rural elderly women living alone are widowed.

The Camelia Institute made a big difference on the lives of 20 disabled and impoverished elderly citizens. Thanks to my uncle: Jahangir Kabir Khan, we were able to partner up with local community leaders at the rural village of Noakhali, Bangladesh, which is where our event took place. We ensured that the community leaders and volunteers were fit and dependable and shared our vision. This area is primarily known for its agricultural activities and fish farming, and has a huge elderly population that is desperately in need of assistance. These people could not afford walking canes, and had to rely on unstable bamboo sticks to help them move around. Most of the elderly here are often unable to meet the demand due to extreme poverty, and rely on their families to provide them food and shelter.

We communicated with the local community leaders and provided them with a qualification criterion that would help determine who would receive assistance from the Camelia Institute. Afterwards, the local community leaders and volunteers conducted a needs assessment survey in which they went around the village to select the recipients. We selected a location that was convenient for everyone and distributed small goodie bags that was comprised of various items ranging from knee braces to sugar free chocolates. We also distributed clothing and walking canes. Unfortunately, some of these elderly citizens were so disabled that they weren’t even able to attend the event to receive their canes, and had sent a family member to pick it up on their behalf.

You could literally feel the happiness seeping out of the recipients. I never thought something so small as a small goodie bag could make such a big difference. Everyone was extremely thankful and I think they were just happy that someone was thinking about them, since they are so often the forgotten. I want to thank everyone who participated in making our trip to Bangladesh successful and feel extremely blessed to have made a difference.

Best,

Lutful

Hey lovelies!

Here's a quick picture of our trip to Bangladesh. Lutful will be updating a post soon! Tomorrow I will be meeting members of NTD for the first time. Although it will be a short introduction, I am super excited to meet them! Special shout out to Tiffany for making this happen!

Hugs,
Jen

What's NEW?

Hey y'all!

Just a few quick updates:

1. Donations in Bangladesh were made! Stay tuned for Lutful's experience + pictures.
2. Donations in the Dominican Republic will be taking place soon. :) 
3. We will be attending NTD's Dominos tournament Saturday July 28th.
• More on this and our experience in an upcoming blog

Hope you all have a wonderful day!