He waa he moku, he moku he waa | The canoe is our island, our island is our canoe

My Experience at the 2018 Bakken Invitation 

January 9th, my husband and I landed in the stunning, warm Kona, Hawaii to embrace an experience that changed our lives. I have the honour of being named a 2018 Bakken Invitation honouree. The Medtronic Foundation program honours 12 individuals from around the world who have overcome significant health challenges and now dedicate the “extra life” we’ve been given – thanks in part to medical technology – to drive positive change in our communities. This year, we were honoured to meet Eduardo (Brazil), Giovanna (Italy), Amber (USA), Komal (India), Christine (Uganda), George (Tanzania), YonWoo (South Korea), Roland (United Kingdom), Ashley (Australia), Dan (Romania), Rui (China) and their partners, friends and family. You can read each of their profiles here.

I was honoured for the work I have done with my "extra life". I was a crash start onto dialysis in 2008, with no prior knowledge to my hereditary kidney disease. Within 24 hours I started hemodialysis and stayed in centre for three weeks to stabilise. Once I returned home, I dialyzed 5hrs in centre, three times a week. After receiving education about different modality options, I decided to have another surgery so I could do peritoneal dialysis at home. I did peritoneal dialysis in my bed while I slept for eight hours a night. During that time, my mother was worked up to see if she could be my kidney donor. With many trips to St. Joseph's Hamilton transplant appointments, stress tests, cancer tests, ultrasounds, blood work, she found out she was a match!

My mom gave me life twice.

The transplant gave me the opportunity to obtain my University degree, get married in Dominican Republic, purchase our first home and travel the world. 

I have been given a second chance at life, so I dedicate my time to working towards ensuring every person has access to the best quality healthcare and quality of life they deserve. I have been privileged to work for amazing organizations such as the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society. In 2015, I began working for Bracelet of Hope with a remarkable team in Canada and Lesotho, we work to build sustainable communities for orphans victimised by a generation lost to HIV & AIDS in Lesotho, Africa. 

December 2017, I was approached by the Transplant Ambassador Program (TAP) and asked to be the Provincial Coordinator for a research program that connects kidney donors and kidney recipients to people living with kidney disease and kidney failure to break down barriers and provide mentorship and hope to patients and families in 26 renal hospitals across Ontario. Our goal is to increase living kidney donation in Ontario by 20% by 2021 by providing patients and families access to education, mentorship and support in navigating the complex renal healthcare system. Since January 2018, we have had over 65 donors and recipients dedicate their time and knowledge to have over 1600 meaningful interactions with patients and families. 

These steps forward have all brought me to a place where I was sent the Bakken Invitation application by a friend, and had the courage to apply. After a rigorous application form, and video conference interview, I was ecstatic to receive the notice that I was to be honoured with 11 others chosen out of over 200 who applied. As part of Bakken Invitation 2018 program, this year’s honourees convened for a multi-day retreat to connect with other advocators, innovators and volunteers from around the world and participate in leadership and development opportunities. It was an inspiring few days and I returned home with new skills to help me drive even greater positive change in our community. 

Within a short time with the other honourees, we bonded over the difficulties we have faced in our lives, but also the joy we have found in the "extra life" we have been given. We had many tears, but many more laughs. We will take away inside jokes of Kevin Costner, Waterworld, pot belly pigs and beautiful moments at a luau with music, dance and food. Each of us has such a passion and drive to change around the world and just being in their presence has lit a fire in me to be that change. 

I learned so much about myself, how to build confidence, create meaningful relationships, to appreciate others for their differences, and see those differences as opportunities for learning.  We had the opportunity to travel to three of Earl Bakken's philanthropic passions; the Voyaging Canoe Makali'i, Tutu's House and the North Hawaii Community Hospital. Through the workshops and trips to the canoe, community centre and hospital, I learned a few key messages to take home:

• Find your "chapel". Each morning Earl Bakken would sit in his garden, which he called his chapel and take a few moments to enjoy the beauty and peace of the flowers and plants. He used that moment to propel him in his day.

• Spend more time in nature. Nature has such a beautiful way of healing. In each patient room at the hospital, there are sliding glass doors so the patients can have access to be outside at any moment. Healing happens through supporting patient centered care for the mind, body, and soul.

• Small changes can create great difference. When visiting the hospital, we learned that there is a warm crockpot full of face towels. Every day, front line staff and patients are given a warm face towel with essential oils dropped on it to place on their face to breathe in, and create a small moment of calm.
• He waa he moku, he moku he waa - The canoe is our island, our island is our canoe. There are finite resources on a voyaging canoe, as well as an island, as well as our planet. How can we be good environmental stewards, but also how can we work together as a community to best steer our canoe/world in the right direction. 

I am so grateful for this opportunity to connect with others and learn new skills to further my mission to provide the best quality healthcare and quality of living for others. The award ceremony was an evening filled with magic. As we walked into the room, there was a tunnel of people on each side of us clapping and cheering for us. It was truly beautiful to get to hear everyone's inspirational stories. I am so grateful to Earl Bakken and all of the medical interventions that exist to have given these remarkable people their "extra life".  Thank you so much to Earl Bakken, his family, friends and the Medtronic Foundation.

Award recipients (from left to right): YongWoo, Giovanna, Christine, Dan, Kumal, Eduardo, Candice, George, Adam, Roland, Amber, Ashley.

Below is my acceptance speech at the Bakken Award Ceremony. Again, thank you so much to Earl Bakken, friends and family and the Medtronic Foundation.

To learn more about the Bakken Invitation and this year’s honourees, visit www.liveongiveon.org and see highlights from the event on the Medtronic Foundation’s Facebook and Twitter. 

The Boy with the Bowls

Africa will break your heart. It will challenge you, it will push you and it will change you.

In my travels I have worked on many projects and seen many things that have both broken my heart and given me great hope for the future. I have met kids who have come from being dropped in a dumpster to now being healthy, happy, silly children. I have met teenagers who have come from raising their siblings from a young age to now finishing high school grades at the top of their class. The growth in children when they are given a chance to be just that, a child, is remarkable. Children are resilient, they are bright and they are simply waiting with open arms for someone to pick them up, bring them into their lives and hearts and give them a chance.

If you have followed this blog, you will have met several of the children supported through Bracelet of Hope. Bracelet of Hope supports six foster homes throughout the Northern region of Lesotho, in partnership with the Apostolic Faith Mission Development Division. Each one of these 38 children has a story that is both remarkable and gut wrenching.

This past trip to Lesotho, I was joined by a remarkable team of seven to meet the children, support painting and restorations of the foster homes, and to journey into the beautiful mountain kingdom. This group came together from different walks of life for two weeks to become a team of strong, brave givers. Together we painted, cleaned, played and learned. This team was stretched to their limits, they sat in the dirt, they climbed mountains, they hugged and played with the children, they sang, shared food, and opened their hearts to support the orphans in our foster homes, and to create a better life for them.

Part way through the trip, we packed up our van with buckets of paint, cleaning supplies and a hockey bag full of shoes, education materials, feminine hygiene products and clothing for our kids. We were on our way to do some work on a foster home in the Maseru district while the kids were at school.

We arrived in the morning and unloaded the van. Our goal was to paint the foster mother and children's bedrooms and do as much cleaning as we could to support this foster home. The mother at this home had recently been cleared of her cancer. It had been several months of her needing a support foster mother and time to rest as she fought cancer. It was a bright, beautiful morning and we were greeted with new, adorable puppies their dog had just had.

We walked into the home and did an inspection of the rooms we were going to paint. The foster mother's room was first, we had to clear several boxes and move the bed and closets to make room to paint the walls. The girl's room was next, which had two bunk beds and a single bed, as well as a closet. The room was very tidy and the girls had kept it in great condition. We then moved on to the boy's room.

When I walked in I could immediately see the room was dirty, there was an odour and bugs in the room. We began moving things in the room to start painting, touching the blankets and realized that they were dirty to the touch. As I pulled the blankets off the beds, I pulled one of them up and saw a bowl. I then pulled the mattress foams apart and found two more bowls. The bowls had old food inside of them, and this was the root cause of the smell and bugs.

I proceeded to pull off all of the blankets and with our team, we hand washed every blanket in the bath tub from the boys' room. The other half of the team went in and swept, wiped down the walls, opened the windows and painted the bedrooms. The paint created more bright, clean and inviting rooms. It is phenomenal what a few coats of paint can do to transform a home.

As we washed the blankets, I wondered why this young boy had kept bowls of food in his bed. Was he not getting enough food? Was he being bullied? Was he afraid to eat in front of people? Why did he hoard this food?

You see, it is important that when we take in orphans off the streets and out of vulnerable situations that we care for their physical needs, ensuring they are well fed, have a safe roof over their head and receive education and health care, BUT it is also critical that we provide for the emotional needs of these children. That is one of the great challenges.

Many of these children are coming from places where food is scarce, they have lost their parents and have been left to fend for themselves, some as young as toddlers. The scarring that is left behind from them having to fight their way to survive, alone, and afraid goes deep. It is our job to provide them with a happy, safe, healthy home where they can begin to heal and understand that they are safe, they are loved, and they no longer have to fight to stay alive. They have come to the foster home to stay, to have a mother to care for them, food in their bellies and to reclaim their childhood.

After a day of cleaning and painting, I sat down with our social worker and discussed the bowls in the bed. He told me this is not the first time this has happened, and it may not be the last. This young boy's single mother passed, leaving him with extended family. His extended family did not have the resources or capacity to care for him, so they abandoned him. He would often sleep outside his extended family's homes after they had rejected him. Out in the world somewhere, he also has siblings, but they have been separated. He is aware he has family and cannot comprehend why they don't want him. 

He is a very angry little boy, desperate to belong and he is simply protecting himself. When you are used to having to think ahead, not knowing when your next morsel of food will be coming, it makes sense to save every last bit of food you can. By hoarding and hiding food in his bed, he feels comforted that even if food runs out at the foster home, he will always have enough to survive. Food is a basic human need. He has been through trauma that has forced him to rely on his survival instincts. He is not being lazy or rebellious by sneaking food, he is simply exhibiting his survival instincts. This insecurity of lack of food has developed over years and it will take time for him to trust that at the foster home, there will always be food available.

With a lot of love, trust, and patience, we will work towards helping him heal. Our social worker has sat down with him many times, taking extra counselling sessions with him. He is also now engaging him in an activity he loves- art. He draws stories, feelings of anger, fear and inner thoughts. The drawings are helping him express his feelings and thoughts. It has started to open up a space for talking, and that's a start. This issue of food hoarding and desperation to belong will not be cured over night. At age fourteen, he has endured more than most adults in this world could ever imagine.

I often tell stories of our children who have come from horrific circumstances who are now thriving and growing in positive ways. That is the ultimate goal of course. However, sometimes it takes longer than a month, a year, or even five years. Sometimes, the traumas that these children have endured last a lifetime. The counselling and support that our social worker and foster moms give to these children is an ongoing struggle. We do this work because it desperately needs to be done. It is ongoing and it is challenging. 

I tell these stories because I am desperate for you to know what kinds of struggles we face when supporting orphans. We stand up for these kids, we tell their stories, we fundraise for these kids, we wash their dirty blankets, we hold them tight. Every penny, every soccer game, every storybook matters. Children need love and they need support. Every small amount of heart, of money and of care you give, truly does make a difference in their lives. 

Situations like these can break you. They can make you have a hard time believing that the world is good, and that good things can happen. I choose to take on these challenges and use them as fuel to keep going, as a reason to continue to fight for these kids. And for that reason, without hesitation, I ask you today, will you join me in washing their blankets, funding their education, feeding their bellies and helping to ensure that one day, not a single child has to endure the tragedies that these kids have felt? Help us give them the bright future they deserve.

www.braceletofhope.ca