AZ Giving Spotlight: Tom Egan of Esperanca

December 2, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/features/az-giving/6009-az-giving-spotlight-tom-egan-of-esperanca.html

AZ Giving Spotlight: Tom Egan of Esperanca
Written by Lindsey Clinkingbeard

Esperança is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health and providing hope for families in the poorest communities of the world through sustainable disease prevention, education and treatment. Here, AFM interviews the CEO and President of Esperança, Tom Egan.

AFM: What does Esperança do as a nonprofit organization that works around the world?

TE: Esperança is a global health nonprofit that offers lifesaving programs in five different countries around the world: Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, Mozambique in Africa, and, of course, the United States. We gather groups of volunteer surgeons to travel to these countries and operate on people in poor communities who might have never even seen a doctor before. We educate them in regards to nutrition, give them access to clean water, build houses, and try to improve their health. Esperança means ‘hope’ in Portuguese, and that’s what we aspire to bring to impoverished people, both globally and locally.

AFM: What work does your organization do within Arizona?

TE: Since 1999, Esperança has been working in Phoenix to provide underserved families with resources like health services and preventative
education. We work in communities that have a high risk of illnesses like diabetes and obesity, and have a limited access to health resources.
The majority of these families are low-income and underinsured, where healthy eating and preventative dental care are both considered
luxuries. We team up with ASU’s Nursing Program to ensure that our programs work at increasing oral and physical health for people in
low-income neighborhoods in Phoenix.

AFM: What are some things your programs focus on to increase health?

TE: Most of the families we work with have limited resources to access information regarding nutrition and exercise, and may be surrounded by an environment that does not promote safe places to be physically active. Esperança works with families to educate them on health, like how to read food labels and shop healthy on a budget. We also respect ethnic backgrounds by promoting how to cook traditional dishes in a more healthy way. Our programs are offered in schools to teach about dental care and nutrition in workshops focused towards kids.

AFM: What is the Christmas Angel Program?

TE: The holidays can be a rough time for Valley families struggling to make ends meet. For the past eleven years, Esperança has designed a Christmas Angel Program that helps these families have gifts and food for the holidays. We find sponsors of all types, from companies to clubs, to churches or professional individuals, and we match them with a family to ‘sponsor’ for the holidays. They will receive a wish list from the familiy to which they can purchase gifts or make a cash contribution to our Anchors of Hope, a group of volunteers who will do the shopping for the families. Right now, we have more families on our waiting list than we do sponsors. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact our Maria Valenzuela at 602.252.7772 ext. 108 or via email at maria@esperanca.org. Helping out these struggling families around the holidays is something that brings us at Esperança joy, and is a great way to give back to the community.

To learn more about Esperança, click here.

Filed Under: Esperanca Blog, Press

Giving Tuesday – 12.3.13

November 25, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

What is #GivingTuesday?

We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. This year help us create #GivingTuesday. A new day for giving back. On Tuesday December 3, 2013, global charities, families, businesses, community centers, students and more will come together to create #GivingTuesday.

It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Be a part of a national celebration of our great tradition of generosity. We need your help to share the mission of Esperanca and our stories on Giving Tuesday, you can like, share, and retweet our stories to your friends and family, and make donations to transform lives. This holiday season any and all donations made on Giving Tuesday and after until 12/31 at midnight will be matched 100% dollar for dollar.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TODAY

Filed Under: Esperanca Blog

Esperança Names New Program Director

November 21, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

PHOENIX, Ariz. (Nov. 11, 2013)… Esperança is pleased to announce Karen Resseguie, LCSW has joined the nonprofit as Program Director.

“We’re excited to have Karen on board,” said Tom Egan, president & CEO of Esperança. “She has a tremendous amount of experience with Valley nonprofits and has relationships amongst numerous governmental and non-governmental entities. She’s a good fit as our organization continues to grow and expand.”

Resseguie brings 20 years of program management, social work and field coordinator experience to Esperança. Previous job experience includes Catholic Charities Community Services, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Southwest Human Development.

She has been a licensed clinical social worker since 1995, has advanced conversational ability in Spanish and holds a masters of arts in Social Service Administration and Graduate Certificate in Health Administration and Policy from the University of Chicago. Resseguie also has a masters of arts in International Studies, with an emphasis in Latin American Studies from Ohio University and a bachelor of arts in Spanish and Latin Studies from Ripon College.

Filed Under: News and Events, Press

Gela’s Hope

November 15, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

Click here to donate to life saving procedures like Gela’s

Maria and Jose have never been to the United States. In fact, they’ve never dreamed of traveling more than 50 miles from their small village outside Jinotega, Nicaragua. But this past September, they watched as their only daughter boarded an airplane destined for Valparaiso, Indiana – more than 3,000 miles away. It wasn’t an easy decision. Three-year-old Gela would be gone for almost six months under the care and supervision of people Maria and Jose had only known for a short time.

But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Gela’sonly chance at a bright future.

You see, Gela was born with a severe cleft palate, a gap in the roof of her mouth that never fully closed during Maria’s pregnancy. It’s a disfigurement that causes difficulty eating and speaking and sometimes leads to total hearing loss, due to frequent ear infections. But what ultimately makes cleft palate so devastating goes far beyond physical impairment.

In developing countries like Nicaragua, cleft palate is widely misunderstood. Its appearance can cause revulsion, anger, even fear in those who take heed of cultural superstitions. In rural areas, those born with this defect are sometimes labeled hont katiya or “devil-touched” and are ostracized for the bad luck they are said to bring. Labels like these are what threaten Gela’s future. She would have virtually no chance of attending school, marrying and having a family. Instead, people like Gela often lead a life of destitution as outcasts in their villages.

Maria and Jose were very aware the grim reality Gela would have to endure, so you can imagine their joy when they heard about Esperança’s free surgery event on the radio! Dropping everything, they traveled straight to Jinotega in hopes of giving their daughter a chance at a better fate.

But it was not to be… at least not yet.

The deformity was too extensive. As soon as our Dr. Retson laid eyes on Gela during the exam, he knew immediately there was no chance he could perform the surgery she needed in-country. To correct this sort of defect, Gela would need specialized equipment and care that only his hospital back home could provide. For many organizations, that would have been the end of the road.

But here at Esperança, there is always hope.

Ever since that day, Esperança and Dr. Retson have worked tirelessly to provide Gela. with the surgery she so desperately needs. Dr. Retson contacted American Airlines and received two tickets generously donated to her cause. We worked with officials in the U.S. and Nicaragua to secure the six-month visa required for the trip. Dr. Retson found a local host family willing to help and worked with his hospital board to donate space, equipment and supplies for the procedure.

One by one, everything needed fell into place, and I’m excited to report that just last month, the final piece, her visa, was finally approved. As I write this letter, Gela is in Indiana awaiting the surgery that will change her life – and it’s all because of the faithful support of friends like you!

It really is a miracle that a little girl living in rural Nicaragua could get this amazing surgery she needed, a procedure her parents would never have had access to, let alone be able to afford on their own.

This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for. For people like Dr. Retson who go way above and beyond their daily work to reach out and change people’s lives. For our volunteers who spread hope throughout the world on a daily basis. And, of course, for faithful friends like you, whose support makes all of this possible.

Filed Under: Esperanca Blog

TDC at ASU

November 14, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

The students who plan to sleep in boxes are shown. (KTAR Photo/Bob McClay)

MESA, Ariz. — $2 per day.

That’s what 20 Arizona State University students will be living on for the next three days.

They’ll also be sleeping in cardboard boxes to discover what it’s like to be to be poor. They will be doing it front of the Student Union building at ASU’s Polytechnic campus in Mesa.

“Since 45 percent of the world lives on less than $2 a day, ASU students decided to join them and see how it feels,” said Mentor Dida, an ASU student from Kosovo.

Dida said students have to earn the $2 themselves by cleaning dorm rooms, washing cars or taking donations. They also want people to drop off their old shoes.

“For every pound that we get, we get like a dollar,” Dida said.

A group called Esperanca will give them the dollar for the shoes. The footwear will then be donated to the poor.

“We hope we get a lot of donations from students,” said Deeda.

The 20 students will all pool their money so that they will have $40 a day to live off of as a group. Deeda isn’t thrilled with what they can eat.

“We have two meals a day, but the same meals like beans and tortillas, which I’m not looking forward to,” he said.

Since fires are not allowed on the campus, the group will cook the meals in the student union’s kitchen.

Bob McClay, Reporter

Filed Under: Esperanca Blog, TDC

Two Dollar Challenge: More than 30 ASU students to live on $2 for 3 days

November 14, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

KNXV Coins

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/two-dollar-challenge-more-than-30-asu-students-to-live-on-2-for-3-days

Posted: 11/12/2013

By: Weslie Swift

MESA, AZ – Students at Arizona State University are challenging themselves to live on two dollars a day and in cardboard box houses for three days.

From Nov. 12 to Nov. 15 more than 30 students at the Polytechnic campus in Mesa will take the Two Dollar Challenge , according to a report.

The national poverty action program is designed to give students an opportunity to learn the challenges of living in poverty firsthand while raising awareness and funds to support economic development organizations.

During their days in simulated poverty, the students will clean dorms rooms, hold car washes, and do other odd jobs to make money for food while also holding a shoe drive to fund programs by Esperança, a nonprofit devoted to improving the health and well-being of the world’s poor.

Filed Under: Press, TDC

ASU students live on $2 a day

November 14, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

http://www.azfamily.com/news/ASU-Polytechnic-students-live-off-2-each-day-to-raise-poverty-awareness-231664391.html

by Erin Kennedy

Video report by Ryan O’Donnell

Posted on November 12, 2013 at 7:04 PM

Updated Tuesday, Nov 12 at 7:23 PM

MESA, Ariz. — ASU Polytechnic students gathered outside their Student Union Tuesday to build a cardboard house they will be living in for the next three days as part of the Two Dollar Challenge.

Two Dollar Challenge started at the University of Mary Washington in 2007 when Dr. Shawn Humphrey, an Economics professor, challenged his students to live off $2 each day for a week. Since then, the event has spread to colleges throughout the United States.

Students are challenged to live off $2 each day without modern luxuries to help raise awareness about poverty in the world.

“45 percent of the world lives on less than $2 per day,” said Mentor Dida, a senior energy technologies student at ASU Polytechnic. He began Two Dollar Challenge there in 2012. “By simulating conditions of poverty, students are seeing what it’s like to live like that.”

ASU Polytechnic is currently the only ASU campus that takes part in Two Dollar Challenge, but they hope to get other campuses involved next year. About 20 students will be sleeping in the cardboard house through Friday, November 15, and several others will be helping fund raise.

Students started building their cardboard home on the lawn in front of the Student Union Tuesday morning by cutting large cardboard boxes and duct taping them over rope tied between trees and light poles.

Those participating in the Two Dollar Challenge will sleep on top of cardboard in sleeping bags within the structure. The group has also come up with ways to entertain each other at night, such as playing guitar.

“We won’t be distracted by technology and we’ll be able to build real relationships with other people here,” said Briana Del Bianco, a sophomore technological entrepreneurship student at ASU Polytechnic who is taking part in the challenge.

This year, the Two Dollar Challenge at ASU Polytechnic is partnering with Esperança, a non profit organization that helps improve health and brings doctors to third world countries. Students will be hosting a shoe drive and selling t-shirts to raise money for the organization.

Students raised $5K during the challenge last year.

“Sometimes we get too narrow-minded and complain about classes being too hard or not having enough money when some people around the world don’t even have water,” Dida said.

In 2012, students tried living off $2 each day individually, but for the 2013 challenge they are going to bring their money together and buy food items in bulk to share. Since participants can’t use gas during Two Dollar Challenge, they will provide services such as washing cars or cleaning dorm rooms to get a ride to the store in exchange.

Dida believes people can help raise awareness about poverty throughout the year.

“The more you help others, the more you help yourself,” he said. “It is important to be the voice, share with others and show compassion.”

Students will be blogging about the experience at:http://www.esperanca.org/tdcasu/.

Filed Under: Press, TDC

ASU POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS TAKE $2 CHALLENGE

November 14, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

https://aznow.biz/education-2/asu-polytechnic-students-2-challenge

ASU POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS TAKE $2 CHALLENGE

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Arizona State University

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More than 30 students at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus in Mesa, located at 7001 E Williams Field Rd, will abstain from modern-day luxuries and challenge themselves to live on two dollars a day and in cardboard-box houses from Nov., 12-15, 2013. Students will convene outside the Student Union and begin building their homes at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 12th.

The Two Dollar Challenge, a national experiential learning exercise and poverty action program, is designed to give students an opportunity to step out of their daily lives and more tangibly reflect upon the daily and prolonged challenges of living in poverty while raising awareness and funds to support economic development organizations.

This Challenge is distinct from your average charity drive for three reasons. First, it asks students to restrict their consumption and live by other rules designed to simulate poverty. This experience gives students a glimpse of how nearly half of the world’s population lives every day. Second, the Two Dollar Challenge participants will raise funds for the cause of their choice. Third, through the experience and accompanying discussion students are educated about the complexity of world poverty. Student groups can become immediate actors in the eradication of global poverty and gain the experience to become passionate leaders in the field for the future.

“This is our second year partnering with Esperança and our students are looking forward to the challenge,” said Mark Henderson, engineering professor and co-founder of GlobalResolve at ASU’s College of Technology and Innovation. “During the three day Challenge, the students will clean dorm rooms, hold car washes and do other odd jobs to make money to purchase food and live. It will be an eye-opening experience for them to see what poverty feels like.”

The students will also be holding a shoe drive to help fund Esperança’s programs. Esperança is a nonprofit that improves health and provides hope for families in the poorest communities of the world through sustainable disease prevention, education and treatment. The general public can drop off their gently used shoes at the Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus in Mesa anytime during the three day challenge, Nov., 12-15, 2013.

“We’re excited to be a part of ASU’s Two Dollar Challenge,” said Tom Egan, executive director, Esperança. “We offer programs and services in five countries and our volunteers are always surprised by the living conditions. People in Bolivia and Nicaragua don’t always have access to clean water and food, they are disease stricken and don’t have stable homes to live in. The Two Dollar Challenge is an opportunity for us to bring awareness to poverty locally, as well as nationally and internationally.”

Filed Under: Esperanca Blog, Press, TDC

3tv Visits the Two Dollar Challenge

November 13, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

ASU Polytechnic students gathered outside their Student Union yesterday to build a cardboard house they will be living in for the next three days as part of the Two Dollar Challenge raising awareness for Esperanca

Filed Under: Esperanca Blog, Press, TDC

Days of the Two Dollar Challenge

November 13, 2013 By healthHope4worldsPoor Leave a Comment

The Two Dollar Challenge on ASU’s Polytechnic Campus is in full swing for the second year of operation and there are some familiar faces and new faces that are helping to transform lives with Esperanҫa. With the suns rising on the first day the students started with the days construction at 6:00 am. The labor consisted of breaking apart cardboard for their makeshift homes and designing how the structure would be supported. With a little of imagination and some secure knots the structure was created.

A familiar face, Mentor Dida an ASU student that participated in the first year of the Two Dollar challenge commented on the second year of the program, “It is great to see fellow students joining the cause and once we get past this first day then the reality of what two dollars a day really mean will settle in.”

The first night was filled with deep discussion of life paths and how we all came to the point where we would be living on two dollars a day. The dinner of the night consisted of Ramen noodles and water that was gathered on campus. Soon sleep started creeping into everyone’s thoughts and with only a short disturbance from some unruly sprinklers we had a great start to a week of awareness.

The second day of the Two Dollar Challenge was completed and this was when the reality of the challenge had begun to set in. With the hunger comes the routine of the day that still needs to commence as it ever does with classes, meetings, studying and social time but the twinge of the reality that two dollars means hunger.

This day provides the perfect stage for the discussion of the night. The fireside chat of the night was led by ASU students, ASU faculty and Esperanca Staff and tackled the issue and thoughts behind, “what is poverty?” This is no small task or subject but the thoughts of participants were both insightful and meaningful.

These discussions bring to light the real meaning of the two dollar challenge, awareness. The presence of the cardboard village alone insights the discussion of why 30 students would live on two dollars a day.

Filed Under: Esperanca Blog, TDC