Dessert First Project on Time.com

9-11-11

Early morning at ground zero, ten years later.

and a visit from Terry Jones… reciting the pledge of allegiance for the crowd

The Final Days with Diego de San Martin

This past July I had to opportunity to spend three weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina where I participated in the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. Under the guidance of workshop instructor and photographer Kael Alford, I spent five days with the San Martin family. Diego, the patriarch of the family, was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer and was told he had less than one year to live.  At this very fragile time his family invited me, a stranger, into their lives and I am grateful for their courage and their kindness through such a difficult time.

Diego de San Martin passed away one week after the completion of this project.

The short multimedia piece below (best with earphones!) includes a poem, spoken and written by Vicky de San Martin, wife of the late Diego. She wrote these words only weeks before he passed away and below is my attempt at the English translation.

Touch A Life Health Fair in Gomoa-Fetteh

The Touch A Life Foundation in partnership with Global Health Innovations and Bridges For Smiles  hosted the first ever summer health fair at the Village of Hope Orphanage in southern Ghana. Thanks to the help of 55 volunteers, the groups were able to provide medical and dental care for over 600 children, 69 of whom are TAL kids rescued off of Lake Volta in Kete Krachi (see last year’s post). The children participated in a series of health related activities including medical and dental screenings, nutritional sessions, yoga class and other activities.

Education Week- Dispute Exposes Tensions Over Charters’ Role in Cities

Today in Education Week- Photographs from the Charter School Rally in Harlem on May 26, 2011 and the counter protest by the NAACP in front of the Success Charter Network Office on June 3, 2011.

 

 

Miss Shinnecock Teen (and Tot) Pagent

The Shinnecock Indian Nation crowned its new Jr. Miss Shinnecock Teen at Southampton High School this past weekend.  In addition to the teen competition the pagent introduced a new Tiny Tots category for girls ages 1-5. Covering the story for Newsday, here are some moments from the sparkle filled evening.

Nadya

These photographs, made at the Dmitrov Orphanage for Handicapped Children, are of a nine year old girl named Nadya Rodena. Abandoned by her mother following her birth, Nadya was soon diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and for the five years of her life walked on her toes. Unable to verbally communicate with Nadya and facing access restrictions by the orphanage’s administration I relied solely on human connection and chose to photograph Nadya, regardless of these challenges. Marginalized by society and growing up with physical, mental and emotional struggles, Nadya represents many of the orphaned children in Russia and this was my opportunity to humanize these children and give them a voice.

Newsday Article

Residents fight to save LI trailer park

Article by Denise Bonilla, Photographs by Nancy Borowick

Residents in the 50-year-old mobile home park say they are getting to know each other better than ever, as they unite to fight a planned development that puts their homes at risk.

In February, Frontier Park’s residents were notified that it is “no longer feasible” to maintain the park on Route 110 and bring it up to modern fire and health codes. R Squared LLC, a developer owned by the principal owners of Rechler Equity Partners, has given Babylon Town a proposal to build apartment units on the site starting in 18 months. Twenty percent would be affordable housing and residents would be given first priority and credited six months of their current rent. Planning board approval is required; Town Supervisor Steve Bellone supports the plan.

There are 374 mobile homes in the park, with more than 500 residents. They buy their homes but rent the land on which they sit. Residents, who pay an average of $635 a month, call it one of the few affordable housing options left on Long Island.

Enclave of friends, family

Baunach, who has lived in the park for 13 years, said buying a mobile home was economical for her as a single person. “It’s like owning a home without all of the maintenance and expense,” she said. “But it’s my home and I can do what I want, with a yard for my dogs and a garden for my vegetables.”

Baunach owns a 12-by-60-foot home with green trim and green latticework. Her living room is simply decorated with sepia-toned photos of her grandmother and great-grandparents. In the center of the room are cages for her dogs, Harlie and Gracie — one reason Baunach, who recently lost her truck-driver job, said it would be hard for her to move. Few apartments allow pets.

In the summer, she brings extra vegetables to Leah Oehrig, 80, who has a garden and two dogs, two cats and a canary. After moving from apartment to apartment, Oehrig came to the park in 1965. “It was paradise,” she said.

The small plot of land was full of large stones when she moved in, Oehrig said, and she hauled them off and brought in topsoil. She still gets up at 6 a.m. every day when the weather permits to tend to the earth. “It just makes me feel good,” she said.

Oehrig’s garden, overflowing with lilies and other colorful perennials, has many fans, including neighbor Juan Gomez, 75, who calls her “the farmer.”

The two look out for each other. Gomez helps fix things and explains paperwork for Oehrig, who said she suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. She has him for dinner most nights in her home, where porcelain animals and teapots fight for space in curios that hang alongside Egyptian prints — souvenirs from a lifetime of travel, said Oehrig, a former European American Bank manager.

“I don’t want to move from here; this is my home,” she said. “This is where I wanted to breathe my last breath.”

Elvis Cortes’ home defies what he says is the popular notion of trailers. Clean and full of light, the unit he bought for $20,000 is a comfortable home for his wife Mildred, 23, and children, Elvis Jr., 4, and Arielys, 2.

“When I’m here, it’s not like I’m living in a trailer. I’m in a house, I’ve got my little backyard, I go to work, my kids go to school — it’s like anywhere on Long Island,” he said.

Cortes, 26, grew up in Amityville, served in the Navy and now works in construction, where jobs are sporadic. Low rent is crucial. “I want to stay on Long Island,” he said. “I’ve been here since I’ve been born and I have a lot of family here.”

His parents, Nelson, 47, and Carmen, 48, live four houses over with two other children. Nelson, a North Amityville Fire Department volunteer, said aside from young families, most residents are disabled or seniors living on fixed incomes and “just barely making it.”

Invested in community

Residents say Frontier has gotten a bad rap because some trailers, like the park’s roads and fences, suffer from the elements and neglect. There once was open drug-dealing and prostitution, they said, but neighbors got police to step up their presence. County police statistics over the last five years support the claim: Annual reported crimes have dropped from 65 to 34.

Residents said they hoped their renovations were investments. But the odds of selling now are slim, they said. And despite developer offers of help on thousands of dollars of moving costs, there are few parks nearby, they said, and some homes may be too old to move.

When Jose Giraldo, 41, bought his place, it was little more than a burned-out shell. He put in wood floors, rebuilt the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, made closets and added an extension so his son and daughter could have their own tiny rooms. He even put a skylight in the kitchen.

Giraldo estimates he has sunk $25,000 into renovations. “It’s not a lot to make a place comfortable to live,” he said. Now, he said, his house may not be worth anything.

From Servitude to Safety on OdeMagazine.com

Ode Magazine features From Servitude to Safety essay on OdeMagazine.com

San Francisco Chronicle’s SFGate.com Photo Philanthropy Piece

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/12/14/photo_philanthropy_nonprofits.DTL

From Servitude to Safety piece featured