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Tuesday, March 29, 2016

LOS NIÑOS DEL CHOCO



Macilentos, escuálidos, anémicos y tristes
sus figuras nos recuerdan las de Biafra
se suicidan pa’ no seguir pasando hambre
y acabar con sus penas ya sin limites

Niños sin juguetes carentes de alimentos
de amor, caricias, sin mimos  ni consuelos
su existencia breve se trunca silenciosa
ante la mirada ignota de desalmada gente

Infantes sin zapatos el duro suelo pisan
con la indiferencia máxima de muchos 
que se llevan de las minas el tesoro.

Rogamos a Dios por que se apiaden 
de estas pobres inocentes víctimas 
aquellos q’ gobiernan y no entienden.

Alonso Quijano 
10.1.2015




Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Happy Hens feed malnourished kids in Colombia.


Hi, my name is Claudia and I grew up in Colombia, South America.  When I was in  11th grade a friend and I decided that instead of doing the usual project to alphabetize kids in the “barrio” behind our school, we wanted to prepare the kids to do their first communion.  So my friend Rosa Maria and I embarked on this mission to prepare us for graduation of High School.  So, at the beginning of the school year, we met with a group of 30 boys and girls and discussed with them what we were going to do, and all the details such as the fact that they would be doing their first communion in May and how many times we will meet.

After the second meeting, a boy called Dany came to me and asked if I had a spare dictionary that he needed for school.  So, since I had one at home, I asked Dany to come to my house to pick it up.  To tell you the truth, I don’t remember how Dany got to my house, but I remember him entering my house, and having him sit down for the usual snack with my brothers and me which was hot chocolate and “roscones” a delicious round bread filled with guava paste. 

As Dany sat with us, he started telling us about his life.  He lived in a “neighborhood of invasion” as they call them, which means that families who were displaced, moved in and put up a small shack made of pieces of aluminum for a roof, and carton board for walls.  Of course they did not have bathrooms, electricity or hot water.  They would cook outside of the shack using wood from the woods in the area, and they made a fire pit.

So, Dany would have to get up every morning at 4:00 am and go with his cousin Diego to the river to fetch water for cooking and for cleaning themselves.  Dany lived with his mother and his two-year old brother Marcos.  His father had died a couple of years ago in a tragic accident.  However, given these difficult living conditions, Dany would get ready for school every morning, and was a very good student.  He always did his homework at night, by candlelight.

I gave Dany the dictionary, and he was as happy as a lark in spring.  He would be able to start learning English now.  He had pretty ambitious dreams, and wanted to grow up to make money to support his mom, and give her a nice home.

Well, Dany made his first communion in May that year, and unfortunately, I did not see him again.  However, he had sown a seed in my heart and in Rosa Maria’s dreams.  I recall talking with her about doing something when we grow up to help the “street children” of Colombia.

Years passed, and I moved to Florida, USA to do my master’s degree in Counseling.
I always remembered Dany, and his sad eyes, which lightened up when I gave him that dictionary.  I remembered our pact with Rosa Maria, that one day we would do something for kids like Dany.  I graduated, got jobs, and moved from Florida for a job, and my dream had not been fulfilled yet.  However, it was still there. ….

Ten years had passed since I had arrived from Colombia, and I was now in Washington, DC the capital of the USA.  It was exciting to live in the city, which seemed like the “brain of the world” where all the powerful decisions are made and where diplomats from all over the world live.

Later on, I got married and moved to Texas for a couple of years.  Over there, I met an accountant who listen to my stories and dreams, and said, that it would be very easy to start a 501c3 and a nonprofit organization.  So, to make a long story short, with his help, we started Sowing Seeds for the Future, a nonprofit Public Charity to advocate for the health and education of children in Colombia.

Since 2012, my father and I started working for Chocó a Department of Colombia, which is currently going through a Humanitarian Crisis.  The news in 2012 said, “Children in Chocó, are committing suicide due to hunger.”

Initially, we worked with the Network of Midwives, sending them clean birth kits, and backpacks to carry in the jungle on their way to deliver babies, given that Chocó has the highest maternal mortality during birth of all Latin America (358:100.000). 

We also started a “Happy Hens” Project, in which we donate and train women to receive 15 laying hens per month, to add protein to their families’ diet and reduce the malnutrition and anemia present in children.

As we developed contacts in Chocó, I came across the Fundación Marajuera, created by  Johanna Novella, a young Colombian woman, to provide meals and recreation for the children of Chocó.  She developed a “Godchild Program”, and my adopted Godchild’s name is Dani…  a six year old boy.  Once again, this brought memories from 12th grade and the boy who planted a seed in my heart to help the children of Colombia.  Recently, we sent Dani a hen, so that he will have an egg every day, to feed his family.  We hope to plant a seed in his heart to continue the cycle of giving and to end poverty in this beautiful area of the world.



If you would like to sponsor a laying hen, and send a donation please contact me

At sowingseeds4future@gmail.com  The cost of each hen, plus the concentrate is $10 USD.  
God bless you!

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Bread for Istmina, Chocó

Monsignor Julio García and his mother bake bread to feed the children of Istmina, Chocó.

Mission and Projects

Sowing Seeds for the Future (SS4F)
Sowingseeds4future@gmail.com

Mission and Projects


The Sowing Seeds for the Future Organization (SS4F) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity

whose mission is to advocate for children rights to health, education and dignity in

Colombia, South America.


DONATIONS ARE WELCOME AND TAX DEDUCTIBLE 
IN THE USA.  Contact us at Sowingseeds4future@gmail.com

STATISTICS

Currently, the SS4F is working towards assisting with the humanitarian crisis in

Chocó, Colombia.  The following are some of the statistics obtained:

1.  Childhood mortality 110:1000 (DANE) *

2.  Children from 5-10 years old die due to hunger (RCN, 2012)**

3.  Children malnutrition and anemia 73% (ICBF) ***

4.  Maternal mortality 358:100.000

5.  Poverty index 67% (DANE) *

6.  Unemployment 60% (Archdiocese of Quibdó)

7.  Minimal Infrastructure in the whole department.

8.  Twelve hospitals without water, electricity and salaries to personnel.

The following are some of the Projects that we are working on:

1.  Maternal and Child Mortality:

Goals:
- To reduce the maternal mortality rate of 358:100.000.

   The SS4F is working with The “Midwives Network of Chocó” led by nurse Ledy Manuela
   Mosquera  in Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia.

-  Clean childbirth kits have been sent along with backpacks and equipment (stethoscopes,
   blood pressure cuffs, etc.) for the midwives who travel by river to deliver babies in
   the jungle and rural areas.

- Online training is provided for the midwives, on topics such as prenatal care,
   birth complications, ethics by Licensed Nurses from the Regions Hospital, in St. Paul, MN.

2. Hunger and Malnutrition:

Goal:  To reduce hunger and malnutrition of children in Chocó. We partnered with:

- Father Daniel Saldarriaga, who has organized 19 Food Banks in Colombia.
  We would like to start a Food Bank in Chocó.
- Bishop Julio Garcia from Istmina, Chocó.
- House of the Pacific Corporation
- Midwives Network

Every month, the SS4F is sending 15 laying hens to provide protein for the children.
Adults are being trained in techniques to take care of the hens.


3. Poverty, Unemployment and Minimal Infrastructure:

Goal:  To end poverty by providing employment, and advocating for the development of infrastructure in the region of Chocó, Colombia, area gifted with so many natural resources and with access to the two Oceans Atlantic and Pacific.

The SSFF has partnered with CANATCOL, AP  to advocate for the development of the infrastructure in the region, to provide employment for 1.6 million people and make use of the many natural resources in Chocó, Colombia.

Check the website:
https://sites.google.com/site/canalinteroceanicodecolombia/

We Advocate for the following projects of CANATCOL, AP:

1. Update the drafts of Route # 25A Humboldt-Bay, Colombia Bay.

2. Update economic studies done in New York in 1964 archived at the

Transportation Department in Fontibón, Colombia.

3. Lobbying for tax-free zone in the Canal Zone for construction and new industries

4. Lobby to secure the prohibition of exports of the Platinum and the Construction of a Platinum Refinery in Condoto.


*    DANE:  Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica.   (National Adm. Dept. of Statistics)
**  RCN:     Radio Cadena Nacional (National Radio Station).
*** ICBF:    Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar. (Colombian Institute of Family Welfare).

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Carta - Federación Colombiana de Sociedades de Obstetricia y Ginecologia- 2ndo Aviso

Federación Colombiana de Sociedades de Obstetricia y Ginecología 
Federación Internacional de Ginecología y Obstetricia
Federación Latinoamericana de Sociedades de Obstetricia y Ginecología 

La mortalidad materna infantil del Departamento del Chocó, Colombia está  en el nivel mas alto del mundo.   Es inconcebible que cifras como esta del DANE en 2011 no hayan llamado la atención de los salubristas, ni de los medios de comunicación, ni del público en general.   Los Obispos del Chocó, la Defensoría del Pueblo y las Naciones Unidas consideraron que existe una Crisis Humanitaria en el Chocó pero nunca mencionaron que todos los días del año muera una mujer dando a luz. 

La cifra de 2010 no puede ser cierta por que es imposible que en solo año se duplique la muerte de las madres en el alumbramiento. 

Chocó mortalidad materna:

DANE 2010  196.53:100.000
DANE 2011    357,97:100.000
El departamento donde la mortalidad materna es más alta es en Chocó, donde la razón de mortalidad materna es de 357,97 muertes por cada 100.000 nacidos vivos, y 4,20 veces más alta que la nacional. 

Chocó mortalidad NEONATAL:
DANE 2011 11.63:1.000 nacidos vivos 

Chocó mortalidad infantil:
DANE 2011 18,35 :1.000

Que planes tienen las federaciones Colombiana, Latinoamericana e Internacional de Obstetricia y Ginecología para terminar con este genocidio?

Atentamente,

Jaime Gomez, MD
Claudia Baldwin, Ed.S
Fundación Sembrando Futuros, USA.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Salud para el Chocó

Chocó necesita una Facultad de Medicina de excelencia.  No pueden persistir con el Status quo.  La mortalidad materna mas alta del hemisferio occidental, la mortalidad infantil cinco veces mas alta que en el resto del país. Los niños que se mueren o suicidan por desnutrición y por hambre. 

Se requiere un Hospital de III Nivel con tele-medicina para cubrir  todos los centros de salud en los 30 municipios del Chocó.  Helicópteros para llevar al Hospital a los enfermos y a los accidentados.  En resumen un programa de salud de primera calidad sostenido por una fábrica de antibióticos que no existe en Colombia y puede producir ganancias enormes para sostener toda la salud del Departamento.  

El Centro de investigaciones para buscar vacunas para la malaria, el dengue, el zika y otros virus y elementos para curar la enfermedad de células falciformes que debe tener una prevalencia bastante alta en el Chocó. 

Esta es una meta, que nos gustaría lograr hacia el 2026.

Curriculum para estudios de Pre-medicina en Bachillerato 

1. Botánica, Inglés, Historia, Dibujo médico.
2. Zoología, Inglés, Geografía.
3. Algebra I, Anatomía, Biología, Lógica.
4.  Algebra II,  Fisio-patología, Bioquimica I, Laboratorio, Primeros Auxilios.
5. Bioquímica II Laboratorio, Epidemiología, Bioestadistica , Farmacología, Etica I.
6. Biofísica (X rays), Imagenología, Robótica, Semiología, Patología General, Etica II.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Río Atrato, Chocó, Colombia

Video del Río Atrato en Chocó, Colombia

You Tube, por Franklin Mosquera Mosquera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MK1s9GU_a8

..........................................................................................................................................................

Río Atrato, Origen del Nombre
Canal del Mar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI8x6t9lXlg&ebc=ANyPxKoAgK8e8DmDpOeyOmTqlMLXFMJpalqkh9R6r9vUMP5hp6rIoD2FMS4R7IrSwpFyVmUQvoFa67OFTViFhv4d6eLnckMIPA