Published on 12/23/2006 in THE POST-STAR
GLENS FALLS -- Army Spc. Taylor Stewart was on his way out of Baghdad when he got one final, unwelcome souvenir -- a bullet in his leg.
Stewart, who grew up in Glens Falls and is home on leave, said he didn't even realize he had been shot at first. After all, his unit -- the 72nd Signal Battalion, based in Mannheim, Germany -- specializes in communications, not combat. They had come under fire several times during their one-year deployment but were in no apparent danger at that moment. They were simply relaxing inside a tent surrounded by a wall of sandbags at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, waiting for a next-day flight out of Iraq.
"I figured it was probably the safest place I could be," Stewart recalled. "Next thing I know ... I felt something hot across my leg."
He initially thought a friend had played a prank on him with a slingshot. "I got up to yell at my buddy, and I hear, 'Stewart, sit down! You're bleeding.' "
Fortunately, the bullet missed the leg bone as it went through his flesh and came to a stop in the cot's metal frame. Stewart went to the hospital and "let them clean me up," then signed himself out so he could leave with his company the next day.
He called his parents, Anni Stewart of Glens Falls and William Stewart of Hudson Falls, who were alarmed to hear of his wound but relieved that it wasn't worse. Although his mother initially told a Post-Star editor that her son thought the shot came from a rooftop sniper, Taylor now says that was just a miscommunication.
"Nah, it was just some guy with an AK-47 who was firing into the base," he said. "The Apaches (Army attack helicopters) took care of him pretty quick."
About a month later, 21-year-old Stewart is healed and home for the holidays. On the surface, he seems to blend in with his peers. He wears jeans, a hooded sweat shirt and a ball cap and slips slang like "dude" and "whatever, clever" into conversation.
But his year in Iraq has marked him in other ways. He pulls the bullet from his jeans pocket, where it's carried close to the 3-inch-long scar it created. Traces of his blood are still visible in the grooves of the 7.62-mm slug.
Another newly acquired piece of metal, with a much happier origin, rests around his ring finger. Stewart got married on Dec. 7, just five days after coming home and introducing his girlfriend -- Laura Asher, a National Guard medic from Indiana -- to his parents.
The couple met in Iraq when Stewart went to the clinic for treatment of a minor back injury earlier this year, and their relationship quickly deepened. They dated for about six months before the wedding.
"Some people say that's short, but it's different over there," he said. "You don't have your Abercrombie and Fitch clothes, gel in your hair and a couple drinks to loosen you up. All you have is yourself, so you really get to know people quick ... and we just really connected."
His perspective on relationships isn't the only thing altered by his service in Iraq. He's learned to be grateful for simple things, like safety.
"People take so much for granted here," he said. "Like walking down the street, not having a care in the world besides the essay they have to do for school tomorrow."
Stewart still has the deep sense of patriotism that motivated him to join the Army, but he said he's also gained "mad respect" for Iraqi culture after his time there.
"When I went over there, I figured I'd see some camels walking by and some people in turbans, but they're actually really modernized," he said. "They are some of the hardest-working people I've ever met, and they do it all with a smile on their face. ... No matter what we may think of them, they have really strong values. They're very family oriented."
Stewart said that even though his four-year term of service will be complete by this time next year, he could end up back in action due to the Army's "stop loss" policy. That means that if the 72nd is re-deployed within 90 days of the time Stewart's enlistment is due to end -- something he said leaders have already hinted is likely -- he would be required to serve an additional year.
Beyond that, Stewart said he's not sure what he would like to do next. "I've been contemplating re-enlistment," he said. "But I come home every time, and my nieces and nephews have grown a foot. I don't know ... I'm just enjoying having very little responsibility right now."
He doesn't mind recounting his story for friends and family when they ask -- and they have, dozens of times -- but winces when people assign him too much praise.
"I'm not a hero; the heroes are the guys who didn't come home," he said.
His childhood friend, Kyle Nelson, has a different opinion. "I think they're all heroes over there,"
Nelson said. "He should be proud of what he did."
---
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
This Bud's for no one
Published on 12/17/2006 in THE POST-STAR (Local news)
QUEENSBURY -- Sheriff's officers are used to seeing accidents where alcohol is involved, but in the case of a tractor-trailer that overturned on Route 149 near Bay Road early Saturday morning, alcohol was a victim rather than a suspect.
An International tractor-trailer carrying a full load of bottled Budweiser beer slid off the road and overturned around 6 a.m., spilling its cargo all over the road and into the surrounding woods, according to the Warren County Sheriff's Office.
The truck was operated by 61-year-old Thomas J. Waltos of North Syracuse, who was extricated from the truck cab by Bay Ridge Volunteer Fire Company and Bay Ridge EMS. Waltos was treated at the scene but refused further medical attention, officers said.
The accident was apparently caused by black ice and a possible load shift as the truck slid around a curve, heading eastbound down a hill toward Bay Road.
"There was a lot of alcohol involved, but was the operator drinking? I'd have to say no, that's been ruled out," said Warren County Sheriff Sgt. Pasquale Girard.
The tractor-trailer, a 2005 model owned by Gypsum Express Ltd., was en route from Baldwinsville, near Syracuse, to South Burlington, Vt., for a delivery. Its cargo of beer was "a total loss," according to the Sheriff's Office.
No assistance was needed from the Department of Environmental Conservation's spills response team, because the spill did not affect any waterways or residences, Girard said. A crew from Thomson's Garage in Lake George was called to the scene for towing and waste removal, a process that took at least eight hours and required closing Route 149 between Oxbow Hill Road and Walkup Cutoff. Sheriff's officers diverted traffic along Moon Kill Road. The accident was investigated by Warren County Sheriff's Officer Adam Spinelli.
By 10:30 a.m., the air was still thick with the yeasty smell of a brewery as a reporter reached the scene. The road's shoulder was a slick black paste of beer and dirt beneath a waist-high pile of crushed cardboard boxes and broken bottles. The work would take several more hours, but the cleanup crew was in a cheerful mood.
"I can't complain! It's a beautiful day, and it's not snowing," Fred Thomson said, after removing the trailer's remaining metal siding with a blowtorch.
Harry Saum stopped digging his front-end loader into the pile of bottles long enough to answer a question about his job title.
"What's it look like? I'm a beer cleaner-upper," he replied with a grin.
Gypsum Express or its insurance carrier will be billed for the cleanup, Girard said.
--Friday, December 15, 2006
Glens Falls one of the worst places to live in U.S.?
Published on 12/14/2006 in THE POST-STAR's Go
Dave Gilmartin, 30, works as an advertising copywriter in Manhattan and makes fun of other cities in his spare time. His first book, "The Absolutely Worst Places to Live in America," was published by St. Martin's Press in October 2006.
The book is based on responses he received from using Craigslist and other Web forums to ask people about the worst place they had ever lived or visited. There are two New York cities included among the top 50 "worst places" -- Syracuse and Glens Falls.
At press time, the book's sales rank on Amazon.com was 36,020.
Q: So, what's your beef with Glens Falls? How did it make it into the top 50 worst places?
A: I guess the main theme I went with is just how it is all about neighboring towns. You know, I'm from New Jersey and we do that all the time, we pretend we're cool because New York City is right next door. With Glens Falls, it's all about Lake George and Saratoga. Like if the guy next door has a nice lawn, but I don't -- well, I'm close to the nice lawn! I don't want the speed of escape to be the best thing about where I'm living.
The other theme I heard from a lot of people is that the teenagers are all bored and can't wait to escape. But Glens Falls is pretty tame compared to some of the others, actually. It's certainly no Detroit!
Q: Ever been to Glens Falls?
A: Well, I've been through it. I just kind of drove around. I basically had what I was going to write at that point. I mean, the book is largely testimonials and quotes...I'm a humor writer, and I don't have any journalistic sensibilities! (laughs) Syracuse is the one (of two New York cities included in the book) I know much better, personally. Glens Falls is one I sort of uncovered. It just kept popping up. And I was doing so many large cities that I wanted a small, boring town, too.
Q: What are some of the worst things people said about Glens Falls?
A: That it's a big, boring ghetto..."home to the high school basketball hall of fame, as well as lost dreams and failed aspirations." That's a quote from a local.
Q: How did you write the book?
A: I did polling online, survey-taking...went to every Craigslist in the country and asked people, "What's the worst place you've ever been?" Then, once I had votes, I would start corresponding with people. It was cool, I actually got to meet a lot of interesting people who really hated their towns. People were really willing to unload.
It took about a year and a half. I did some traveling, too. There wasn't really any great method to it. I tried not to pick all 50 from Jersey, which was a challenge. Then there's some, like Baltimore, that's a shoo-in regardless of any research...
Q: Where did you get the idea?
A: I work in advertising and do some magazine junk, and I was talking to an editor one day, trying to think of something satirical to write. It was around the time the "Best Places to Live" articles come out every year, so I just thought of the opposite. It was totally random. I just like to make fun of stuff, I don't know what that says about me! (laughs)
I'm from Jersey, so I think that's where my expertise came from. My whole life, I've been made fun of for being from Jersey, so it's fun to spread it around a little bit. Not that we aren't bad, but other places are too... The whole point is just to be funny. I'm just trying to be funny, and I think about half the people get it, and half are very angry.
Q: Oh, yeah? So you've gotten complaints from some of the places you wrote about?
A: Big cities don't care. Like, I haven't heard from Detroit, they've got bigger fish to fry. But Mitchell, South Dakota -- they covered my book like it was the presidential debate. I debated the mayor on the radio for like 45 minutes!
Q: So, I noticed from a Google search that Dave Gilmartin is apparently a pseudonym. Why not use your real name?
A: Yeah, I wish I hadn't let that slip...it's a long, boring story, but the easy answer is that I didn't want anyone from Detroit to find me and kill me. They've killed people for less than this!
Q: Any plans for a second book?
A: I feel like I need to write something really positive next, to realign my karma. A book about puppies or something...although a book about the worst colleges would be really funny.
Dave Gilmartin, 30, works as an advertising copywriter in Manhattan and makes fun of other cities in his spare time. His first book, "The Absolutely Worst Places to Live in America," was published by St. Martin's Press in October 2006.
The book is based on responses he received from using Craigslist and other Web forums to ask people about the worst place they had ever lived or visited. There are two New York cities included among the top 50 "worst places" -- Syracuse and Glens Falls.
At press time, the book's sales rank on Amazon.com was 36,020.
Q: So, what's your beef with Glens Falls? How did it make it into the top 50 worst places?
A: I guess the main theme I went with is just how it is all about neighboring towns. You know, I'm from New Jersey and we do that all the time, we pretend we're cool because New York City is right next door. With Glens Falls, it's all about Lake George and Saratoga. Like if the guy next door has a nice lawn, but I don't -- well, I'm close to the nice lawn! I don't want the speed of escape to be the best thing about where I'm living.
The other theme I heard from a lot of people is that the teenagers are all bored and can't wait to escape. But Glens Falls is pretty tame compared to some of the others, actually. It's certainly no Detroit!
Q: Ever been to Glens Falls?
A: Well, I've been through it. I just kind of drove around. I basically had what I was going to write at that point. I mean, the book is largely testimonials and quotes...I'm a humor writer, and I don't have any journalistic sensibilities! (laughs) Syracuse is the one (of two New York cities included in the book) I know much better, personally. Glens Falls is one I sort of uncovered. It just kept popping up. And I was doing so many large cities that I wanted a small, boring town, too.
Q: What are some of the worst things people said about Glens Falls?
A: That it's a big, boring ghetto..."home to the high school basketball hall of fame, as well as lost dreams and failed aspirations." That's a quote from a local.
Q: How did you write the book?
A: I did polling online, survey-taking...went to every Craigslist in the country and asked people, "What's the worst place you've ever been?" Then, once I had votes, I would start corresponding with people. It was cool, I actually got to meet a lot of interesting people who really hated their towns. People were really willing to unload.
It took about a year and a half. I did some traveling, too. There wasn't really any great method to it. I tried not to pick all 50 from Jersey, which was a challenge. Then there's some, like Baltimore, that's a shoo-in regardless of any research...
Q: Where did you get the idea?
A: I work in advertising and do some magazine junk, and I was talking to an editor one day, trying to think of something satirical to write. It was around the time the "Best Places to Live" articles come out every year, so I just thought of the opposite. It was totally random. I just like to make fun of stuff, I don't know what that says about me! (laughs)
I'm from Jersey, so I think that's where my expertise came from. My whole life, I've been made fun of for being from Jersey, so it's fun to spread it around a little bit. Not that we aren't bad, but other places are too... The whole point is just to be funny. I'm just trying to be funny, and I think about half the people get it, and half are very angry.
Q: Oh, yeah? So you've gotten complaints from some of the places you wrote about?
A: Big cities don't care. Like, I haven't heard from Detroit, they've got bigger fish to fry. But Mitchell, South Dakota -- they covered my book like it was the presidential debate. I debated the mayor on the radio for like 45 minutes!
Q: So, I noticed from a Google search that Dave Gilmartin is apparently a pseudonym. Why not use your real name?
A: Yeah, I wish I hadn't let that slip...it's a long, boring story, but the easy answer is that I didn't want anyone from Detroit to find me and kill me. They've killed people for less than this!
Q: Any plans for a second book?
A: I feel like I need to write something really positive next, to realign my karma. A book about puppies or something...although a book about the worst colleges would be really funny.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Local woman opens a window of aid to Africa
Published on 12/3/2006 in THE POST-STAR
What started as a Saratoga County couple's vacation splurge -- a bike race in South Africa, and a visit to Victoria Falls -- became a humanitarian surge that is powering the transformation of an entire African village.
World's Window, a new nonprofit organization based in Ballston Lake, is working to replace poverty with self-sustainability and empowerment, starting with the small, rural village of Chikandakubi in western Zimbabwe.
Seven professionals from the Capital District just returned from a three-week voluntary mission to Chikandakubi through World's Window. They brought 26 suitcases full of supplies, helped the villagers construct a workshop, and offered their expertise in the areas of medicine, animal breeding, engineering and education.
"We're a small number of people who feel strongly about making a difference. You have to leave your ego and agenda at the door, and say, 'What can I do to help?' " said Denise Stasik, a health care worker from Ballston Spa who worked in the medical clinic and women's empowerment projects.
When the group arrived, at least 50 women and children met them beside the road, extending their hands and chanting in welcome.
"It was the warmest, most emotional greeting I have ever had in my entire life," said Cindy Schmehl, the founder and president of World's Window. "They are so appreciative of the help we are trying to give them to help them earn a living for themselves."
Her husband, Tim, was among the volunteers. He used his skills as an engineer to install solar electricity panels and improve wells.
"It was really a lot of work, but the rewards were so much better than going and taking a cruise or something," he said. "It was very useful to a large number of people. It helped change their lives."
'I can't just leave them'
Cindy and Tim Schmehl didn't expect to change anyone's life when they first traveled to Africa together in 2003. Friends had invited Tim to join a bike race in South Africa, and Cindy was thrilled at the rare chance to travel internationally.
On a side trip to the neighboring country of Zimbabwe to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls, the couple started chatting with a local man after repeatedly running into him. His name was Godfrey Dube.
Cindy asked Dube if he knew how they could visit one of the surrounding villages. "He responded in the style we've heard a lot since then: 'Sure, that can be done,' " Tim remembered. After a bumpy ride in Dube's battered car, the Schmehls got their first glimpse of Chikandakubi, home to about 1,500 members of the minority Ndbelle tribe.
The Schmehls were struck by both the extreme poverty they saw, and the friendly openness of the villagers. "I realized how much I have as an American -- how lucky I am," Cindy said.
Donkey carts, or bare feet, were the only forms of transportation; malaria was rampant, and food was scarce. Gardens were often trampled by elephants. The village school had broken windows, no desks and a chalkboard too chipped to write on. Teachers and students sat together on a pockmarked cement floor, lacking simple tools like pencils, paper or books.
Cindy's eyes filled with tears as they got on the plane to go home. "She said, 'I can't just leave them,' " Tim remembered.
He had no idea how much she meant that.
She started out collecting pens and pencils to send to the school, but decided that wasn't enough. By 2004, she had returned to Chikandakubi, bringing supplies and volunteers from the Rotary Club. The need was much larger than one short-term project could meet, however.
Thinking big
In June 2005, Cindy registered World's Window Inc. as a nonprofit dedicated to "providing humanitarian aid in the form of education, services, supplies and materials to areas of the world in desperate need."
Dube, the man who introduced the Schmehls to Chikandakubi, is now the project manager for World's Window -- and the group has a lot of projects there. So far, World's Window has built a medical clinic, library, orphanage and men's woodworking shop in Chikandakubi. They have also launched an array of other projects that include planting drought-resistant trees with edible leaves; preventing and researching malaria; empowering women; training teachers; providing transportation; breeding farm animals; and distributing basic essentials like toiletries and clothing.
If that seems like a lot to juggle for a fledgling organization that's still based in the Schmehls' home, consider Cindy's background. She ran her own event-planning business for five years, and managed the Latham Circle Mall before that. She's always enjoyed taking on projects that would daunt other people, her husband said.
"She's always done things big," he said. "The holidays are always pretty big productions in our home."
True to form, Cindy brought her own version of a big holiday production to Chikandakubi on the November trip. She brought along costumes -- the village school headmaster dressed as Santa Claus while she played Mrs. Claus -- and hundreds of "goody bags" for the children, each one containing a toy and some basic necessities.
"We were prepared for 350 children, and when we arrived, there were 500, so we had to scramble to come up with extra bags, but we did it," Cindy said.
So much need
Cindy explained that the village population -- particularly in terms of school-age children -- is growing rapidly in recent months for a troubling reason. Unemployment is over 80 percent in Zimbabwe, and the few jobs that exist are mostly in cities, which is why several thousand families have moved away from Chikandakubi in the past decade or so.
But as in many African countries, the HIV infection rate is also extraordinarily high, affecting about 20 percent of Zimbabwe's population.
"Many of those people who left to seek employment elsewhere have now developed AIDS and are returning to their villages to find family. Our medical clinic is going to be hit hard," Cindy predicted. "The other thing is, many of them are bringing back children who will be left on their own. Right now, it's not unusual for a 9- or 10-year-old to be head of household."
Chikandakubi's small primary school already has 89 orphans, she said. Drought and political upheaval have crippled the country once known as "the breadbasket of Africa" so much that when World's Window volunteers interviewed 160 orphans from the Chikandakubi schools about what they needed to stay in school, most said, "Food."
After seeing such great need, going to an American grocery store is "an emotional experience," Cindy said.
Denise Stasik said she was especially struck by the response of one 16-year-old girl, whose diet consisted of one cup of porridge every other day.
"She said, 'I only need food. With food, I can think. And if I can think, I can do anything.' "
Working together
By speaking and showing pictures of Chikandakubi in churches, schools and civic groups whenever she can, Cindy has already attracted a broad base of support for World's Window. The eight-member board of directors includes professionals from the health care community, educators and business owners. Several school districts in the Capital District region have signed up to participate in a cross-cultural exchange with the Chikandakubi schools, and a program is in the works that could add Coxsackie Correctional Facility inmates to World's Window's base of volunteers. The New York State Department of Health, through the Wadsworth Center at SUNY Albany, is helping with the malaria research project.
"The projects just keep multiplying, because the need is so great," said Cindy.
World's Window will always be committed to Chikandakubi, she said, but eventually she hopes the organization will be large enough to make a difference in other communities throughout the world.
"Our vision is to make the entire village self-sustaining as a whole," she said. "And as we grow, I hope to reach out to other places. It could be in another African country, or it could even be in an impoverished part of the U.S."
Although her husband said he's "a little bit in awe of what she's been able to accomplish," Cindy shrugs off the praise. "I'm just an ordinary woman. I love children, and I love people," she said. "I'm not an expert in anything, but I work very, very hard and surround myself with people who do have the expertise to help all the projects along."
Besides, she said, none of this has happened by coincidence.
"I just believe that I'm being led down a certain path," she said. "And I don't think God would ever give me something I couldn't handle."
---
WHAT YOU CAN DO Volunteers are invited to join a World's Window trip to Chikandakubi at their own cost. The next trip, scheduled for February 2007, is currently full, but space is available on the November 2007 trip. The organization also needs volunteers to help with general office tasks and grant applications, and is seeking members for a medical advisory committee, women's empowerment committee, and golf tournament committee. Donations of money and office supplies are also needed. To learn more, visit http://www.worlds-window.org/, e-mail cindy@worlds-window.org or call 877-0382.
What started as a Saratoga County couple's vacation splurge -- a bike race in South Africa, and a visit to Victoria Falls -- became a humanitarian surge that is powering the transformation of an entire African village.
World's Window, a new nonprofit organization based in Ballston Lake, is working to replace poverty with self-sustainability and empowerment, starting with the small, rural village of Chikandakubi in western Zimbabwe.
Seven professionals from the Capital District just returned from a three-week voluntary mission to Chikandakubi through World's Window. They brought 26 suitcases full of supplies, helped the villagers construct a workshop, and offered their expertise in the areas of medicine, animal breeding, engineering and education.
"We're a small number of people who feel strongly about making a difference. You have to leave your ego and agenda at the door, and say, 'What can I do to help?' " said Denise Stasik, a health care worker from Ballston Spa who worked in the medical clinic and women's empowerment projects.
When the group arrived, at least 50 women and children met them beside the road, extending their hands and chanting in welcome.
"It was the warmest, most emotional greeting I have ever had in my entire life," said Cindy Schmehl, the founder and president of World's Window. "They are so appreciative of the help we are trying to give them to help them earn a living for themselves."
Her husband, Tim, was among the volunteers. He used his skills as an engineer to install solar electricity panels and improve wells.
"It was really a lot of work, but the rewards were so much better than going and taking a cruise or something," he said. "It was very useful to a large number of people. It helped change their lives."
'I can't just leave them'
Cindy and Tim Schmehl didn't expect to change anyone's life when they first traveled to Africa together in 2003. Friends had invited Tim to join a bike race in South Africa, and Cindy was thrilled at the rare chance to travel internationally.
On a side trip to the neighboring country of Zimbabwe to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls, the couple started chatting with a local man after repeatedly running into him. His name was Godfrey Dube.
Cindy asked Dube if he knew how they could visit one of the surrounding villages. "He responded in the style we've heard a lot since then: 'Sure, that can be done,' " Tim remembered. After a bumpy ride in Dube's battered car, the Schmehls got their first glimpse of Chikandakubi, home to about 1,500 members of the minority Ndbelle tribe.
The Schmehls were struck by both the extreme poverty they saw, and the friendly openness of the villagers. "I realized how much I have as an American -- how lucky I am," Cindy said.
Donkey carts, or bare feet, were the only forms of transportation; malaria was rampant, and food was scarce. Gardens were often trampled by elephants. The village school had broken windows, no desks and a chalkboard too chipped to write on. Teachers and students sat together on a pockmarked cement floor, lacking simple tools like pencils, paper or books.
Cindy's eyes filled with tears as they got on the plane to go home. "She said, 'I can't just leave them,' " Tim remembered.
He had no idea how much she meant that.
She started out collecting pens and pencils to send to the school, but decided that wasn't enough. By 2004, she had returned to Chikandakubi, bringing supplies and volunteers from the Rotary Club. The need was much larger than one short-term project could meet, however.
Thinking big
In June 2005, Cindy registered World's Window Inc. as a nonprofit dedicated to "providing humanitarian aid in the form of education, services, supplies and materials to areas of the world in desperate need."
Dube, the man who introduced the Schmehls to Chikandakubi, is now the project manager for World's Window -- and the group has a lot of projects there. So far, World's Window has built a medical clinic, library, orphanage and men's woodworking shop in Chikandakubi. They have also launched an array of other projects that include planting drought-resistant trees with edible leaves; preventing and researching malaria; empowering women; training teachers; providing transportation; breeding farm animals; and distributing basic essentials like toiletries and clothing.
If that seems like a lot to juggle for a fledgling organization that's still based in the Schmehls' home, consider Cindy's background. She ran her own event-planning business for five years, and managed the Latham Circle Mall before that. She's always enjoyed taking on projects that would daunt other people, her husband said.
"She's always done things big," he said. "The holidays are always pretty big productions in our home."
True to form, Cindy brought her own version of a big holiday production to Chikandakubi on the November trip. She brought along costumes -- the village school headmaster dressed as Santa Claus while she played Mrs. Claus -- and hundreds of "goody bags" for the children, each one containing a toy and some basic necessities.
"We were prepared for 350 children, and when we arrived, there were 500, so we had to scramble to come up with extra bags, but we did it," Cindy said.
So much need
Cindy explained that the village population -- particularly in terms of school-age children -- is growing rapidly in recent months for a troubling reason. Unemployment is over 80 percent in Zimbabwe, and the few jobs that exist are mostly in cities, which is why several thousand families have moved away from Chikandakubi in the past decade or so.
But as in many African countries, the HIV infection rate is also extraordinarily high, affecting about 20 percent of Zimbabwe's population.
"Many of those people who left to seek employment elsewhere have now developed AIDS and are returning to their villages to find family. Our medical clinic is going to be hit hard," Cindy predicted. "The other thing is, many of them are bringing back children who will be left on their own. Right now, it's not unusual for a 9- or 10-year-old to be head of household."
Chikandakubi's small primary school already has 89 orphans, she said. Drought and political upheaval have crippled the country once known as "the breadbasket of Africa" so much that when World's Window volunteers interviewed 160 orphans from the Chikandakubi schools about what they needed to stay in school, most said, "Food."
After seeing such great need, going to an American grocery store is "an emotional experience," Cindy said.
Denise Stasik said she was especially struck by the response of one 16-year-old girl, whose diet consisted of one cup of porridge every other day.
"She said, 'I only need food. With food, I can think. And if I can think, I can do anything.' "
Working together
By speaking and showing pictures of Chikandakubi in churches, schools and civic groups whenever she can, Cindy has already attracted a broad base of support for World's Window. The eight-member board of directors includes professionals from the health care community, educators and business owners. Several school districts in the Capital District region have signed up to participate in a cross-cultural exchange with the Chikandakubi schools, and a program is in the works that could add Coxsackie Correctional Facility inmates to World's Window's base of volunteers. The New York State Department of Health, through the Wadsworth Center at SUNY Albany, is helping with the malaria research project.
"The projects just keep multiplying, because the need is so great," said Cindy.
World's Window will always be committed to Chikandakubi, she said, but eventually she hopes the organization will be large enough to make a difference in other communities throughout the world.
"Our vision is to make the entire village self-sustaining as a whole," she said. "And as we grow, I hope to reach out to other places. It could be in another African country, or it could even be in an impoverished part of the U.S."
Although her husband said he's "a little bit in awe of what she's been able to accomplish," Cindy shrugs off the praise. "I'm just an ordinary woman. I love children, and I love people," she said. "I'm not an expert in anything, but I work very, very hard and surround myself with people who do have the expertise to help all the projects along."
Besides, she said, none of this has happened by coincidence.
"I just believe that I'm being led down a certain path," she said. "And I don't think God would ever give me something I couldn't handle."
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WHAT YOU CAN DO Volunteers are invited to join a World's Window trip to Chikandakubi at their own cost. The next trip, scheduled for February 2007, is currently full, but space is available on the November 2007 trip. The organization also needs volunteers to help with general office tasks and grant applications, and is seeking members for a medical advisory committee, women's empowerment committee, and golf tournament committee. Donations of money and office supplies are also needed. To learn more, visit http://www.worlds-window.org/, e-mail cindy@worlds-window.org or call 877-0382.
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