Alumni embrace Africa
Ethiopian orphans are among the newest Saratoga Springs residents. As of March, 11 local families were in the pro - cess of adopting children from Ethi opia, following the lead of photographer Emma Dodge Hanson ’93 and her hus- band, Skidmore faculty member Marc Woodworth ’84. Through Adoption Ad- vocates International, they are already parents to Ethiopian-born Calla, 6, and Ryder, 2. Moved by the number of kids in need, they also started the GRACE Fund (for Generosity Reduces Adoption Costs for Everyone) to help pay the administra- tive costs of adopting an older child, or a set of siblings, or a kid with HIV or other health issues.
Africa won the heart of Eliza Hatch ’06 when she first visited Tanzania as a Skid- more student. Soon after graduation she took a job with Thomson Safaris, which operates in Tanzania and partners with an educational, health, and civic non- profit called Focus on Tanzanian Com-
FoTZC rely on Tanzanian staff and com- munity leaders, whom Hatch and col- leagues “feel very close to” after their many collaborations.
Relationship-building is also key to the health-care aid provided by Kathy Chambery ’66. In 2008 the special-ed teacher went to Tanzania to install 3,000 locally made bed nets (mosquito barriers that can effectively prevent malaria) in schools and hos - pitals, as part of a joint project by the Canadian govern- ment and Rotary International clubs across Ontario. Later she joined a polio vaccination project in Ethiopia, linking Seattle and Vancouver-area Rotarians with their Ethiopian counterparts. Of course, fundraising is essential to such efforts in distant, impoverished areas. But much of that too is about human connections. Last winter, Hanson was in Addis Ababa, with two American friends, to re- visit the or- phanage she supports. While the youngest children live in its Wanna House, the older kids wait and
ORPHANS AT ADDIS ABABA’S LAYLA HOUSE ARE AMONG THE BENEFICI - ARIES OF ALUMNI PHILANTHROPY ACROSS AFRICA.
munities. Along with prepping and advis- ing Thomson customers before their trips, Hatch serves as the administrative director for FoTZC. (By night, she’s also a grad student in international health at Boston University.) Both Thomson and
hope in Layla House. Han- son recently published
Faces of Layla,
a book of her
warm, strong portraits of these residents. Its sales have raised more than $43,000 for the GRACE Fund, which Hanson and Woodworth began in 2006 with just $5,000. Hanson says the fund has helped place 106 children so far.
HANSON WAS TOUCHED BY
PEOPLE’S WARMTH AND
HUMANITY DESPITE THEIR OFTEN CRUSHING DEPRIVATION AND
CHRONICALLY UNMET NEEDS.
In Tanzania, Hatch’s safari-goers get so well acquainted with some communities that they’re often eager to help them after the safari ends. She says building schools or providing books “is fairly easy; the hard part is deciding among the many worthy projects, because we never want to leave one behind.” Another challenge is convincing donors to give unrestricted gifts, rather than specify- ing the items or as- pects their money can support. It’s hard to administer
piecemeal funds for multiple uses, so she hopes donors will value FoTZC’s overall mission and entrust their gifts to its gen- eral budget.
For Chambery, a concern was the bur- den placed on her African hosts when well-meaning American and Canadian volunteers descended on them. “We were warmly welcomed,” she notes, but over time “we witnessed the fatigue of caring for visitors.” Better, she counsels, to have the volunteers bear more of the expenses when possible.
Like other alumni aiding Africa—from ‘71ers Judy Willsey, Sandy Lipson, and Barbara Tsairis working for World Class in Ghana to ’04 grad Will Schmerge working for Give Us Wings in Kenya and Uganda—Hanson was touched by peo- ple’s warmth and humanity despite their often crushing deprivation and chroni- cally unmet needs. On her winter trip, Hanson told the Albany Times-Union, she watched the orphans, who were clearly excited about a donated playground slide, wait politely in line to take turns on it. Another time, the children en- joyed idly braiding her hair. “The kids just want to be near you,” she said. “It was such a lesson in how little you need to be happy.”
For these and other Skiddies, a little time, money, and self is all that’s needed to generate happiness for both giver and receiver. —SR
SPRING 2010 SCOPE 31
EMMA DODGE HANSON ‘93
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