Helping others in inspiring ways
Isai Madriz is living a dream. And helping others to live a dream in the process.
Malual Awak lived a nightmare. And now he is working to help others adjust in a new country after fleeing their own nightmares.
And Barb Retelny spends part of her life helping others in a faraway place deal with a terrible disease.
Three people from the suburbs, three stories of inspiration from Sunday's Daily Herald.
We applaud all of them and encourage their efforts. And we hope their efforts are noticed by those who also want to do some extraordinary work to help others.
Madriz is the 26-year-old who left his family in Montgomery a year ago to ride his bike on a 22,500-mile trek around the entire coast of South America. It's an adventure few people would attempt. But Madriz, a Mexico native, is doing it with a purpose: to support the Jesus Guadalupe Foundation of St. Charles. That foundation awarded Madriz a college scholarship, which helped him earn his degree in May 2007. Now he is hoping his personal dream will result in funds getting directed to the foundation to help other Latinos to get college scholarships as well.
"My goal is telling everybody in every country about the foundation," Madriz said in a phone interview from Colombia.
To contribute, checks can be mailed to the Jesus Guadalupe Foundation, 902 S. Randall Road, Suite C-322, St. Charles, IL 60174.
Awak fled war-torn Sudan in the 1990s to start a new life in the United States. It was a time of uncertainty for him.
"Coming to a new environment, you don't know anybody. Everything is from the beginning, starting life over. Life is very difficult," Awak said.
Now the president of the Sudanese Community Association of Illinois, Awak will give others fleeing Sudan the assistance they need as they start their life over in the United Sates. On Tuesday, the new Sudanese Community Center will open in downtown Naperville.
"It's important, I think, to show the world that this is a joint project and that it's a great thing that here in DuPage we have such great cooperation between Sudanese neighbors and folks that may never have been to Sudan but understand the tragedy that went on there and want to help," said Sean Tenner, a member of the center's board of directors.
To contribute to their efforts, call (312) 576-8822 or visit sudanesecommunitycenter.org.
Finally, Retelny is a parishioner of the First Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn who has gone on two church-sponsored mission trips to Africa to help provide relief for those with AIDS.
"The people we worked with have such strong faith. Just getting through the day sometimes is a struggle for them," Retelny said.
The church is bringing their stories back home with an AIDS in Africa exhibit, which shows what life is like for a child living in the midst of the AIDS pandemic. For more information on the exhibit or on how you can help, call the church at (630) 469-2007.
Three divergent people, three inspiring stories.