Lyme Disease Season: Time to Dispel the Myth

(this article was first published on MinnPost on April 16, 2010)

Myth: Lyme disease is hard to get and easy to cure. Fact: Tens of thousands of Minnesotans got Lyme disease in the past 10 years, and very few of them will EVER be cured. At least, not before the mainstream medical establishment and Lyme disease specialists stop arguing and figure out how to treat it.

Lyme disease is spread by deer ticks, which are expanding their range in the state. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, one in three deer ticks carry the bacterial agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb). In high-risk areas of the state, such as Crow Wing and Washington counties, it’s two out of three. Climate change affects both their range and their dormancy; as the cold season gets shorter, the tick season gets longer. Deer, rodents and birds can disperse these blood suckers just about anywhere, so even city-folk are a risk. Indeed, the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District has found deer ticks in each of the seven metro counties.

I don’t say this to breed panic, but to get people to sit up and take notice: you are a tick bite away from getting Lyme disease. And very few doctors in the state truly understand or are willing to treat Lyme disease aggressively. A recent Minnesota Board of Medical Practice resolution may change all that.

Last month, the medical board voted on a 5-year moratorium from investigating doctors who treat chronic Lyme disease with long-term antibiotics, unless a complaint is filed against them by the patient or their guardian. The board agreed with Lyme specialists and activists that the science is unsettled, that much more evidence needs to be gathered in the treatment of the most common vector-borne infectious disease in the country (MN ranks 8^th for reported cases). Doctors are still responsible, of course, for informed consent and conscientious, evidence-based medicine.

Inadequate diagnostic tests, flawed studies that inform prevailing treatment guidelines, and ignorance about what the infection does in the body, result in misunderstandings about the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.

After a person is infected through the bite of a deer tick, Bb doesn’t stay long in the blood stream. It burrows into tissues and cells, sabotaging multiple systems along the way. This is why different people react with a varying array of symptoms. The tests are designed to detect antibodies to the bacteria in the blood, not the bacteria itself; for this and many other reasons they cannot be relied upon to prove the existence (or absence) of Bb. Lyme specialists, including those from the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, advocate a clinical diagnosis, taking patient symptoms and environmental history into account. Unfortunately, if the person who is bitten waits for symptoms to manifest, they are already infected.

The prevailing guidelines for diagnosing and treating Lyme disease are the work of the Infectious Disease Society of America. They claim, despite evidence to the contrary, that a single oral dose of doxycycline will “cure” a bacterial infection – even one that has likely spread throughout the body, including the heart and/or brain. Studies on animals have shown Bb can persist beyond this recommended treatment. Based on her review of the scientific evidence, the Minnesota Lyme Action Support Group medical advisor, Dr. Elizabeth Maloney, recommends at least 20 days of 100 mg doxycycline (for adults who can tolerate it) immediately after being bitten by a deer tick in a high-risk area (see map). If treatment is postponed after the bite, longer, more aggressive therapy should be discussed and decided upon between the patient and his or her Lyme specialist.

Thanks to the MBMP resolution, doctors who care for Lyme patients won’t worry about losing their license in the process.

Summer, Fall, Winter and Tick Season

(This article was originally published in the spring, 2010, issue of "Tree Farming for Better Forests")

Minnesotans like to joke that we have two seasons: Winter and Road Construction. I suggest we rename the second season Deer Tick Season. Deer tick season runs from last thaw to first frost, roughly April through November. This season coincides with some of our most joyful outdoor activities (gardening, hiking, bird watching) and our most loathed (yard clean-up, brush clearing, raking). Partaking in these pleasures and chores places us directly in the path of deer ticks, which carry Lyme disease, a potentially devastating illness, both for your health and your pocket book.

Lyme disease is the fastest-growing vector-borne infectious disease in the county. The following paragraphs are intended to keep you healthy by arming you with vital information for the coming deer tick season. You’ll learn how to landscape for a tick-free yard, how to spot a deer tick, and what to do if you get bit.

While deer ticks are found across Minnesota, ticks in the colored swath have been found to have high incidence of Borelia burgdorferi (Bb), the bacterial cause of Lyme disease.

LANDSCAPING

Deer ticks get their name from one of their favorite hosts, but they can also be carried by rodents and birds, allowing them to be dispersed almost anywhere. When not attached to a host, they prefer to hang out in shady, wooded areas, clinging to shrubs and tall grasses, waiting for their next meal ticket to pass by – possibly you or a member of your family. With this in mind, clearing the perimeter of your property is the first step to keeping ticks at bay. The Tick Management Handbook suggests clearing out shrubs and ground cover from the edge of your property and installing a three-foot buffer of gravel or wood chips. The buffer will keep you from brushing against the taller grass or shrubs while mowing. If you have a jungle gym or other yard furniture, install it as far from the wooded area as possible, and consider spraying the area with an insecticide that kills ticks.

Grass should be kept mowed; deer ticks that make their way onto a shorn lawn, especially if it is in a sunny patch, are likely to dehydrate without shade to protect them. To discourage deer from meandering into your yard, consider a deer fence or deer-resistant plantings. Ask your local nursery for suggestions on native, non-invasive plants that are distasteful to deer. To kill deer ticks on mice and other small rodents, set out toilet paper tubes filled with permethrin-soaked cotton balls that mice carry back to their nests, killing all ticks in the horde. If your pets are like mine, they will think these tubes are fun to play with, so put them where your pets and children cannot reach them.

Now that winter is over, you can discard the full body armor in favor of lighter, more skin-revealing attire, right? I leave it up to you to weigh the discomfort of covering your skin with clothing against the potential health risk of covering your skin with insecticide. Many people compromise by using a combination. Bug spray containing 30-40% DEET is recommended by the Tick Management Handbook for tick bite prevention. Keep in mind that coverage should be thorough; ticks will simply crawl to a spray-free zone on your body to feed. Clothing can also be made tick-repellant with the use of permethrin. The chemical bonds to clothing and can provide another layer of protection that kills ticks on contact. It can last on clothing and other outdoor gear (tents, furniture, etc) for several weeks, through at least one washing. You can find information on Minnesota-manufactured tick repellant products at buggspray.com.

TICK ID

However you choose to enjoy your day in the great outdoors, be sure to end it with a thorough tick check. Gather pets and other family members and make a game of it. Here’s what you’re looking for:

1 in 3 deer ticks in Minnesota carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, Bb; in high-risk areas, it’s 2 in 3. Some ticks also carry other infections, such as bartonella, babesiosis, and human anaplasmosis, which complicate an already complex disease.

If you find a tick, don’t freak out!.

With a pair of tweezers, grab as close to the skin as possible and pull straight out. Don’t do anything to irritate the tick; twisting it or using a lubricant such as petroleum jelly or nail polish remover can cause it to spit, which is exactly what you DON’T want to have happen. Place the tick in a plastic bag or jar to take to your doctor.

I’VE BEEN BITTEN, NOW WHAT?

If you have been bitten by a deer tick, go immediately to your family physician to request a dose of antibiotics. If you don’t have the evidence (the tick), you will need to tell your doctor where you were when you got bit and describe the culprit. Doctors in Lyme-endemic areas may not need to be told twice that you have been exposed to the disease. However, hundreds of Minnesotans report that they have difficulty convincing doctors that the threat of Lyme is real and that timely and appropriate treatment is required to prevent the illness. I only say this to prepare you to be persistent in requesting antibiotic therapy to keep Lyme or a co-infection from manifesting.

Dr. Elizabeth Maloney, a family physician who has extensively studied Lyme disease and now educates health-care practitioners on this topic, recommends that anyone bit by a deer tick, especially in the high-risk areas of Minnesota, request 20 days of 100mg doxycycline, provided they are able to safely take that medication. Studies in mice have shown that Bb survive shorter treatment times, such as the single oral dose of doxycycline that is recommended in prevailing guidelines. This antibiotic and dosage is not recommended for children under 8 or pregnant women; amoxicillin may be appropriate in those cases.

Dr. Maloney cautions against guessing how long the tick was attached. Some studies suggest that a deer tick must be attached for at least 24 hours to transmit Bb. However, if the tick has fed on something or someone else before it bites you, it could already have Bb in its saliva and transmit it to you immediately. Some doctors believe that if you don’t have a rash at the bite site, you haven’t been infected. No necessarily! Only 70% of people who get Lyme disease ever develop a rash. Incidentally, the most common Lyme rash is oval and uniformly colored; the bull’s eye pattern occurs in only 10-20% of all Lyme rashes. Above all, you must not agree to “wait and see.” Once the flu-like symptoms of early Lyme disease appear, rash or no, you have missed the opportunity to ward off the disease. Stick to your guns, and don’t leave the doctor’s office without the prescription.

For more information on Lyme disease and prevention, visit:

• Minnesota Lyme Action Support Group: www.mlasg.com
• International Lyme and Associated Disease Society: www.ilads.org
• Lyme Disease Association: www.lymediseaseassociation.org

Sources:

“Tick Management Handbook”

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/resources/handbook.pdf

“Challenge to the Recommendation on the Prophylaxis of Lyme disease” http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/written_testimony/5%20Maloney-Prophylaxis.pdf

“Active Infection: Clinical Definitions and Active Persistence”

http://www.mlasg.com/files/Active_Infection_Clinical_Definitions_and_Evidence_of_Persistence.pdf

Party With A Purpose

(This was originally posted at NEED Magazine on Oct 2


“Masala” is a mixture of spices, a staple of Indian cuisine. Masala Jam is a spicy blend of musical talent that will take the stage at Gluek’s Bar in Downtown Minneapolis on October 13 to benefit street children in India.

The hot list of performers includes the smooth jazz and R&B of Wain McFarlane and Friends, reggae from Ryan Liestman and Ipso Facto, and gospel and soul from JD Steel. Internationally-renowned guitarist and composer Billy McLaughlin will toss in some acoustic zest. The sultry vocals of George Scott McKelvey, of Rhythm Jones fame, will sweeten the lineup. Shawn Douglas, Brian David Band, Michael Wright and many others lend a hand in the cooking of this spicy blend of entertainment.

Masala Jam will benefit Care & Share, a foundation dedicated to giving “children their childhood back” by helping to alleviate the devastating effects of poverty on orphaned and street children, in Vijayawada, India. Care & Share supports three children’s villages, where nearly two- thousand orphans are schooled, clothed, fed, sheltered and nurtured in a loving community. The kids can stay active with skating, biking and soccer that are also on offer at the facilities.

Care & Share receives funding mostly through child sponsorship. Sponsors donate a dollar a day to an individual child, and develop a familial relationship through correspondence with the sponsored child and organization. “Every penny, except for some flyers and mailings, goes directly to the kids,” says Julie Roberts, U.S. director for Care & Share. Two hundred children are sponsored by Americans and 5,000 by citizens of Italy, with the need growing everyday, as more and more children are now losing their parents to AIDS.

Daddy’s Home, the original of the three villages, is “the most joyful place I’ve found in India,” says Roberts, a Northwest pilot. She was a volunteer for 10 years before taking her current position with the organization, based in Venice, Italy. She said she was depressed each time she visited India by not being able to make a difference in the wretched lives of thousands of street children who suffered from malnutrition, neglect, abuse, and prostitution. Once she discovered the village, she committed fully to their work, sponsoring seven children and adopting two into her family.

In addition to the villages, which employ many villagers, Care & Share brings milk, food, medical care and education into the slums of Vijayawada. Approximately 30% of the population of the city lives in the slums, lacking hygiene, sanitation and clean drinking water. The organization estimates it provides 5,242 meals a day to the children in their care, as well as those living with their families in the slums.

Last year, the usually-reliable monsoon season never materialized, causing widespread drought. This has lead to food shortages and hiking food prices. “We’re in a panic. You can’t just have all these kids relying on you and say ‘sorry, no food,’” says Roberts. Masala Jam is a response to the call for immediate help to buy food.

Wain McFarlane, who is helping organize the benefit, said when he found out about the tragic lives of the street children, he had to take part. He said it’s important to help save these children, many of whom were living like slaves for “bad guys with negative interests” before being taken off the streets by Care & Share. “I expect it to be an incredible night of music that will set your soul on fire, and for a great cause.”

Saving Lives, One Chair at a Time

(this was first published at NEED on August 26)

The dialysis clinic had just opened in Guayaquil, Ecuador, when Juan Carlos was wheeled in, clinging to life. He was so bloated, nobody could tell if he was a boy or a girl. Juan’s mother, learning of the possibility of saving her son’s life, “sold everything they owned, sold the chickens for bus fare” to get Juan to the clinic for help, said Ginny Mello, Executive Director of Bridge of Life (BOL), a charitable arm of Davita, a leading dialysis provider in the US. Until that day, Juan had felt he didn’t want to go on living, didn’t want to burden his family with expensive dialysis treatment from a private hospital. Within days of receiving the dialysis that saved his life, Juan Carlos said that he now wants to be a doctor.

The non-profit clinic in Ecuador was the first of several BOL would open in subsequent years in developing countries, where kidney disease means certain death for anyone who can’t afford the expensive, ongoing treatment. Mello, who was a full-time Davita employee, and her husband, who is the company’s Chief Operating Officer, founded BOL to share their knowledge and passion, to “take what we know that works here and transplant it to a place where it doesn’t exist” in developing countries, said Mello. Davita donates equipment, expertise and employee hours to get the clinics up and running, which takes about a year.

Our kidneys filter excess water and waste from our blood and make urine. The two leading causes of kidney disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, can damage the blood vessels, causing kidneys to shut down. In developing countries, another risk factor for kidney disease is lack of knowlege, causing poor people to become very sick before seeking care. In addition, lack of understanding of the disease among medical professionals decreases the number of patients who are properly diagnosed and treated in early stages of the disease. Instances of kidney disease are not well-tracked in developing countries, but are believed to be much higher than in the U.S., where millions suffer with the disease, according to The National Kidney Disease Eduction Program.

For Bridge of Life, choosing a partner in an under-served area of the globe is the first hurdle. Since BOL doesn’t operate the clinics, the in-country partner, maybe a small hospital, must be able to financially sustain the dialysis clinic, be geographically accessible, and be able to offer nurse and physician expertise. Once a partner is identified, BOL helps to build the clinic, bringing in nephrologists, nurses and technicians who donate their vacation time to train local staff how to operate and maintain the machines. BOL staff and volunteers return for a clinic review every six months for three years, and clinics should be self-sufficient thereafter.

Water used in dialysis has to be cleaner than U.S. tap water. Another challenge is identifying a location with an abundant water supply needed to run the dialysis machines, with a local supplier of parts for the water filtration system. BOL is overcoming these challenges and more, one clinic at a time, at clinics in Cameroon, India, Ecuador, Guatemala and the Philippines. “We are saving hundreds, not thousands, of lives,” said Mello, who admits there aren’t enough dialysis chairs in the world for all the people who need them. But she remains passionate about her mission to help as many people like Juan Carlos as possible. “Who knows what he will do with his life? He may touch another one hundred or a thousand lives.”

Sowing Seeds of Change

(this was first published at NEED on July 16)

In our fast-paced culture of product-based outcomes, one Minnesota group is cultivating relationships that break down the barriers to food justice for people of color, women and the poor, something you can’t hold in your hand.

The Minnesota Food and Justice Alliance (MFJA) is a loose affiliation of groups whose primary raison d’etre may be to cultivate community, mostly urban, gardens, but who also recognize the gardeners involved are mostly white and middle class. The groups “each have a special interest in training people of color to garden” and get access to fresh, healthy food, said Melvin Giles, a self-described community peacemaker and coordinator for MFJA. Tom Guettler, the group’s volunteer and workshop coodinator, said, “White folks show up first because we are already tapped into the system. But, there’s something more than just saying we want to be diverse.”

For the middle class, a grocery store that stocks locally-grown produce, eggs and meat, can be easily reached by car and might be taken for granted. But in economically-depressed neighborhoods, where many people of color live, the choices of fresh food are slim, driving high rates of fast-food consumption, leading to higher instances of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. The food justice movement is attempting to address these food access issues. Sarah Claassen, Minnesota-based Land Stewardship Project organizer and MFJA member, said, “There are huge racial disparities in our food and agricultural system today. It’s working real well for some people,” referring to factory farms, “and not well at all for [small] farmers, for eaters, for people who want to grow our food here and for people who want to be in control of their food system.” But she believes that solutions have to be community-based. “Where there are the biggist barriers, there is the biggest innovation. A lot of the solutions being proposed aren’t being decided by those people,” such as how to grow a lot of food in the smallest space with very little waste. “I think the solution is different for every community. We need to maintain relationships with rural communities. I don’t see a food system where everything is grown in the city, but we do need to empower people to make those decisions.”

“Land is the biggest barrier” to urban community gardening, so forming relationships between stakeholders is essential, said Giles. For example, CSA (community-supported agriculture) is a program where local farmers provide what they raise to city dwellers who might otherwise buy supermarket goods that have been shipped from thousands of miles away. Giles said one neighborhood’s answer was to make a deal with a grower to allow them to pay for their CSA in installments.

“Education to action is something we’re committed to, not just talking to talk,” said Claassen. In this spirit, MFJA has agreed to sign on to Homegrown Minneapolis, an initiative to build a stronger local food system, with the stipulation that racial equity and accountability be stated goals. Giles, Guettler and Claassen also offer a workshop for community garden groups in which they talk about white privilege, encouraging the groups to create a safe place for conversations about the barriers to food justice in their communities. “Smart, white folks tend to take a world view of things. They externalize as opposed to looking in the garden and in themselves. Our goal is to get people to look inside and say, ‘What’s going on here? Who’s here? Who’s not here? What can I do about it?’”

Tom Guettler MFJA Coordinator 651-307-5691 (no website, but information will be shared on other group’s websites)

Tourism on Their Own Terms

(this was first published at NEED on July 14)

Sam Bailey was surfing his way up the western coast of Peru last year, taking advantage of the warm waters and hospitality. Crossing into Ecuador, he traveled through many interesting beach towns in various stages of development, and arrived in the small town of Canoa, on the north coast.

Bailey noticed that tourism in many of the villages had been taken over by outside industry, where big companies had come in and set up hotels and restaurants without concern for the natural environment or local customs. The fishing village of Canoa, which also catered to surfers, was still unspoiled, with most roads still unpaved, and where electricity goes out every once in a while. It was obvious to Bailey that tourism was coming to Canoa, but he hoped he could help the villagers build their industry on their own terms.

His idea was to start a camp for college-aged students, where they could learn to surf and take on environmental projects. “Surfing is a solitary sport. Surfers don’t see beyond themselves when they return to the beach,” Bailey said. He wanted to change that dynamic when he approached one of the locals, Daniel Velasco, a town leader and fellow surfer who runs a posada (small hotel) in Canoa. According to Bailey, Velasco didn’t trust the idea at first, fearing it was another way to exploit the village. But Bailey convinced him that he was sincere, assuring him the groups would patronize locally-owned hotels and restaurants, spreading money around in the local economy. Also, each group member would donate money to the local grade school. Velasco agreed to introduce Bailey to the community and helped facilitate what became Eco-Surf Volunteers.

The school, La Escuela los Algarrobos (named after a kind of native tree) includes English as a Second Language and environmental education in their curriculum. At the school, the ES volunteers facilitate arts and crafts sessions conducted in English. Moya Foley, the school administrative and financial director, a Canadian who has lived in Ecuador for 30 years, said the financial donation helped complete some construction on two new classrooms, and the volunteers “worked their butts off moving dirt, sanding, painting and generally doing whatever we needed done.”

In addition to helping out at the school, the volunteers lead the village children on beach clean-ups, to “get ahold of their attitudes about clean-up” early in life. The volunteers’ hard work – about four hours a day – is rewarded with two-hour daily surf lessons, given by locals. “I think the most important thing the volunteers talk back to their countries as an experience, is the cultural immersion they have and the contact with the community ,” said Velasco. He was particularly satisfied with the impression the volunteers made on the village children. “To see the volunteers working on the school activities and watching them as they walk to do beach cleanups, and collecting garbage on the street . . . they are used to seeing tourist partying or laying on the beach reading, maybe getting a wrong idea about life, but this way they can understand that life is not about that.”

The programs have been a big hit with the kids. “The first day we had about 20 kids and on the last day we had 90!” said Foley. They are “looking forward to the volunteer’s return. They stop me on the streeet, the older ones, and ask me when they are coming back.”

Bailey is planning several more camps through 2010, but envisions the people of Canoa eventually taking over operation of the camps themselves. “The town is still discovering what is needed. They want progress, but want to do it in a careful way. Their biggest concern is developing the tourist industry while maintaining cultural identity.”

Kids These Days!

(this was first published at NEED on June 23 and June 25)

DoSomething.org was founded to dispel the myth that teenagers are apathetic, using “the power of the internet to help young people change the world,” and for 16 years has been empowering them with money and tools to do good work. Each week the organization gives two $500 grants, one for seed projects and one for disaster relief. Each year, they give $10,000 grants to several young finalists whose vision and effort have really made a difference. A grand prize is awarded to one of those finalists to continue their work. This year, on June 4, Maggie Doyne won $100,000 for her Kopila Valley Children's Home in Nepal, which she built using babysitting money. The other 2009 finalists – the rock stars of social change – are Marvelyn Brown, David Burstein, Eric Glustrom, and Darius Weems. Read on to learn the awesome stories of these young people who don’t know the meaning of “apathetic.”


Maggie Doyne – Kopila Valley Children's Home
A vision, a shovel and a stash of babysitting money was all Maggie needed to build a children’s home in Nepal. At the end of her senior year in high school, Maggie says she took what was supposed to be a year off to travel to learn her purpose in the world. One stop was an orphanage in India, where she had been told volunteers were needed. From there she traveled to Nepal, where she met hundreds more street children without the most basic necessities. “I’d seen orphanages that were causing more problems than helping,” Maggie said, where kids are more susceptible to disease than they are on the streets. “They come out with no skills and end up right back on the streets.” She resolved to build a children’s home, and talked to everyone who would listen about how to make that happen. She then identified a piece of land in a valley beside a stream. When she found out the asking price - $5000, exactly the amount she had in the bank – she knew it was meant to be. Orphans who truly have nobody to turn to are taken in at the Kopila Home, where 26 children, ages 3-10, learn sewing, gardening and husbandry, skills they will need in their region of Nepal, where subsistence farming is the norm. Maggie believes the road to peace is through children. “Until we start looking at the lives of children in countries where violence is prevalent, violence will prevail.”

Marvelyn Brown – Marvelous Connections
At 19, Marvelyn was having a good time. She partied and hung out with friends, without a care in the world. She started flirting with a guy from work, and was flattered to be considered his lovely, sexy “accessory.” That is, until he infected her with HIV. In high school, when HIV had been discussed, Marvelyn had shrugged off the information, thinking HIV was an infection reserved for drug users and prostitutes. So when an unrelated hospital visit prompted tests that came up positive for HIV, she was shocked. Marvelyn met others who were infected and realized she “wasn’t the only one who had missed the information” about HIV. Ignorance was affecting more than just her. As word of her diagnosis spread quickly from friends out into the community, she understood the impact her story could have on other young people. “I realized the power of my voice.” These days, as the head of her own consulting agency, Marvelous Connections, Marvelyn goes around the country into “high schools, colleges, universities, churches, sweet 16 parties, anywhere I can get the word out” because, she says, young people need an example. “They need to see someone who has it, how easily they can get it, that it’s not the image that you think.” The Marvelous Connections 2009 tour is aimed at reducing the stigma of HIV and influencing 5,000 students to get informed and tested.

David Burstein – “18 in ‘08”
David wasn’t old enough to vote when he realized his generation was underrepresented at the polls. He was 16 during the 2004 elections, and the story that was repeating over and over on TV was that today’s youth don’t get involved in politics. He decided then and there to do something to spur his peers – “a generation that has so much at stake, ranging from education to college tuition, from health care to global climate change” – to get involved in the 2008 presidential election. “Whatever way they get involved, we don’t take sides. That they get involved is what’s important to us.” David launched a non-partisan campaign aimed at launching activism and encouraging voter registration, featuring young people and politicians alike. The first tool, a documentary targeting 17 to 24-yr-olds, was sold across the country. The Los Angeles and New York City school districts bought the film to show in civics classes. Sales of the film funded the making of public service announcements featuring celebrities and policy forums that were held around the country. The campaign encouraged 25,000 new voters, said Burstein. But he didn’t stop there. Since the election, “18 in ’08” continues to spur political participation through policy forums that spark discussion and ideas about how to solve the problems that will be facing his generation for years to come. “Young people are increasingly drifting away from party, moving toward ideas, beliefs. As a political observer, I think that’s a good thing.”

Eric Glustrom – Educate!
Eric was told he was too young to go Africa alone. He’d only ever been to Canada. His parents had misgivings about sending him to Uganda to execute his idea, to make a video about life in the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement. It was the summer after his junior year of high school, but Eric, 17, would not be deterred and his parents finally consented. The first person he met when he stepped off the bus would become his best friend and the catalyst for an initiative to educate people to become leaders for social change in their country. Benson Olivier had lost his family and was now living in the refugee camp and dealing with the challenges all refugees face: malnutrition, poverty, malaria, threat of violence, and hopelessness. Benson said he needed an education so he could help solve these pressing problems, and Eric made a commitment to help, paying for Benson’s education. Since 2002, Educate! has evolved into a network of U.S. high school and college groups that mentor Ugandan students, ages 16 to19, through the two-year leadership curriculum. The first students to graduate have taken their leadership skills and “started an orphanage, sent 70 kids to school, and raised over $10,000 from farming,” to fund it all themselves, Eric said. They have “directly impacted 9,000 people, about half the people” in the settlement. But, he says, the biggest thing Educate! has done for the people of Kyangwali was to believe in them, to give them confidence to create change.

Darius Weems – “Darius Goes West”
In the summer of ’05, Darius and his buddies took a road trip. Twelve guys, most still in high school, jumped in the van and headed west, from their home in Georgia to California, in the hopes of getting MTV to pimp Darius’ ride. Video camera in hand, it was a typical adolescent lark, except for one thing: Darius suffers with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Darius’ ride is a wheelchair. DMD is a genetic disease that causes the deterioration of the voluntary muscles, eventually leading to heart failure, usually before the age of 30. Darius hoped that an appearance on a national TV show would bring much-needed attention to the disease that is 100% fatal. He didn’t get on MTV that time, but they have since offered to produce a news special about Darius and DMD. Darius’s friend, Logan Smalley, the videographer for the cross-country trip, spent a year editing what became “Darius Goes West,” a documentary that has won 28 film festivals awards worldwide. When they began to get requests for copies of the movie from around the country, they decided to sell the DVD, donating proceeds for DMD research, which so far amounts to $1.6 million. “It’s not always about what you do for yourself,” Darius said. “Putting a smile on the faces of parents with kids with this disease, giving them a little hope, makes me want to keep on fighting. It won’t save me, but these kids are the ones who will discover a cure in the future.”