Maria Jose Caraveo Guerrero

ESSAY #3 - THE CNN HEROES

The CNN heroes are people who make extraordinary contributions to humanitarian aid and
make a difference in their communities. In this essay I will talk about 5 of them that seem
extraordinary to me.
Jenifer Colpas
She grew up in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is currently 31
years old, and is a co-founder of the Tierra Grata
organization. It wasn't until after college, when she moved to
India for a job in information technology, that she appreciated
the vast social inequalities people endure, after that, she
returned to Colombia, settled in Cartagena and volunteered
with community organizations that helped people living in
poverty.
In 2015, with the help of friends, Colpas co-founded Tierra Grata. Today, the non-profit
provides access to clean water, solar-powered lights and electricity along with eco-toilets
and showers for remote rural communities throughout Colombia.
I chose her because I think the actions she takes to help poor people and underserved
communities are extraordinary. These people do not receive the help from the government
that they should receive, so it is very important that these types of organizations exist, so
that they can help in the best way, and also with a minimum impact on the environment.
Ava Kaufman
Ava Kaufman is a 71 years old woman from Los Angeles. Twelve years ago, she was fighting
for her life when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that destroyed her
muscular system. In what she calls a series of small miracles, Kaufman was given a second
chance at life. On her birthday in 2009, she received a new heart and was put in a medically
induced coma for two months. When she was brought out of the coma, she thought she was
dying and promised God if she could live to raise her young daughter, she would do
everything she could to give back. Today, Kaufman is doing just that.
Kaufman started the non-profit, Ava's Heart. She and her
organization offer transplant patients services that are often
not covered by insurance, including food, gas, co-pays on
medications, and housing.
I chose her because I think that not many people think
about the expenses and difficulties that people who receive
a transplant have, just as there are many people who do not receive transplants because
they cannot pay for their nursing home, so this organization helps many people and families
so they can receive transplants and continue living.
Maria Jose Caraveo Guerrero

Wesley Hamilton
Wesley Hamilton is a man from Kansas City, Missouri who in 2012 got caught up in an
altercation with a stranger outside an apartment complex. The man shot Hamilton twice in
his abdomen. He survived, suffering a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the
waist down. At 24, he became a single father in a wheelchair. A year later, Hamilton was
diagnosed with a pressure ulcer on his tailbone from the extended hours of sitting. He
underwent six surgeries and spent the next two years confined to bed rest. In the years
following his injury, Hamilton said he became dangerously overweight, depressed and
suicidal. But the love for his daughter inspired him to try to be a better person.
He started a healthy eating regimen and took up
weightlifting. He lost 100 pounds within a year. He
became an award-winning adaptive athlete and
eventually a certified adaptive CrossFit instructor.
Through his journey, Hamilton realized he wanted to
help other people with disabilities regain their
livelihood.
Since 2017, his non-profit, Disabled But Not Really, has empowered 45 people through
adaptive physical training and nutrition coaching, helping them take their health back into
their own hands and rise above their limitations.
I chose him because I believe that people who, thanks to their own experience that affects
them, were inspired to help people in the same situation, are very empathetic and honorable,
like Hamilton who helps people to get ahead and overcome difficulties like the ones that he
also had to pass.
David Flink
David Flink was a boy who had trouble concentrating in school. At 11, Flink was diagnosed
with ADHD and dyslexia. With the support of his parents and the right school, Flink
graduated high school and went to Brown University.
When he got to college, he found a community of students who
also had learning differences. Together with five of them, Flink
started a mentoring program for nearby elementary school
students who had a learning disability. They called the program
Eye to Eye.
Since 1998, Eye to Eye has grown into a nationwide non-profit
that pairs middle school children who have a learning difference
with a college or high school mentor who also has a learning difference.
As I said before, people who help other people not to go through the same difficulties that
they had to go through are very empathetic, just like David. I think it is a very good idea for
children with learning differences to be educated by teachers who also have learning
differences, since in this way the children feel understood and can learn at a rate that they
understand much better.
Maria Jose Caraveo Guerrero

Patricia Gordon
Dr. Patricia Gordon is radiation oncologist and the founder of
the non-profit CureCervicalCancer.
On a medical trip to West Africa with a group of medical
oncologists, Dr. Patricia Gordon realized how many women
were needlessly being killed by a preventable, treatable
disease: cervical cancer. During their trip in 2012, the team had
some unforeseen downtime and arranged to provide cervical cancer screenings for women
in a remote and hard-hit area of Senegal.
Treatable if caught early, cervical cancer is prevalent in remote and resource-poor countries
like Senegal where pap smears aren't readily available and preventative health care isn't
accessible. Using a method Gordon and others call "See & Treat," screening can be done
without needing electricity and with a few transportable supplies.
Next, Gordon partnered with two other doctors and traveled to Ethiopia; this time they
brought the cryotherapy devices with them. The results were similar. Using basic "See &
Treat" techniques, the group detected and treated dozens of women and trained local nurses
to do the same.
At the end of that trip, the team left a suitcase full of supplies with the trained nurses so they
could take them to underserved clinics.
After 27 years, Gordon left her private practice in 2014 to devote all her time to
CureCervicalCancer. She and her group use the "See & Treat" model along with what they
call a "Clinic in a Suitcase" to deliver screening, training and supplies to clinics around the
world. The organization has since worked in 10 countries, including China, Haiti, Guatemala,
Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Vietnam.
In the last nine years, the non-profit has also established 106 sustainable clinics to screen
and treat women in remote and underserved areas.
I chose her because I can understand the sadness of seeing how women die from a disease
that is completely treatable, however, because they do not have the resources and places
to treat themselves, they end up unable to be cured. It is admirable the way she helps the
women they support to continue living.