Cinderella and an NGO

Bruce Lansky has written a marvelous version of Cinderella. (Lansky, Bruce, ed. 1995. Girls to the Rescue, Book I. New York; Meadowbrook Press) Instead of the insipid version that Disney has cursed us with, he introduces the concept that Cinderella should be an active participant in shaping the events of her life.

This take starts off with the fairy godmother suffering from overwork. She is about to take a long vacation. Before leaving, she passes on her responsibilities to her assistant. So, in other words, the work is shared.

When the assistant worries about her abilities, the fairy godmother says, “Don’t worry. You are sensible. I’m sure you’ll find a way to handle whatever comes up.” (Lansky, p. 2)

The first person to come sniveling for help is Ella (Cinderella). She whines and complains about almost everything. The fairy godmother’s assistant listens carefully and says, “I wish I could help you, but I make lemonade, not magic . . . There’s not much I can do. It is really up to you. ” (Ibid. p. 3)

Ella is startled. She thinks of one “what if” after another. But with each complaint, the assistant throws Ella back on her own resources. She tells her to make her own gown from velvet curtains; to go to the ball in her bare feet; to walk if there is no other way; and to be sure to tell the prince not to step on her feet! “After all, what do you have to lose?” (Ibid. p. 6)

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A friend of mine, Shoichi Kashikuma, loves to travel. He is Japanese, but was born in Taiwan. Any Japanese born in “foreign lands” seems to have a special door open in their psyches that others here often do not have. It is a uniqueness that allows for creativity and imagination to enter, sometimes in very interesting ways.

After many years of seeing the world, almost in its entirety, Kashikuma realized it was time to give something back. Although he recognized tremendous need was everywhere, for practical reasons he selected an Asian country. His country of choice was Nepal.

He started his altruistic work by assisting in a Japanese NGO in Nepal. However, he soon found their philosophy and his were very different. So, he decided to start his own.

As a down-to-earth idealist with many years of experience in the corporate world, he knew where to make connections, how to raise money, and the most productive ways to spend it. His field of choice was in rural health care.

Kashikuma was wise enough to see that educating the children could transform entire communities. That was because to instruct children, the teachers would have to learn about basic health care. And once the kids learned and practiced simple, but effective preventive measures, they would be required to teach their parents what they had learned. That, too, was part of the program. So, the process would go from the teachers to the children, to the families, to the village. The world could be transformed one person at a time.

Kashikuma’s NGO has three prongs. There is SATHI, which is the Japanese branch. It provides advice and financial support. Then there are ECHO and HCHC, which are Nepalese. They provide local professionals such as doctors, nurses and other health care workers. They go from village to village, training children and teachers and also giving health exams and basic medications.

The health instructions are such that the villagers themselves can implement most of them. They include basic practices concerning personal hygiene, diet, and exercise. For example, they learn about washing hands, keeping fingernails clipped, brushing teeth, washing clothes regularly, cleaning toilets daily, and being very careful about water. Kids are also taught about a varied diet according to what is available. In addition, they are instructed to look for signs of intestinal worms.

The doctors run a de-worming program, which is proving very successful. In one school the number of kids having worms dropped from a whopping 48.7% to a mere 11.5% in less than two years’ time.

The yearly check-ups are basic. They include a consultation with the visiting doctor or nurse plus an exam for height and weight. Those three things indicate whether a child is growing properly and if he or she has worms or not.

Once a visiting Japanese doctor wanted to give complete health exams, as they do in Japan. She especially wanted to do eye tests. However, Kashikuma refused. “Keep it basic. We are not here to provide services that the local people will not continue after we leave. They themselves have to recognize their own problems and seek ways to solve them. If we agree, we will provide what financial support we can. We will not be here forever. We are here to encourage and train people to do things themselves.”

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Hmm . . . It seems there is no fairy godmother waving a magic wand. There are assistants, yes, but ones who encourage people to use what they have, be creative, help one another, and figure things out for themselves.

And the success? SATHI will soon be awarded funding from the Japanese government. More girls are becoming involved in the rural health program. And this three-pronged endeavor is planning to expand deeper into the countryside.

Kashikuma, now in his 60’s, sees himself involved for about another five years. But he trusts those he has helped to train will manage fine without him. Then he will know his life’s work has been a success.

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And Ella? She realized she was tired of living in ashes and doing as others expected. So, she left home and set up her own dressmaking shop. Last heard, she was doing very well indeed.