Marilyn (right) with her friend, Ruby

Marilyn Varn is a charming and vivacious woman who looks as if she is used to luxury. She loves her job as a Sales Representative for Mobilex and has a great life in Chicago filled with business and leisure travel. She has also been going to Ecuador on annual trips with Zully (the founder of Causes for Change), since 1996 when they made their first trip.

Marilyn and Zully found that they had something in common, a fairly rough childhood dealing with physical disability and painful memories of ignorance and humiliation. Marilyn was born with club feet, was in and out of hospital for months at a time, and suffered physically until she was about 15 years old. She missed school and had to have a private tutor. She didn’t completely release the psychological pain until much later. She wanted to turn her experiences into something positive and started looking for an opportunity to help kids with disabilities. Then she met Zully.

The two women decided to go to Zully’s tiny home town in Ecuador called Kilometer 26 (too small for a real town name) and see what they could do. They took with them a video that Zully had made about domestic violence.  Marilyn smiled fondly as she recalled acting in skits portraying a woman who is beaten by her drunk husband. They called a meeting for women only which made all the men curious about what could be so important that they weren’t invited. The word she used to describe the challenges there was ‘overwhelming’. Almost everywhere they turned there was some issue that could benefit from their help. On that trip and subsequent trips they addressed domestic abuse, dental issues, medical issues, even things as simple as boiling the water before you drink it. Seemingly insignificant issues, like picking up trash, are trivial by themselves but add up to big changes in the quality of life. They also found that they were able to motivate the local people, especially the women, to examine how they could improve their environment by themselves.

Marilyn has returned almost every year since then with a short break after 9/11. She has many stories to tell. On one trip they ran out of soap. She ran out to a nearby stall in the town to buy some more. When you speak very little Spanish, like Marilyn, you may be tempted to say the English word ‘soap’ and simply add an ‘a’ for Spanish. So that’s what she did. They looked puzzled at the request but agreed to get her some. Some twenty minutes later, after Marilyn was wondering what was taking so long, they presented her with a delicious bowl of soup. On a trip into the jungle she decided to wait for the group to return from climbing some steep rocks rather than join them. She waited alone as night fell wondering about snakes, owls and bats hoping that they didn’t forget about her entirely. Luckily, her friend Kate came back to rescue her from the snakes.

The harsh conditions that they endure for a few weeks and is more than rewarded by the people they visit. Marilyn says that they are treated like rock stars everywhere they go and, of course, there is wonderful satisfaction from being able to make a difference.  ‘After my first trip’ Marilyn said ’I was very happy to be back and actually kissed the ground when I arrived in Chicago!’ She had been very sick with diarrhea while she was there but still returned the following year. ‘I love the people who have so little but are so happy!’

‘This year, I am going with my friend Grace, an 11 year old. I hope that she will be able to see a third world country with different eyes when she comes back’. Marilyn also lights up when she talks about her dreams for the Exploration Institute. ‘If I won the lottery’, she says with a sparkle in her eye, ‘the dream of a school for kids with disabilities would become a reality’. Right now children with disabilities in Ecuador don’t go to school, their parents are embarrassed and there are no wheelchairs for them.

Causes for Change thanks Marilyn for all her many years of cheerful dedication, enthusiasm and fun-loving sense of adventure.  We wish her and Grace all the best on their trip this July.

The event is hosted by Chicago Public Radio this Saturday, April 28th. We would love to see you! Come say hello to Causes for Change International, to our volunteers, and partners: COPA Airlines and Alder Healing Center; participate in a raffle of two travel tickets with our preferred travel partner: COPA Airlines from Chicago-Panama-Chicago; Art purchases and other items created by volunteers will also be available. Get updated on the work of Causes and prepare to volunteer in our travel mission, and in many other ways. We are a 100% volunteer organization.

The Global Activism Expo is also an incredible opportunity to meet similarly-minded organizations, representing work in over 100 countries with efforts ranging from helping establish dental clinics, sending bicycles to Latin America, to providing medical services in Haiti, and so much more. Complete with food, music and over 100 Chicago-area Global Activists we promise it will be worth your while!

This year we have the opportunity to share and visit with you in a workshop setting. You have the opportunity to participate in a travel ticket prize with our preferred travel partner Copa Airlines.
CLASSROOM G: Health and Nutrition
1:00pm: Causes for Change: Supporting communities through partnerships
Causes for Change International and COPA Air

Details of the Expo:

What: Global Activism Expo hosted by Chicago Public Radio
When: Saturday, April 28th • 12:00pm – 6:00pm
Where: UIC Forum 725 W Roosevelt Rd. Chicago, IL 60607
Cost: FREE Admission!

Causes for Change and COPA Airlines Raffle Criteria

• Must be 18 years of age
• Make a gift of ten dollars for name entry into Causes COPA Airlines raffle
• Or donate dental supplies
• Or donate sunglasses

• Tickets are valid for Coach Class travel on Copa Airlines, and may only be used for the above-mentioned activity.
• Your travel must take place within one (1) year from above date. Once ticket is issued is valid for 90 days.
• Tickets are not transferable, not refundable. Route changes are not permitted and tickets may not be sold.
• Upgrades are not allowed.
• Reservations must be made at least 30 days in advance of the departure date and are subject to availability.
• Passenger will be responsible for any excess baggage fees.
• Copa Airlines is not responsible for the payment of government or airport taxes imposed by city of origin or destination. Such taxes must be paid when the tickets are issued.

We look forward to seeing you for many years to come!

Grace wrote a touching essay about why she wants to volunteer in Ecuador

Grace Dalton will be one of the youngest people to go on a medical mission when she goes with our group in July. She wrote an essay about who she is, what she expects to do on the trip and how she plans to help. She sounds like she will be an enthusiastic team member and a great ambassador. We thought you would like to read her essay it in its entirety.

My name is Grace Dalton, and I will be 12 on July 7th. I have 2 sisters, a brother, and a sister-in-law. We also have a dog and will be getting another one soon. I have a lot of friends and some best friends. Some of my friend’s names are Nora, Lindy, Madi, Eliana, Natalie, Lucia, Rhia, and Molly. I am very involved with the arts. I am in a program called “BRAVO” which is a performing arts program. I have been in five plays and I am on my sixth play right now. We are doing “Hairspray Jr.” I will also be doing a play before I go to Ecuador called “The Aristocats.”

I am choosing to be a part of this mission because I have never done something that impacts people this much and helps the health of others. I live around people that are very healthy and fit and so that had an impact on me. So, I would like to help others stay healthy and get the hygiene they need. Also, I think it’s a chance to really experience a different environment and to interact with people who need more help than people in my town need. It would be nice to help people for a change rather than complain about what I don’t have. It will be challenging for me, but life is a challenge and I have to look through other people’s perspective. Just being there will inspire me to make better choices and have a better life.

What I want the people of Ecuador and the team (particularly the kids) to get out of my participation is that I am a role model especially to the girls. I want to have a sister relationship with the younger girls and teach them how to sing, dance, and play sports. Of course, they probably know how to do at least one of those things, but I want to help them get better at what they love to do.

I would like to take on responsibilities before the trip like collecting things such as clothes, school supplies, toys and buying toothbrushes. Next, I will be making designs for the “Causes for Change” t-shirts and telling my friends to submit their designs. Also, I will be telling my principal about what I am doing and see if I can make a fundraiser. Next, I will learn more Spanish and buy face paint.

What I see my responsibility during the trip is entertaining the kids and helping the other U.S. ambassadors with their patients or if they need me to bring something to them or carry something for them, I will do that. Also, if there is a long line I will ask people in line if they need any help or, I will ask their kids if they want their face painted. In other words, I will do whatever is needed.

As a U.S. ambassador I would like the people of Ecuador to know about my country, family, and friends in a lot of good ways and some bad ways. Well, the good things are my family is a very healthy family, my friends are so loving and funny, and my country has so much love and commitment to staying healthy and happy. The bad thing is that we don’t have the best economy and not everyone is healthy. I don’t think there is anything bad about my friends or family. Maybe sometimes my friends and I get in fights but it all turns out fine. Then, we don’t really have any problems in our family but we used to until my parents and I reviewed the Landmark Forum.

In conclusion, I can’t wait to go to Ecuador. It is going to be so much fun and it will be a great experience.

Off to play with their new toys

It is said that children at age 4 laugh about 400 times a day. When you grow up you laugh about 15 times a day.  So what happened to 385 opportunities to laugh every day? Did our problems become bigger? Our responsibilities more of a burden? Maybe. These children seem to be good at being happy with a toy motorbike and a doll. They probably have  a lot less resources than you. And yet they are smiling. How come? We could learn a few things from these children: always be on the lookout for some fun.

In many parts of the world they are a thing of beauty. They have transformed the lives of people who formerly had to lie in bed all day because they couldn’t get up and walk around. Imagine, not only are you unable to walk, you are also stuck in the house all day, feeling bored at best, useless and depressed at worst.

With some changes and additions the chair becomes the access to mobility for people in rural areas of Latin America. We partnered with Free Wheel Chair Mission, a non-profit organization based in California. They have some inspiring stories of their own on their website. So far we have sent a container of 550 chairs to Ecuador at a cost of $40,000. We are planning, with fundraising help from the Lions Club and the Rotary Club to send another container to Ecuador within the next two months. We are also planning to send one to Panama. This, however, may take a little longer as it’s the first time we will be sending a container there and customs rules are different for every country.

At the end, it’s all worth it. The fundraising, figuring out customs regulations, assembling the chairs, is all rewarded by the smiles on the faces of the people who become mobile again.

We always have loads of fun at the Jewelry and Accessories Mini-Markets, not only because we raise money to defray travel expenses on our missions, but also we check out pretty things while having a glass of wine and some snacks. We catch up with friends, make new friends, see what jewelry and accessories other people don’t love anymore and maybe find something that we can love newly. We doubled the fun when we added accessories like scarves and sunglasses to the jewelry.  Who doesn’t love looking fabulous!

Last year we had a couple of pairs of sunglasses that didn’t sell. Zully took them with her to Ecuador as they were lightweight and didn’t take up much room. One day she saw two ladies squinting in the sun. She remembered the sunglasses in her bag! The ladies loved them and perked right up! It was a good reminder that people are the same the world over, we all like to look glamorous and let our inner beauty shine on the outside too.

Representatives of Causes for Change International and Causas para el Cambio Panama, met with the Planning Committee of the Office of the First Lady of Panama today.  The Honorable Marta Linares de Martinelli and the committee were introduced to “The Exploration Institute” a one-of-a-kind facility, and designed specifically to serve children and youth with varying and differing abilities.  When complete, it is intended to become the benchmark and inspiration for similar facilities worldwide.

The Exploration Institute is being developed by experts in early childhood education, physical medicine, occupational therapy, social work, architecture, and disability advocacy, just to name a few. During the meeting, the concept and its benefits were discussed in great detail. The First Lady expressed deep interest in learning more about The Exploration Institute and how the Government of Panama can contribute.  

Causes for Change International and Causas para el Cambio Panama will do the follow up necessary with this committee and organize a second meeting for further discussion, provide them with the information requested regarding cost, and responsibility in executing a project of this magnitude.  We are extremely excited by this enormous first step and the following steps required in making The Exploration Institute a reality.

For more on The Exploration Institute, click here.

I am always touched and moved when I read the words of The Teacher’s Prayer by Gabriela Mistral, the Chilean poet and first Latin American Woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“let me be more mother than the mother

herself in my love and defense  of the child

who is not flesh of my flesh. Help me to make

one of my children my most perfect poem, and

leave within him or her my most melodious melody

from that day when my own lips no longer sing.”

The many times that I am asked why I do what I do with Causes the question has me ponder on the innocence of childhood and the importance of protecting and taking care of the children.

The children in the many villages and communities we have visited are very inquisitive about where we come from, the world, how to get an education, and how to become successful and help their parents and communities.

They do not desire pity or be a cause for humiliation and become the poster child for some group. Like me and you, they seek opportunities for knowledge and good health to continue; to experience play, laughter and true happiness in all aspects of life.