Imagine that you are so hungry you are willing to eat feted garbage. Imagine also that your parents are dead, maybe killed while you watched, and you have no place to live. All that you own are the ragged clothes on your back. Imagine a life so devoid of the basics that you live, literally, at the waste dump on top of heaps of garbage; or, when the weather is bad, in a dumpster itself. Imagine all of this, still, in the intense heat of Africa.
What you have been asked to imagine here was the stark, hopeless reality which New Rochelle’s Clare Effiong witnessed in April of 2000, when she visited Rwanda following the genocidal civil war that devastated that country. She saw thousands upon thousands of orphan children struggling to survive, and decided to do something about it. Thus, she extended the 501c 3 organization which she heads (Esther’s Aid), already dedicated to providing relief to Rwanda, towards the goal of housing, training and offering these children a real chance at life.
Since its establishment in 1999, Esther’s Aid has provided food, clothing, education and shelter to a significant portion of Rwanda’s population. In addition to encouraging peace across all ethnic groups, Esther’s Aid works to provide youth and widows with the tools for a productive future.
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The photo above is a map of The Village of Peace, a 4.6 acre site in Kenyinya, Rwanda. This will be the site for training facilities, residences, a clinic health center, a farm, offices and the other amenities needed prepare students for the future. One of the specialties taught will be culinary skills. Appropriately, an upcoming gala, intended to raise funds for the town, will feature the culinary arts as its theme.
The event is titled, A Taste of Hope, and will feature as the Honorary Chairperson, Chef Peter X. Kelly; award-winning chef, restaurateur, and television personality from New York’s culinary community. Serving with him will be Gieto Nicaj, owner of Battery Gardens Restaurant & Catering, and Chef Brian MacMenamins, owner of Club Car Restaurant in Mamaroneck. Also participating will be Alvin & Friends of New Rochelle, a celebrity chef from Jamaica, and other chefs from the local area. Students from Monroe College Culinary will donate their time and talent.
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Particulars: What: The Taste of Hope Benefit Gala, a night of food, music, dance and art; Where: Riverside Church, 490 riverside Drive, NYC; When: Monday October 21, 2013 at 6:30 PM; .Price: $250.00; For More Information: Visit info@esthersaid.org, or call 914 365 1544.
Some thoughts: This is not the kind of sexy topic that has the media treating it with the respect it deserves. It is not a ratings booster, evidently, for radio or television, I guess. Yet it is one of the most real and heartfelt undertakings emanating from New Rochelle. Claire Effiong is a real hero who won’t be on Dancing with the Stars, or clubbing in the Hamptons. She will, instead, be on an airliner to Africa, on the ground pulling some child off a garbage dump or making phone calls to raise money. She is this city’s most honorable secret, and her organization is one of this country’s most noble.
Look her up. Look up Esther’s Aid. Go to the gala! Send money. In any and all cases, spread the word.
