With a Little Help From My Friends
Sometime around fifteen years old, I became strangely restless. All of a sudden, the city I lived in and the people I knew weren’t enough for me. I fantasized about all the places I had learned about in French class and collected brochures from travel agencies (yes, those were still around). But I felt powerless […]
Sometime around fifteen years old, I became strangely restless. All of a sudden, the city I lived in and the people I knew weren’t enough for me. I fantasized about all the places I had learned about in French class and collected brochures from travel agencies (yes, those were still around). But I felt powerless to do anything about it because a fifteen year-old’s salary is about as generous as her curfew. Then, I met Anna. She was just a grade older but had already returned from a volunteering trip to Thailand. Her joy and enthusiasm were so contagious, that I began to think about things in a different way. Here was a girl barely older than me who had already exercised her free will, traveled abroad, and, most importantly, somehow convinced her family to let her do it. Meeting Anna was one of those moments that shook up my understanding of how my own world works and in no small way. It became a catalyst for a million little decisions that grew and eventually laid the foundation for who I am as an adult (ok, adult-adjacent). Seeing someone similar to me accomplish something that I had dreamed about gave me the motivation to change my personal motto from, “Yeah, that would be nice, in theory,” to “Why not?” I began learning Italian (why not?), cultivating new hobbies like singing opera (seriously, why not?), and eventually, at seventeen, traveling alone for the first time (as my mom would say, “Why? WHY?!”). And Anna hasn’t slowed down since. I caught up with her this winter break to find out how she’s been keeping busy (spoiler: it’s by saving the world).
[question]Could you tell the readers a little about yourself?[/question]
[answer]I am twenty-five years old and I moved to San Francisco from Belarus when I was nine. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Women’s Studies from UCSB. I have another Bachelor’s degree in nursing and have my nursing license. I am currently living in Manhattan and getting my Master’s in Midwifery from Columbia University School of Nursing. I am studying to be a Certified Nurse Midwife/OB GYN Nurse Practitioner. I love working with women and making sure women and their babies get proper healthcare. I can’t wait to work in women’s health and deliver babies![/answer]
[question]You have quite a history of aiding people in need, such as spending your spring break in New Orleans to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and dressing as a Raggedy Ann doll to cheer up children in a convalescent home. Could you tell us about some of your other volunteering experiences?[/question]
[answer]For about six weeks, I volunteered in an orphanage in Thailand when I was seventeen years old. When I was nineteen, I spent four weeks in Costa Rica working in a soup kitchen for an indigenous tribe called the BriBri.[/answer]
[question]How did you get involved in the effort to help victims of Hurricane Sandy?[/question]
[answer]The day the hurricane hit I was at my boyfriend’s apartment in Brooklyn. I was supposed to fly in two days to Mexico to be a bridesmaid at the wedding of one of my best friends and I pretty much got stranded in Brooklyn instead. Buses and trains weren’t running even into Manhattan and flights were cancelled for days. So much of Brooklyn and the surrounding areas were hit hard by Sandy and I knew I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. A few days after the hurricane, I volunteered in a shelter as a nurse for a day. The shelter had a lot of elderly people with a lot of medical needs. Many people lost their medications so it was important to help people obtain medical help. For a few days after that I surveyed the needs of the elderly in Brighton Beach and Coney Island. Hundreds of elderly residents (mostly Russian speaking) were stranded without heat, power, or running water in high-rises all over the neighborhood. They couldn’t get down to get food, water, warm blankets, and medical help. A group called OccupySandy organized teams of medical personnel to walk up and down the pitch black floors and knock on doors asking if people needed anything. I found them on the internet and just showed up telling them that I’m a Russian-speaking nurse and was put to work immediately. Being the only Russian-speaking volunteer I was pretty much torn to pieces. Many residents fled to their relatives’ houses when the hurricane hit, but so many others were left behind. They didn’t evacuate because it was just too hard to move out. Many thought it would just be a day of no power. No one thought it would take so long for the power and water to come back on.
In the mean time, my friend Rachel Coven and I began raising money via Facebook for the relief efforts. Within two weeks we raised over $6,000. The outpour of support from all over the world was astounding! So many people sent us money! The NYC Midwives Chapter donated an extra $5,000 to the relief efforts. In total, Rachel and I raised over $11,000, all of which has gone directly to providing the people of Brooklyn with warm clothing, hot meals, and supplies. We went door to door asking people what they needed. The money went and is still going directly to the people. Kids got warm boots and coats, whole families got dinners, and so much more. Currently, with the help of two friends, I have been organizing efforts on behalf of the NYC Midwives to come out and lend a hand in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn. This community was hit very hard. The people in this neighborhood, like so many others, are still feeling the effects of Sandy. So many homes were destroyed and people lost everything. Many only got their power back a month after Sandy! It was a zone B neighborhood which means they were not told to evacuate. In mid-December, I led a group of about twenty midwives and midwifery students like me to come out and help clean up, bring supplies, work in the distribution center, and provide hot meals for the community. On December 21st, I organized a pasta/pizza holiday dinner for the community, all of which is sponsored by the generous donation of $5,000 from the NYC Midwives chapter.[/answer]
[question]What has your general experience been so far?[/question]
[answer]Seeing the people in the communities come together and support each other has been incredible. Neighbors taking each other in, helping each other out. In Gerritsen Beach, the community that I am currently focusing my volunteering efforts on, the people have lived on those streets for generations. It’s heartbreaking to see such loss and devastation, not only in Gerritsen Beach but all around. In the beginning it was frustrating: frustrating to see how much need there was out there on each street and in each house. But the people of New York and New Jersey are so strong. They lost everything and yet they keep on going. I am not from here, this is technically not my “home where I grew up,” but to me I couldn’t imagine not coming out and helping. People are people, and families are families and I couldn’t just sit around and not help out. Since I wasn’t in Mexico, I decided to make the damn best of the situation and be useful![/answer]
[question]Have you had any especially poignant experiences, and if so, could you share some with us?[/question]
[answer]There were lots of incredible moments. I have met so many wonderful people. I didn’t expect such an outpour of love! One of the most heartbreaking moments for me was speaking to an elderly Russian couple that lived on the twenty-first floor of a building in Coney Island. They were there for close to a week without heat, water, or power. I knocked on their door, identifying myself in Russian as a nurse, and asking them if they needed anything. When I asked them how they are doing, the woman broke down in my arms, saying that even though their children would drop food off for them once in a while, they didn’t offer to bring the couple to their home. The elderly couple was left alone in their cold apartment (without flushable toilets or running water!). The old man was trying to hold back tears while trying to calm down his wife. The staircases and hallways were pitch black so even if they wanted to leave, it’s too dangerous to go downstairs. He had a bad leg so they depended on volunteers like us to bring batteries for flashlights, warm socks, and jugs of water. Many people needed refills on their medications but the pharmacies were not working, many were running out of candles and other much needed basic necessities. The national guard donated boxes of these complex dried meals in packages but the Russian elderly could not read the instructions on how to make the meals, not to mention that the meals were so high in sodium which is very bad for elderly people and especially those with diabetes. [/answer]
[question]The hurricane happened a few weeks ago now. Has the situation improved much or is there still a lot of work to be done?[/question]
[answer]The volunteering efforts all around New York and New Jersey have been incredible, but there’s a lot still to be done! The rebuilding efforts are still underway Many people are still not living in their homes and many business are still not working.[/answer]
[question]Can people all the way on the West Coast help? If so, how?[/question]
[answer]Yes! The relief efforts are far from over! We are still collecting money for the families in Gerritsen Beach and other communities of Brooklyn! If people are interested in donating, no matter what amount, it is highly appreciated and goes DIRECTLY to the people. I have set up a Paypal: annalederman@gmail.com and many have sent money this way! Others have written out checks and mailed them to: Anna Lederman, 839 West End Ave, Apt #3F, New York, NY 10025. [/answer]
By Tatiana Sundeyeva
Tatiana Sundeyeva has gotten into the terrible habit of thinking about everything. She enjoys travel, literature, puns, and anything that can be found in a bakery. And not necessarily in that order. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley where she got a degree in English with a minor in Italian.
