Blind Man Ignores Naysayers & Becomes a Doctor

As soon as I saw the byline for this local story, I knew it was meant for me - "UW's Tim Cordes ignored the naysayers to become one of the few sightless doctors in the country."

Ignored the naysayers indeed. Cordes has led one heck of an inspiring life - on top of his achievements in the medical field and his tenacious drive, buried in the article is a mention of black belts in jujitsu and tae kwon do! Unbelievable.

Check it out:

> Read Cordes' full story at the Capital Times

Now I'm sorry I didn't know about his speech at the Madison Civics Club.

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Help Ardita = the Power of One

I came across this story in Madison's free alt-weekly and it's pretty amazing. I hope you are touched by it too and are inspired to take action. It's truly a story about the "power of one - one community, one family and one little girl."

Ardita Bilalli has been called a miracle child. After her premature birth, in war-torn Kosovo, she came to the United States in 2001 seeking medical treatment for a spinal condition. She was two years old.

After receiving treatment in Chicago, Ardita came to Madison; she's attended Elvehjem Elementary since early childhood. Now age 10 and in the fifth grade, Ardita suffers from spina bifida, among other serious health problems. She uses a wheelchair and is often in pain.

"I've cried a lot, and it's been hard," says Ardita, who over the years has had nine major operations. "There have been many surgeries, but it's fun here, and I've been with some really nice people."

Now Ardita faces what could be her toughest challenge. At the end of the current school year, she must return to Kosovo, where her future is less secure. She and her mother, Shemsije, have twice extended their visas to allow for Ardita's continual medical care, but have been denied further refuge in the U.S. They worry that Ardita may not be able to get the medications and care she needs in Kosovo.

"I just wish she could get the documents to stay," says Shemsije. "I wish there was another way."

Ardita and her mother came to Chicago in 2001 with the help of a Madison-based uncle, Gani Ahmetaj. He arranged for her to receive treatment at Shriners Hospital. Ardita's father, Sami, has remained in Kosovo, having been denied permission to leave. Says Shemsije, "My husband has tried to come and hasn't been able to."

While Ardita looks forward to reuniting with her father, the village in Kosovo to which she's scheduled to return in June has spotty electricity and unsafe water, which may exacerbate her medical conditions.

But there may be a glimmer of hope. Ardita has won the hearts of her classmates in Madison, and a group of concerned moms at Elvehjem Elementary School are taking up her cause. They have contacted lawyers and international experts and are now raising funds to ensure that Ardita has a fighting chance when she heads home.

> Read more about Ardita and this story here (The Isthmus)

Want to do something? Visit helpardita.com to learn more and/or you can also send money to:

Help Ardita Fund
Associated Bank
608-259-4275
4407 Cottage Grove Rd.
Madison, WI 53716

Separated Twins Reunite Decades Later

I love stories like this (and in my own backyard too!):

A local woman has been reunited with her twin after 52 years.The family's story starts in Japan, continues with family scattered from Madison to San Diego, Calif., and ends with twins finding each other on the Internet.

Watch the video recap:




> Read the full story here (Channel3000.com)

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Art Class Helps Emotionally Fragile Kids

Another great local story - kids with emotional and behavior problems find solace and inspiration in art. The picture above is my favorite. So sublime.

Kyle, at 16 a friendly kid with a beard who towers over his peers, shows a visitor around his art class in an office building on Madison's east side. "We make a lot of good stuff here," he says, pulling out a collection of miniatures he fashioned from clay. "This is a dead leg," he says. "Here's a squid, a tree, and an overflowing toilet. A dead beached whale. A dog cleaning itself."

He points to a splat of clay. "This is road kill." Kyle once stitched together a carcass of a run-over rabbit and propped it up in his bedroom until his mother made him throw it away. "And this is my favorite: Mr. Brontosaurus on the toilet," he says, handing over, sure enough, a tiny dinosaur reading a tiny newspaper on a tiny toilet.

When Kyle opens his backpack to reveal a stuffed girl vampire he has created from scraps of material and yarn, the other children in the class stare with admiration. "Can I hold it?" begs Ashton, 8. Kyle hesitates. He rarely lets anyone look at his creatures, much less touch them. "Okay, but be careful," he finally says. Ashton grins and gently cradles the figure before Kyle returns her to his backpack, smoothing her clothes in place. Later that night, he will rip her apart and sew her back together again. "She is very precious to me," he confides. "But I'm having trouble with her. She keeps coming undone. She is very fragile."

Kyle and Ashton are fragile, too. So are the other two dozen kids or so who have attended this unusual art program this year. They all suffer from serious emotional and behavioral problems. Some of those mental health problems are the result of abuse and neglect or chaotic home lives. Others are simply the result of being dealt a lousy genetic hand. Kyle, a high school freshman in Sun Prairie, has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. He has been hospitalized for depression and suicide attempts. Ashton recently was suspended for attacking a schoolmate at his Madison elementary school, where he is in second grade. His official diagnoses include Oppositional Defiant Disorder and bipolar depression.

Twenty years ago, many of these troubled youngsters might have been in institutions. Today the goal is to treat them in the community. Kyle and Ashton's art group, ArtSpeak, is part of an array of "wraparound" services offered by Madison's Children Come First program, which tailors services to individual children and their families and guardians. Administered by Community Partnerships Inc., a nonprofit organization funded by county mental health and Medicaid dollars, the program currently manages the cases of about 165 at-risk kids. ArtSpeak is a refuge, one of the few places where these children say they feel accepted and celebrated in spite of their challenges. An exhibit of the children's work now on display through the middle of this month at Hilldale Shopping Center reveals unique visions and voices desperate to be heard. "These kids are really talented," says their proud teacher, Kay DeWaide, a family advocate with CCF.

> Read the full story and see more pictures at the Wisconsin State Journal

'Hero' Mail Carrier Delivers for Woman in Need

It's nice to pick up my local newspaper and see a story like this (on the front page too no less!).

Mail carrier Courtney Spaude [who above has a striking resemblance to film star John C. Reilly] is a hero in the eyes of Madison police and an 84-year-old woman whose home is on his downtown route. When the woman didn't unlock her screen door so he could get to her mailbox for five days. Spaude alerted police, who credit him with saving her life.

> Read the full story at the Wisconsin State Journal

What I like about this story is that Spaude isn't just going through the motions with his work - he's made connections and took a risk (being seen as intrusive) for the better. Too often many of us punch in and punch out mindlessly so to speak - like being on a treadmill for forty hours a week. Spaude took a chance when it really mattered. Thank you Mr. Spaude from your Madisonian neighbor!

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