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International Relief & Development (NGOs)

When not working with local businesses and organizations, Rick spends a portion of his time working with international relief organizations such as Catholic Relief Services and Save the Children documenting their important projects around the world.
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    With some help from Casa Fonte Colombo, Ana Paula da Silva de Castro, 27, (RELEASE BRZ005) is living a happy life with her daughter Eduarda Gabriela Castro dos Santos, 6, and husband of five years, Salatiel Braga Silva, 45, in their Porto Alegre, Brazil home. The center, operated by Pastoral de STDs/AIDS under the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of Brazil, attends to the needs of People living with HIV/AIDS. Ana lives with her husband who occasionally also uses services at the Casa. Salatiel and Eduarda do not have the disease. Ana has lived with HIV since she was at least 21, when she was tested for the disease while pregnant with Eduarda. As a teenager she lived on the streets sniffing glue and doing drugs like cocaine, and maconha. She became pregnant at 19, but lost the child. She not only received help from the Casa Fonte Columbo in dealing with the disease but became active in the center as well as in a project that reached out to other HIV positive people in the community to get them involved it the free anti-retroviral program operated by the Brazilian government. The center helped her and her and her husband Salatiel get off drugs and alcohol leadiing to a more stable and happy marriage for the couple. "Fonte Colombo has made 100 percent difference in our lives," she said.
    Terezinha Beatriz Gomez de Oliveira (BRZ-015) receives seconds for lunch from Frei Antonio Lorini at the Casa Fonte Colombo center for support of HIV positive people in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In addition to lunch for those who need it, the center provides counseling, health conciltations, therapeutic massage as well as a host of other services to help them live a relatively normal life with the disease. Although the Brazilian government provides HIV testing and anti-retrovirals for free, HIV-postive people need additional services that are not currently provided nationally. The center, supported by Catholic Relief Services through the Social Pastoral Agency for AIDS of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops, provides positive social and referral support services for HIV-positive people in Porto Alegre.
    Emerendino Dias Torres, 64, prepares to gather drinking water for his family on his farm in Santa Barabara, Brazil. The family has a variety of resources for water the wet season for their farms, but still must use jugs to collect that which is suitable for drinking. He and his family have been trained in better farming and irrigation techniques, learning to care for their soil and plant crops in addition to the traditional mantioc (cassava) to have success even during the dry times. Receiving assistance through the Family Agriculture Empowerment and Gender programs of Movimento de Organizaçao Comunitaria/Movement of Community Organization (MOC), they have learned to plant a variety of crops, including lettuce, onions, oranges and beans, among others to keep the soil healthy, provide a more balanced diet and to earn some additional income. In the past many farmers only planted the manioc which caused the deterioration of the soil on many farms across the region. To make matters worse, the Semi-Arid region often suffers through seasons of erratic rainfall making it difficult to grow certain crops consistently without the new techniques. The cistern project has not yet reached this area of the state.