Kristina Rems & Alexandra Cruz By: Cathy Padilla
When meeting ordinary people doing extraordinary work, I’m always reminded of the story of the starfish. You’ve probably read it as well. The little boy is walking along the sand littered with thousands of beached starfish and throwing some back in the ocean. An old man questions why he would bother to help a few when there’s no way he can help them all, telling the boy his efforts don’t matter. The little boy, picking up another starfish and casting it into the water, tells the old man, “It mattered to that one.” After a medical mission to Uganda, Alexandra Cruz, PharmD, sponsored a child and changed her life forever. Seeing the tangible results of her sister’s work, Kristina Rems, a teacher in Fair Haven who lives in Red Bank with her husband Jack and her dog Milo, sponsored a child as well. Almost immediately 14 other friends and family members decided to help. Last summer Kristina traveled to Uganda with Alex to meet the sixteen children they and their friends sponsor, finding their lives completely changed but also seeing many other children in desperate need. Upon returning home, the sisters partnered with Waves of Health, the original organization Alex traveled with, to form Waves of Education. Here is their story and
how you can help, because once you read what they’re doing you’ll know how much it matters. CM: Where did the idea for Waves of Education start? Kristina: Waves of Education started in 2018 when Alex went on a medical mission to Kavule, Uganda, a fishing village, with the non-profit organization Waves of Health. On this mission, Alex met a six-year-old girl named Kevin whose mother abandoned her when she was only a year old, whose dad was a 75-year-old alcoholic, and who was essentially neglected (having ringworm and being severely malnourished) before being put into the care of a social worker named Sister Bernadette. Despite the fact that Alex and Kevin did not speak the same language and the only way they could formally communicate was through a translator, they formed a strong bond by taking selfies with Alex’s phone, smiling and laughing together, and simply being in each other’s presence. By the end of the trip, Alex was so moved by Kevin and her story that she asked Sister Bernadette if there was any way that she could help Kevin. Sister Bernadette’s immediate response was sponsoring Kevin to go to boarding school which would give Photo: Kristina Rems (left) and Alexandra Cruz (Credit: Sarah Agliata)
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