Former Monroe dentist brings help to Nicaraguan orphanage

Dr. Joann Quattrone has the support of the Warwick Valley Rotary Warwick - Dr. Joann Quattrone, a Warwick native, is a quiet and soft-spoken dentist. But she sold her Monroe practice last year to follow a dream that brings her thousands of miles across the world to Central America. Nicaragua, to be precise, and a small town and an equally smaller orphanage. As she speaks about her next visit, taking place May 28 to June 7, her eyes light up, and all she can talk about is the children. She’s a retired dentist with a mission. She’s headed to El Canyon, the orphanage she visited with a friend in February 2007. And although Quattrone has visited many troubled areas, like Siberia, Amazonia, Brazil, Jerusalem, Guatemala, Grenada and Native American reservations, this visit to Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, struck a chord. It also introduced her to a Julia, a sweet, brown-eyed child of about 4-years old whose parents are not around and whose story may never be truly known. What Quattrone does know is that she has to return to help Julia and all the children, almost 50 in all - to bring immediate needs like clothing and medical supplies, but also assist them in creating an organic living garden, which will help them live healthier lives, create self-esteem, and instill respect for the land. “These gardens will be environmentally sustainable and will help feed the community as well as the orphanage where food is scarce,” she said. Skills she plans to teach the children include planting seeds, proper crop care and harvesting, and creating compost areas to keep the garden healthy. Quattrone has most of what she needs in terms of knowledge including a certification in holistic health, a master gardener designation, and membership in the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. She has already traveled around the world helping children with oral pain, health, skin and nutritional issues, and wants to teach by example. For this particular trip, she needed to do a bit more research and visited the local organic Midsummer’s Farm in Warwick, where she learned about growing holistic fruits and vegetables in great quantities. She’s grateful for the very generous donation of organic seeds from Pennings Farm. Quattone, however, is in need of monetary donations to assist in the purchase of gardening supplies (see list below) once she reaches El Canyon. “I’m carrying large suitcases full of clothes for the children, and truly cannot carry the necessary equipment with me,” she said, “and need to request that anyone who’s interested in helping these children to send whatever they can to the Warwick Rotary.” She became a member of the Rotary after working with them in her past travels, particularly touched and impressed by their devotion to helping others, and how they eased the way for visitors, like her, by taking care of transportation and housing needs; she looks forward to working with the Rotary chapter in Nicaragua. This past April, she went before the Rotary members with this proposal and received their full support. Warwick Rotary President Alan Quigley remembers when Quattrone first joined the group. “She had just retired from her practice and had all these great projects. Her report before the group took a lot of initiative .. she did her homework, made the right connections, and showed a great deal of enthusiasm and passion for the project.” The Rotary will assist Quattrone in fundraising, and hopes that they can apply for a grant that matches dollar for dollar what they collect. “ We have some seed to get this started,” he said, “but we’re hoping that this project touches a nerve with the community and donate what they can.” Donations can be sent to the Warwick Valley Rotary, Nicaragua Project, P.O. Box 121, Warwick, NY 10990. Quattrone requests that envelopes be carefully marked with the phrase, “Nicaragua Project,” because they do receive donations regularly for other purposes. She plans on keeping a journal throughout her visit so she can share her experiences with those who include their e-mail address with their donation. Items that Dr. Quattrone plans to purchase include Shovels, gardening gloves, potting soil, fruit trees, wheel barrels, metal stakes, hoses, fencing, sprinkler, compost bins and rain barrel. She can be reached via -e-mail at DRJQ1@hotmail.com. She lives by a motto that is simple: “Small changes can make a big difference toward a healthy future.” And she emphasizes, “The future is now.” This article was provided by MJ Goff.