Ana Catalina (Caty) Santos Ramos, B.A.
csantos@harlemchildrensociety.org
My first interaction with Harlem Children Society was in Monterrey , Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Thanks to the opportunity to be an international assistant in the Universal Forum of Culture 2007 I met Dr. Sat Bhattacharya. Not only I, but also everyone that had the opportunity to know him, appreciate him and admire him. Dr. Bhattacharya is a special, kind, smart, inspiring person. It was an honor and a great experience to be his assistant.
I was born in Monterrey Nuevo Leon, Mexico, but my parents and their family is from Nuevo Laredo. Because of this I lived most of my life in the border of Mexico and the United States. I am used to seeing people migrating to United States with a hope for a better life because of lack of opportunities for education and work in my country. This is one of the reasons I think that the most important thing that a country needs is education.
I went to High School in United States. This was a good experience to meet people from another country, learn English and live without cultural boundaries. Still loving my country and because I am Mexican, I decided to go to Technologic of Monterrey for my career. I studied International commerce and business. This university is very important in Latin America and has students from all over the world. I had the chance to go as an exchange student to Spain for one year to the management and business University of Deusto, “La Comercial” in Bilbao, where I specialized in “Logistics”. When I graduated from College, I was looking for a job that would help me to get involve with my community, in Mexico and the world. One of my favorite things to work in International Relations.
As I said before, I was honored to work on The Universal Forum. The main topics were Cultural Diversity, Knowledge, Peace, and Sustainability – which are very related to my interests in life. This was once in a lifetime opportunity. This global event helped me to connect with a lot of people from different parts of the world. I was in the Dialogs area and the goal were to promote the methods of solving problems with different perspectives in order to deal with issues of global importance such as peace, education, knowledge among other topics. At the Forum Universal de las Culturas 2007, my responsibilities included: Addressing all the international speakers needs contributing to their success in the event; to be present and to participate in the different events; help to Organize and coordinate the Inauguration/Closing events; welcome the International Dignitaries when arriving to Mexico; serve as a Personal assistant of the speakers and hospitality to the people who were coming for the event. My activities included learning about the Culture, customs, habits, religion, government, etc. of different countries; and to foment the four topics of this event: Cultural Diversity, Knowledge, Peace, and Sustentability. It was my fortune to interact, coordinate and serve various organizations and dignitaries from around the World: UNESCO, Mexican government; Dr. Sat Bhattachayra (India) Research scientist, Molecular Pathology, Founder, President & CEO Harlem Children Society; Dr. Rigoberta Menchu (Guatemala) – winner of the Nobel Peace Prize; Dr. Jorge Bucay (Argentina) psicólogo, psiquiatra, escritor; Prof. Carlos Alberto Sarti (Guatemala) Director Fundación Propaz; Prof. Ashok Gangadean, (EUA) Profesor of Philosophy, Founder-Director Global Dialogue Instituto HArverford Collage; Prof. Giovanni Schiuma (Italia) Director científico Universidad degli Studi della Vasilicata; Dr. Fernando J. Jaimes Pastrana (México) Fellow del Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Monterrey; Dr. Norberto Consani (Argentina), Director IRI; Nacho Espinosa Goded Club de Madrid(España), Ejecutivo de Proyectos; Dr. Edna Pasher (Israel),Management Consultantes Lts.; Prof. Derek Walcott (West Indies), - winner of the Nobel Prize in Literatura; Dr. Mary Pat Moyer (EUA), Fundadora, Presidente and Chief Officer INCELL Corporación, LLC; Profesor Arturo Jiménez Chavolla (México),MS Especial Logísticas Colegio Ingles; J. Paul Martin (EUA), Executiva Director, Center of Estudios of Human Rights Columbia University NY; Dr. Jun Liu (EUA), Profesor and Head Departamento, Universidad de Arizona; Prof. Shanti Kumar (India), Departamento de Radio y Televisión Universidad de Texas, Austin; Prof. Eduardo Raúl Balbi (Argentina), Presidente Escenarios y Estrategias; Prof. Louise Julie Bertrand (Canadá), Directora de Desarrollo y Producción Departamento de exhibiciones en el Centro de Ciencias de Monterreal; Dr. Johnson Paul (Singapur), Director de “National Library Board”; Dr. Antoschka/Ekaterina Moshaeva (Alemania), Fundadora del The World Parliament of Clowns; Dr. Carla C. J.M. Millar (The Netherlands), International Hoogleraar University of Twente; Dr. J. Sotelo (México) Profesor UNAM; Profesor Leandro Roldan (Argentina); Dr. Lena Salame (France) UNESCO, Jiry Cerni Theo Cosmora (USA) Founder & Chief Executivo The Peoples World Lts.
This helped me bond with extraordinary people such as Dr. Sat. In the week of Education, science and technology, I was his assistant and it was quite an experience, and privileged to work with him. He talked to me about HCS, and I really had the opportunity to be part of it was when I helped organize the "Fourth International Harlem Science Street Fair and Festival" - with web- and videoconference with people all over the world: in Harlem in New York City, Meru In Kenya, Kolkata in India, and Monterrey in Mexico. Thanks to Dr. Jaimes, Efren Villarreal, and other members of the FORUM circle, the event was a success and the children that were part of this affair in Mexico, admired Dr. Sat. because they had the sixth sense of knowing what kind of person he is: one in a million. The children from the Euroamericano high school where so happy about joining this experience.
Thanks to foundations like HCS, that I have hope that there are a lot of good people in the world that has the power and the willingness to change the lives of others, just like Dr. Sat and his team is doing in HCS. I want to be part of it, of this beautiful plan of life. I also think that what we need, in Latin American countries (by living in one of them) is education. In a video, I love when Doctor Sat told his kids: “in the future, when you succeed and be rich and famous you will help HCS”. This is how the help will never end, because it would be a chain; Harlem Children, and other people and organizations, will support and help for the education of new Harlem children all over the world. I really wish to start in the future with the guidance of HCS – a new platform for education to Latin American kids. Make a difference; make a person smile; give people hope; give people a better life; helping the community with knowledge and culture; souls assisting each other’s – these are some of the wonderful goals that HCS does and that I love. I want to grow with it; I want to learn the most.
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”. I think Dr. Sat and his team is helping these kids to fish and I love to be part of this wonderful project. Now days, with education, one is capable to fulfill most of ones goals.
I am also impressed on how fast HCS is growing; I will love to be part of that development and help to get in Latin America and the world.