Andrew Mittelman has spent his entire career helping the poor, standing up for the rights of disenfranchised rural people, and working to restore damaged environments. A serious back injury two years ago left him immobilized and unable to work. Combined with a family health emergency this year, his life savings have been nearly drained. Andy now urgently requires back surgery, but does not have the $40,000 it will cost, to get himself back on his feet and able to continue earning a living. Your contribution will help him do this.

Andrew's Life-transforming Work

    Andrew Mittelman, my oldest friend (going back to kindergarten) is critically in need of spinal fusion surgery.

   Andy has for many years worked tirelessly throughout Asia on behalf of some of the world's most vulnerable rural communities. Starting in agroforestry and sustainable food production, the success of his unique approach led to demand for his services in an expanded portfolio of work including rural livelihood development, sustainable forest management and watershed protection, wetlands conservation and climate change adaptation.

   The title photo of this page shows him being greeted by Ayerawady Delta villagers (in Myanmar) celebrating successful recovery efforts after the catastrophic Typhoon Nargis in 2009.

    I know a lot about Andy's career and even more about his back problems, which began with a car accident in childhood. He has lived most of his life with back pain. In the last few years he's lost mobility to where he can't continue this important work or support his family. He can't do much more than cook for his family, and even for that he keeps a chair by the stove to get off his feet every few minutes. He has been stoic and reluctant to ask for help, but now with his injury preventing him from earning a living, he faces a financial crisis. 

A little more on Andy

    For almost 40 years, New York native and later California resident Andrew Mittelman has worked in Asia in rural development and environmental conservation, and as an advocate for the rights of rural communities to sustainably manage local natural resources in areas where over-exploitation has brought environmental ruin and poverty. Some of his projects have won recognition as among the most innovative and successful of their kind.

    As far back as the 1970s as a volunteer at a Gandhi farm in Bihar, India, Andy developed understanding of how to revitalize disenfranchised and disheartened rural communities. Early on he rejected the top-down approach of most development experts, who typically spend much of their time in urban conference rooms and only briefly visit villages to tell residents what they need to do. Andy's approach is one of respect for local knowledge and close collaboration with villagers. He helps them re-trace their descent into poverty and seeks their ideas on how to reverse it by reviving ecological farming practices and traditional reverence for nature. "Nobody ever asked us!" villagers would often say in surprise. The consultative approach creates local ownership of the projects and commitment to seeing them through. Several projects he worked on became incubators for other projects in Asia and beyond, and several of his local team members have become leading environment and development specialists.

The dilemma

    In 2017, working in northeast China, Andy had an acute back injury that left him barely able to walk. He tried to continue working, but later that year, in Myanmar, his condition worsened. (These jobs usually involve traveling long distances over broken roads and enduring rough living and sleeping conditions--all murder on a bad back.) Since then Andy has had to turn down all job offers. Exercise, physical therapy, and expensive non-surgical treatments failed, leaving spinal fusion surgery as the only option.

    More recently, Andy's situation was complicated by a family health emergency, which has kept his wife from running her one-person internet business and further depleted their savings. In December, 2018, his health insurance was terminated due to age limitation. Without surgery to help him get back to work, he is in danger of not having the funds required for annual visa renewal in Thailand, where he has lived for over 30 years, and there is a real possibility that he would have to leave his home and family.

    For the surgery along with diagnostics and rehabilitation, Andy needs $40,000 to repair his back, return to work, support his family and continue helping rural communities in Asia to lead healthy and productive lives. With reverence and appreciation he is reaching out through GoFundMe to the goodhearted people who help so many in distress.

"Andrew's contributions to Save the Children's natural resource management (NRM) portfolio, now already 25 years ago, were especially valuable. Schooled in a progressive, household-oriented understanding of SE Asian agricultural systems, he demonstrated as much 'EQ' and process sensitivity as he does in more technical 'savoir faire.' Having spent most of his professional life working on advancing important, and institutionally complicated, NRM issues, today there will be relatively few comparable subject matter experts, as well as lovely personalities, in SE Asia."

Rand Robinson, Country Backstop Officer at USAID

to learn more about Andy's work, click on the following links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbVDwM_xSjU This project in west-central Thailand, adjacent to one of Asia's largest remaining forest areas, used farmer-designed practices to reverse a vicious cycle of deforestation, environmental destruction, and impoverishment. 

http://www.ecotippingpoints.org/resources/application-ampreng-village.html 

An avid hiker for most of his life, Andrew hopes to be able to resume this cherished pastime