Reflections from the Race for the Cure

As soon as my friend, Angela, and I arrived at the Capitol, I knew I would remember this day for the rest of my life.  Yesterday was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Des Moines.  Over 24,000 people gathered the race/walk for a single purpose, to find a cure for breast cancer. 

In more ways than one, it was an emotionally charged morning.  The electricity of the crowd alone would have lit up Houston.  Emotional moments:

* 10 minutes before the race, a child's voice broke through the noise to start the National Anthem.  Before long, her voice was the only audible sound in the crowd.  Powerful!

* Volunteers littered the route to offer endless encouragement for our participation.

* People donned signs of support for loved ones lost or in remission.

This all paled in comparison to the notion of all of this happening due to one woman's vision.  Susan Komen's sister, Nancy G. Brinker, made a promise to her sister to do everything in her power to try to find a cure.  With a promise and a passion, just look at what this organization has turned into. 

 

I am a firm believer in the Power of One, and this event was a strong reminder of the success of that notion.  Nancy had a dream.  Years later, my friend, Angela, and I ran in the memory of her mother, Rita, who died from cancer.  Angela was comforted from the support of the masses.  I was encouraged for being able to be part of her support system.  The Susan G. Komen cause benefits from our participation. Everyone was a winner at the race!

I'm Going to Africa!

 Is it June yet?  My excitement knows no limits with my news!  I am actually going to Africa.  My church group has invited me to join the 21 others to Malawi for their first overseas mission trip in June 2009.  It is difficult for me to imagine that five short months ago the passion to send educational supplies to Africa emerged into reality.  Now my reality IS Africa.

My mind is starting to wonder what I will find there.  What supplies do I need to take with me?  What will the children be like?  Will I be able to make an impact?  I am certain that nothing can fully prepare me for this endeavor, but I do know one thing - I am ready for it! 

I will need your help for my trip to be a success.  More on my needs in a future post.  For now, dear friends, be overjoyed as I am overjoyed.

Dreams really do come true - Dream big and dream often.

photo by rogiro

Educational Supplies are Going!

What a wonderful day I had!  They left twenty minutes ago and my heart is still pounding.  I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Jim Blessman and Jacques von Bommel at my home.  They are outstanding missionaries who strive to permanently impact the lives of children in South Africa.  Their tireless efforts seem to seep out of their every word. 

I was so excited to show them the educational supplies I have yet to get out of my garage.  When they saw the four pallets loaded with books, maps, etc., they dove into them like Christmas morning.  We shared our stories and missions. It was funny how a man born and raised in South Africa has the same heart for literacy for the children as I have. 

It is indeed a flat world we live in!

Between Blessman Ministries and Reaching a Generation Ministries, all of my supplies will be on the shipment to South Africa in November.  I am overjoyed (to say the least).  If I were totally honest, I am having a hard time keeping my eyes dry from all of the tearing up I am doing. 

With a smile and a hug, these men of God accepted my offer to be the first to take America's outstanding educational resources to a place where knowledge is needed more than ever. 

I am honored to be a part of two longstanding organizations that serve children.  Many others stand beside me as these supplies make their way into African children's hands.  To those kind hearts, I say most humbly, "Thank you" for partnering with me in this venture.  But we still have much to do.

Just wait until I go to Africa!  There will be no stopping me.

Blog Action Day - Still Focused on Literacy and Poverty

I have spent the last hour visiting conversations on poverty through others' blogs.  The issues that have been brought up range from local issues to conceptual ones.  Everyone talks about how the monsterous challenges of poverty are too huge for us to face, yet in all the conversations I have been reading about, ALL of the issues have been addressed.  We all have certain passions helping those affected by poverty.  With all of us focusing on our individual passions, yet working collectively, imagine the change we could make in the world. 

Compassion International's concept of a "Poverty Wheel" displays the components that need to be in place to bridge the divide between absolute poverty and having enough.  The spokes of the wheel represent the different aspects of the things people in poverty need to get to a place of having enough to sustain their lives and impact others' lives.  These items include the educational, economic, health, environmental, spiritual, and social issues of life.  The blogs I read today focused solely on each of these components. 

My focus (or should I say - my consuming passion) is on literacy as part of the solution to empower people born in abject poverty.  I was planning on blogging today about eradicating illiteracy in Africa because that is my driving passion, but when I started reading blogs from others who want to see poverty extinguished, my focus changed. 

When we are all doing our part, we are following our passions.  If we can collectively enourage others to partner with us and do our small part toward the greater good, we can make poverty a memory and not a horror to survive daily.  My passion is literacy - What is yours?  What are you doing with your passion?  Ignite it!  Invite others to flame your passion for the good of those who aren't as fortunate.  We can stamp out poverty, but it will take us all to roll that poverty wheel  into the chasm of forgetfullness.  I'm in.  How about you?

Compassion is not sentiment but is making justice and doing works of mercy. Compassion is not a moral commandment but a flow and overflow of the fullest human and divine energies. --Matthew Fox

photo on flickr byfeijeriemersma

Blog today is part of   

Jump start on Blog Action Day

I'm so excited about Blog Action Day that I decided to get a little head start on the project.  The statistics and realities of poverty are alarming.

• An estimated 130 million of the world's 15- to 24- year-olds cannot read or write.
• There are 781 million million illiterate adults worldwide, and 64 percent of them are women.
• Of the 22 countries where more than half the population is illiterate, 15 are in Africa.
• Only 14.4 percent of GDP per capita is spent on primary education worldwide.

So, why am I giving statistics on illiteracy when the Action Day is focusing on Poverty?  Education is the key to unlock the options that poverty suffocates.  Literacy is one of the inalienable rights every person in the world should have to function as productive members of the world.  That is my passion and mission. 

I am thrilled to see how we can all communiate via the internet to solve, yes this is solvable, the horrors people face around the world due to poverty. 

Let's take action and make the difference we want in the world!

photo on flickr by tomcosgrave

Poem of polar opposites

Sometimes poetry articulates thoughts better than actually writing a full explanation of a topic.  While considering the contrasts between what African children are faced with in their day to day lives verses their behavior amidst such trials, I decided to put my thoughts into a diamante poem. 

Lively African Children
joyful, spirited,
laughing, loving, caring,
Life-filled in horrific circumstances -
starving, hurting, wanting,
painful, worrisome,
Dying African Children

Please take a moment to go back and consider each word thoughtfully.  Would you be full of life in such conditions?  This is why I am on a mission to raise up these children in literacy. 

Favorite Math Websites

I have had a great time with my TAG (Talented and Gifted) students.  Part of my joy is teaching them the internet tools they need to extend their thinking.  Here are a few math websites I have found helpful.  These may be old favorites, but I think they are worth revisiting. 

aaa.math  - Everything that is math!  It encompasses all grade levels and all math concepts. 
coolmath4kids - Great site for interactive math activities for students as well as lessons for teachers.
Discovery Education Math - Homework helper for the basics (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division).  These are all presented in video form.  Wonderful for the visual learner!
funbrain.com - Fun for the brain in math and reading!

More Sites to Come! 

READ IT AGAIN!

We hear those words (usually repeatedly and in a loud voice) every night when we read to our children.  Even from the early ages, children long to hear beloved stories over and over again.

When did our students lost that sense of joy from the repetition of the written word?

Is it from:
* Chronic Testing
* Texts that do not engage them
* Force-feeding "free choice" books

Kids will revisit text for purpose and pleasure.  Our job as parents and educators is to stimulate their childlike amazement for reading.  They haven't lost it!  Chances are - It was stifled. 

Help me and others reinstill that sense of wonder.  What do you do to engage young minds to reread books?

photo from flickr Dream Light

SEE - Kids Get It!

Part of my substitute teaching responsibilites in the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program entails meeting periodically with the identified students, having lunch with them, and discussing affective issues.  For three days I have been asking these bright young minds thought-provoking questions (What if...., How would you react...).

I orchestrated one question delicately to see how they would respond.  You inherit a large sum of money (I'm talkin' Warren Buffett kind of money) with directions that you cannot spend it on yourself, family or friends.  What do you do with it?

HANDS EVERYWHERE

Immediately, hands went up around the room every time.  Without fail, they all gave the money in efforts of helping the poor in underdeveloped countries - Africa was named specifically more times than not. The list ranged from food, water, shelter, and education. THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE! 

Why is it that 3-5th Graders understand the importance of helping those who are less fortunate than ourselves find a way to rise above their situations?  Why can't we adults assume this altruistic passion and provide underdeveloped countries the necessary elements of existence? I have a solution to one of the primal obligations we have to our children.  See my african dream for more.

Our children here are watching us...Our children there are dying.  What would you do if you inherited Buffett kinds of money?  Kids get it, why can't adults see the need? 

photo on flickr by wordgirl180