On this cold, gray, dreary morning, wondering where summer is, I run along the streets of my small, Midwestern town feeling coddled and removed from the world's reality.
Most people are already at work. Kids are out of school. Few, if any, cars force me to the side of the road. Here in middle America, I run in the middle of the street, no worries about road camber or careless motorists.
In fact, there are few real worries at all ... at least, in comparison to what goes on in other places. And this is what often troubles me.
I live in my own little corner, where life is reasonably good. As each day passes, we are safe and happy, a roof over our head, food on our table.
Sure there are squabbles, but nothing too threatening. This week's worst crisis aside from the crappy weather? A thunderstorm Monday night took out the satellite dish feed and reduced us from two televisions to one for three full days, forcing our family of six to seriously evaluate priorities. (Basketball and hockey playoffs, and the Red Sox vs. Yankees series won out.)
Half a world away, though, a cousin of a friend has taken on the daunting task of making a difference at an up close and personal level. Four years ago, she, along with her husband and kids, left Minnesota and resettled in Haiti.
Tara Livesay writes on her blog http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/ about the daily trials and tribulations of life in Haiti with deeply touching and often humorous insight, helping women and children at the most basic level of survival.
On this end, so far removed from the suffering, it is impossible not to feel helpless. But now, Tara is giving us a way to join her efforts.
Setting her sights on the Twin Cities Marathon in October, Tara is seeking sponsors who will donate $1, $2, $3, or more dollars per mile, at three levels: $26, $52, $78, or more.
ALL FUNDS RAISED will be used to benefit malnourished children in Haiti — the poorest country in the Western hemisphere — through the Medika Mamba program, which is an incredibly simple and inexpensive way to save the life of a child.
Medika Mamba is an energy dense peanut butter, heavily fortified with protein and nutritional supplements. The name Medika Mamba means “peanut butter medicine” in Creole. It costs only $68 to save a child’s life using Medika Mamba, which costs $4.25/kg. It takes an average of 15 kg to cure a child.
You can learn more here:
http://medsandfoodforkids.org/
Check out this link to see Tara's pictures of some Medika Mamba graduates:
http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/2009/05/medika-mamba-graduates.html
Then, go here to contribute to Tara's marathon effort to nourish the most vulnerable inhabitants of a world that is too often heartless and unforgiving:
http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/2009/05/marathoning-for-haiti.html
