Thank You!!!

To everyone who has been contributing to my Rwanda fund,

 I really appreciate your support. Thank you so much for your donation! I'm so excited about my trip - and amazingly, I am meeting so many people that are traveling to or have just come back from their trip to Africa. It's amazing!!!

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Namaste Y'all! 

Fun Fact Friday

FUN FACT FRIDAY 

I have a confession to make - I am ssssooooo nervous about going to Rwanda. I have traveled alone before, but this is the farthest I've ever gone by myself. Plus, there are a lot of things going on in Africa & every time I mention that I'm going there, people tell me how dangerous it is so after a while, you get a teeny bit nervous 

BUT

I am very excited to have found a couple of blogs about people living in Rwanda!!! Here are just a few - 

Living in Kigali  -  this is my favorite - 

from the blog

A Year in Kigali

from the blog

Portrait Rwanda

from the blog

OxFam Blogs

I decided to email the ladies from Living in Kigali and asked them a few questions. They answered right away and what they had to say was very relieving - 

*the Yellow Fever vaccine is the most important one to get (which I am scheduled to get in June)

*the weather is warm and dry (that's the type of temp I like) but can get cold at nights - and the culture is somewhat liberal for Africa so I can wear skirts/dresses - just try to make them below the knee (especially when traveling outside of Kigali) and not show too much cleavage - so essentially how I dress now - she said  some people even wear hotpants - and if I could find any, I'd probably wear them too

*there are no major issues in Rwanda - no dangerous animals or insects, very little crime, and not really that many malaria cases. She said it's one of the safest cities she's lived in and there are lots of good pharmacies and hospitals

That made me feel a little bit better just because she's living there now - it's not a story from the media or hearsay - it's a real person living in the country with hands on experience. 

Then, I read this article that I found on Inga's blog (a link) - 

Finding Rwanda's First Female Entrepreneur

After reading the article and just getting a feel for all of the good things going on in Rwanda, I got very excited. I'm so ready to go now!!! I think the thing that I have to remember sometimes is this - 

*We only know about other countries through what he see in the news and it's not in the news' best interest to talk about butterflies and sunshine

*People like to talk but most of them don't have experience in what they're saying. I would say that out of every one of my friends who has said something about Africa being dangerous has not been there. 

Which both of these things are fine, it's only when I let what other's tell me affect me in a way that creates fear and I don't' want to do that. So... 

Yeah for Rwanda!!

Namaste y'all!

FFF - Kony Style

FUN FACT FRIDAY

I am sure that many of you have seen this video this week -

When I watched it 

1. I cried because this is something I think about a lot  

and

2. I questioned it. 

I shared it but after sharing it, I immediately regretted doing that simply because I hadn't done my research. One thing I've learned in my lifetime is that you can never take anything at face value. There is always another side and I have learned to question everything I see. So what did I do? I did more research and this is what I've found - 

This article, Huffington Post, was the best rebuttal I saw. It gives a personal account for the happenings in Uganda and the story seems to have some validity. 

All to often, I see something that upsets me because I know it's wrong and my solution is to throw money at it. It's like, if I donate money, it'll make me feel better about what's going on in the world but I don't take the time to do research to really see where my money is going. 

On the other hand, there is also always someone who wants to complain about something. So you can have the nicest, purest, most authentic intentions and someone will find something wrong with it. So how can you decide if a charity is worth your money? It really has to ring true to you. 

So what can I take away from the Kony video? 

1. This is really happening in Africa. And it's not just in Uganda. One of the reasons that the movie, Blood Diamond, made such an impact on me was the fact that children are being kidnapped by militia groups for different purposes. Some are rebel forces, some are for the trade of diamonds, and it keeps going. Women are being brutalized and raped. So, is this video bad? No. I think that we, as Americans, should be informed about what's going on in the world. 

2. Should we be careful in how we want to help? Yes. Sometimes, we want to place American ideals on the rest of the world and we have to remember that what we want and think is normal is not always right for another country. By helping, what I would like to do is make sure that we are helping people get clean water, healthy food, empowering people by teaching them a trade that can be used to support the family, help them get an education, etc. 

I think that it's important for me to be aware that people need help all over the world, and that I need to always consider there are two, maybe three, maybe four sides to a story before making an assumption and then listen to my heart because it will tell me what's right and guide me where I need to go. 

Fun Fact Friday

We're here to learn some other facts about Rwanda!!

FUN FACT FRIDAY

I just had a friend send me some information about Rwanda and some of the things I need to know before going there. The thing that was most interesting to me was the vaccination list. It turns out that the most prominent illnesses are Malaria, Yellow Fever, Meningitis and Tuberculosis. Good news, we have vaccines for those so here is a list of all that I will need - 

This is an excerpt from the state department's website about Rwanda and vaccinations - 
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1007.html#medical

"There are periodic outbreaks of meningitis in Rwanda, and the meningitis vaccine is recommended if you are traveling during the dry season, May-October. Yellow fever can cause serious medical problems, but the vaccine is very effective in preventing the disease. The yellow fever vaccine is required for all travelers over 9 months of age, and travelers who cannot show proof of vaccination will not be permitted to enter Rwanda.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an increasingly serious health concern in Rwanda. For further information, please consult the CDC's information on TB.

Malaria is endemic to Rwanda. You are strongly encouraged to take prophylactic medications to prevent malaria. These should be initiated prior to entry into the endemic area. Many malaria prophylaxis medicines are not available in Rwanda and, because of possible counterfeit of antimalarial medications, these should be obtained from a reliable pharmaceutical source before arrival. Multiple outbreaks of Ebola have been reported in neighboring DRC in 2007 and Uganda in 2008, but none within Rwanda. Rabies is present throughout the country. All bites, scratches, and licks should be taken seriously and post-exposure rabies treatment sought. Pre-exposure rabies immunization is recommended for long-term travelers, and those adventure travelers who will be more than 24 hours away from reliable post-exposure treatment.

Schistosomiasis, transmitted by waterborne larvae that penetrate intact skin, presents significant risk throughout the country. All fresh water lakes in the area should be considered contaminated. You should avoid swimming or wading in Lake Kivu and all freshwater exposure.

You can find more information on vaccinations and other health precautions, on the CDC website. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad, consult the infectious diseases section of the World Health Organization (WHO) website. The WHO website also contains additional health information for travelers, including detailed country-specific health information"

The larvae eating the skin thing sounds kind of nasty, so I won't be swimming anywhere :). The biggest thing for me is just trying to figure out where to get these vaccines and how soon to do so. I'm still in the process of trying to book my stupid flight!! AAUUGGHHH 

Fun Fact Friday

FUN FACT FRIDAY

Today is fun fact friday and it's time for some new information about Africa!!!

1. The current population of Africa is approximately 1 billion people

2. One quarter of the world's languages are spoken in Africa

3. Four of the Five fastest animals live in Africa: the cheetah, the wildebeest, the lion, and the Thomson’s gazelle 

4. Africa is the poorest and most underdeveloped of all the continents in spite of it's wealth of resources

5. Central Eastern Africa is believed to have been the origin of humans - specifically Ethiopia (right beside Rwanda)

6. Islam is the largest religion of Africa, Christianity being the second

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Mom and Teacher Help Please

I am not 100% sure what I'll be doing in Rwanda, but I think that I'll be responsible for watching and playing with the kids in the orphanage. I'm sure I'll be cleaning, doing laundry, those types of things, but I think I'll also be helping take care of the kids and keep them entertained.

If you are a mom, a teacher, babysitter, run a daycare, etc, can you help me out with fun games for kids? I need to be able to take things over easily, so remember, it has to be able to fly on a plane. I'm thinking about bringing some soccer balls, coloring books, crayons, etc.

What else??

Fun Fact Friday

I was sitting here wondering what in the world I could blog about today until I realized that it's nothing other than

FUN FACT FRIDAY

Rwanda is a country that has had a lot of conflict throughout it's years. Honestly, the best thing you can do if you are interested in learning about the situation is to go here and read about the details. It's very complicated and there are many parties involved. I'm going to do the best I can to summarize the information into a short, informative but still interesting post. 

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Rwanda was initially colonized by Belgium which led up until the mid 1900's. During that time, favoritism was shown to the Tutsi's because of their light skin. Ethnic tensions began to rise and were only exacerbated by the Belgians who had each ethnicity classified on ID cards. Once the Belgians left, to sum it up in an easy way, the divide continued to grow, power changed hands several times and a lot of killing took place. The Hutu's took over in 1973, many Tutsi's fled to Uganda and militia groups were formed on both sides. 

That was the cliff notes version of the history of Rwanda. Again, to learn more, visit Wikipedia.

The Genocide - this event is important in Rwanda's history because it is something that has continued to hurt the country today. Many of the orphans in the country were orphaned as a result of their parents being killed in this mass murder.

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Again, to break this down in a very general way, there was a civil war that ended in 1993 that was started by Tutsi refugees, the President of Rwanda was killed, the Tutsi's were blamed which fueled a movement to eliminate the entire Tutsi tribe and any moderate Hutu's who supported them. Men and children were killed, women were raped and killed, neighbors were killing neighbors, people trying to escape the country were blocked and killed and somewhere between 500,000 to 1,000,000 million people were killed in a massive attempt at genocide. UN tried to give aid, but not enough to make a difference. Americans turned their heads, and only responded to rescue Americans living in Rwanda, and then fled without offering any help to the Tutsi's. The only end came when the Tutsi's rose up and regained control over the country. 

War has continued in the country even as late as 1996. 

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Some of the orphans that live in the village I'm going to visit are orphans because of this genocide. This was the first time I ever took notice of Africa and the troubles it has endured over the years. It was interesting to study the effects of European colonization and how differently it ended in Africa vs the United States. I honestly believe this was the first seed that was planted in me to visit Africa and do something to help. I'm not sure that just pumping money into the continent is the answer, but just an easy band aid solution that gives us an out to stay in our own little bubble. I hope to learn a lot from this experience. 

Fun Fact Friday

So now that I am into my full fledge fundraising, I am going to start

FUN FACT FRIDAY

I don't know if I'll be able to do that every time because that was a lot. Anyways, on Fun Fact Friday, I'm going to start discussing why I'm going to Africa. I don't want everyone to think I'd just like to travel and have you pay for it, there is a specific reason for my trip. The main reason is I simply feel called to go there. Sometimes, when I talk about it, I cry, which I know is kind of crazy, but what I'm saying is that I feel a very special calling to go there and help and who knows why or where it will take me, but I feel like it's something I must do. The cost is fairly significant but I believe that if I do the right action, God will take care of the rest so I'm just trusting that it will all work out. 

So since this is the first FFF, let's start with some basic information about the trip and where I'm going. I have mentioned this before so I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I am going to Rwanda. 

The Organization - 

This is not a mission trip. My goal to go here is to specifically help the people of Africa and while there are plenty of mission trips that do that, I wanted the only focus to be providing my service to an established organization and help with what they need. 

Global Volunteer Network is an organization that matches the potential volunteer with the organization in need. The organization that I've been matched up with is Faith Victory Assocation. They are building a community centre outside of Kigali (just outside) that will include an orphanage, staff houses, a school, a medical centre, a vocational college, etc. It's even an eco-friendly village!!! 

I will be volunteering in the orphanage and from what I understand, it's mainly helping with playing with the kids, cooking food, cleaning etc. Here is an excerpt from the website - 

"Orphanage

The after effects of the genocide led to thousands upon thousands of children becoming homeless. A high percentage of children have also lost their parents to HIV/Aids. It is estimated that approximately 150,000 people are living with AIDS in Rwanda, with 19,000 children under the age of 14. With this in mind we will build an Orphanage that will be different from others in Rwanda. There will be three 2 story Apartment Blocks each with four homes; these will accommodate 8 children and 2 caretakers – creating a family style environment. Each home will consist of 3 bedrooms, one bedroom for the careers with en suite facilities and two for the children with shared toilet & shower room, a sitting/dining room and a kitchen with store room. It’s our vision that every facility have solar energy provided, with rainwater harvesting during the wet season, this will be used in the gardens and homes on the project. Provision will be made for homes at ground level for children with Disabilities and those who have Special Needs.

We teach children to hope"

I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW EXCITED I AM TO BE HELPING IN THIS VILLAGE. It just feels so right and I am so happy GVN put me with these guys!! I am planning to book my flights next month, and then I need to research the vaccinations I need. Bleh! 

2012 - My Resolution List

I was trying to think of all the things I loved about 2011. We had so many wonderful things happen like getting a new house, James's business continuing to grow, Yoga Teacher Training, lots of travel, selling a car, selling the Bel, etc etc etc. When I go back and think of things that I didn't like about 2011, it really all has to do with internal feelings. The world around me was going really well and I have received so many blessings. This is the first year my resolution list has nothing to do with work/weight/fitness goals. This is the year of the family. This is the year of treating myself well. My being healthy is going to go beyond just what I eat, but how I function in the world. Here is a little breakdown -


Food

I'll start with the simplest thing first.

Rule #1 - NO DIETS. I am not going on any kind of crazy diet. I'm not eating low cal, I'm not eating low fat, I'm not eating low carb, I'm not eating Paleo, I'm not eating Vegan, I'm not eating Vegetarian. I am going to eat exactly WHAT I want. If I want a cookie, I'm going to eat it. If I want a parsnip, I'm going to eat it. And I'm not going to feel one bit of guilt for one bit of food I put in my body. Period.

Rule #2 - I love food. I love the way it tastes. So, I'm going to taste it. No more eating in front of the television. No more eating in the car. No more eating in 10 minutes or less. I want to sit down and enjoy the meal that I am eating. I am going to be present while I eat and I'm not going to zone out and mindlessly stuff food in my face.

Rule #3 - I am going to be a little more flexible with this, but I'm going to attempt to eat "whole" foods. This is something I've already been doing so it will just be a continuation. The less processed it is, the less chemically altered it is, knowing where it comes from (this applies to meat), is my goal. I won't always be perfect at this and I have to learn that in life, we have to go with the flow, BUT, my goal is to focus on home made, good, nutritious, healthy food. If I'm going to use butter, real butter. If I'm going to drink milk, organic, whole milk, although I have really cut dairy out of my diet simply because it doesn't sit well with me. But you get what I'm saying.


Fitness


I'm still playing around with this. It's a little tricky. If I weren't trying to raise money for Africa, I wouldn't even THINK about running a race. 2011 was the year of the burnout. I did TOO many races for my liking and I am just so NOT interested in running right now. I think it'll change once I get back into it, but I did a whole lot of races. People that do 12 marathons in a year and all of that, I don't see how they do it. I did 3 and I was done. And didn't even train for one of them.

But, I will be training for a race because it's really the only way I can think of raising money. My goal race is the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon in Nashville. That one works out perfectly for fundraising and it should be pretty fun. The course is hilly so I can just go ahead and do my training around gville, like usual because it's about the same.

Weights - we are building a home gym. We are using the money from selling my husband's chevy bel-air, so it's perfect. We're getting a full 300# bar set of weights - not bumper, that'll be later - a kettle bell, medicine ball, dumb bells, and possibly a pull up bar. If I can get my hands on a GHD machine, I want to do that, but we'll see. It'll be a basic version of a box gym because if there is any way I can do Crossfit Endurance for my marathon training, I'm going to.

Yoga - my goal is 2-3 yoga classes a week. I LOVE yoga. It makes my body stronger in a way that crossfit/nike training club cannot. It also helps my sanity and helps me breathe.


Financial


This is my hardest one. I struggle with my relationship with money. I want to hoard it but I can also be spendy, spendy too. My simple goal for this is to let go of my attachment to money, to let go of the security it brings me. Not that I don't want to make money or be successful, but to not be so attached to the emotions around it. It's kind of hard to explain, but if you know what I'm saying, you know what I'm saying :)


Family 


This is my biggest focus. I am one who always wants to be involved in everything. I want to try everything and be everywhere. What I have noticed is that it severely inhibits my ability to be effective in anything I do. I spread myself so thin that I I can't do anything well and I ignore the people who love so much. What I have enjoyed most about the break has been the attention I've given my house, the cooking/baking, and playing with the girls. We played basketball today and I showed them how to do a handstand. That was a lot of fun and something I'm usually not around to do.

What's going to happen though is I'm going to miss out on a lot of things. I've already seen that happen and while I peruse facebook and feel a little left out, I realize that I've only got so much time in my life as a wife, stepmother, and employee. I'd rather truly enjoy the special time I can spend with my family/close friends and give them my all, then be everyone's friend and be too tired to be anything.


Africa 


I have been approved, the trip is happening, I'm going to Rwanda. I've got to book airline tickets, get some shots, and prepare something for little babies to do with me for 2 weeks. This is going to my MAIN non family focus for 2012 which is also why I'm not as concerned about races, unless it means raising money.



What are your News Years Resolutions? 
What do you want to change? 
What would you like to keep the same? 

Planking for Noah

I know that I've mentioned my friends, Brian and Jeanne Boughner, on my blog. They are in the final stages of adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia. It was been a long process - over 2 years - and they have a court date early part of 2012 to go to Ethiopia.

I am writing this blog post to ask for your help. On their trip, they are going to take some much needed supplies with them to give to the orphanage. If you can, please donate. It's for a worthy cause.

Football Friday & some other things...

Clemson plays Virginia Tech this weekend. I'm wondering who is going to win. What do you think? 

vs

I'm going tigers!!!

_________________________________________________________________

I started making progress towards choosing the program to go to Africa. I started to apply to the Kenya Voluntary & Community Development Project, but I needed my passport number and didn't have it. I also emailed a group that does Yoga in Kenya, Africa Yoga Project, but never heard anything back. This morning, I applied for a program with Global Volunteer Network but instead of choosing Kenya, I chose Rwanda. This whole time, I've been thinking Kenya, Kenya, Kenya, but I remember the very first time I ever even thought about Africa, was in sociology class when we read the book Hotel Rwanda. I also made my husband watch that movie and that's the first time I realized how different Africa is from my world. The program is working in an orphanage and spending time with the children. The children are orphans either from the genocide that occurred between the Hutu's and the Tutsi's as well as parents that have died from Aids/HIV. The program is a little more expensive at $1500 but I think it'll be okay. 

You can read more about it here

Info on Rwanda

I don't know where I'll actually be in Rwanda

such a beautiful country

image #1 was from wikipedia (link is included above)

image #2 source

image #3 source

And just to reiterate the issues Rwanda has had in the past, when looking for pictures to put in this blog, I had to sift through images of dead bodies and militia with large machine guns. If you have not read or seen Hotel Rwanda, you need to. It happened and it was awful but no one recognizes it. 

So... have a good weekend!! Sorry I got a little sad but this is why I want to go help!!!

have you ever voluteered abroad before? 

have you ever been to Africa? 

Trip to Africa... Sezione Due

I don't know why I did that in Italian other than I just love the language :)

So, I think I've narrowed it down to where I what I want to do for my trip to Africa. I felt like I kept getting all of these signs for Kenya. It was always Kenya this, Kenya that, etc etc, but as I've done research, I think the trip that I keep circling back to is in Ghana

I LOVE the idea of helping an orphanage with their farm!! It would help feed the kids, give them an opportunity to make income (they sell the extras) and I could hang with the kids!!! 

I decided to Wiki Ghana and get some information about the country. Things I learned:

*The name means "Warrior King"

*it was listed as one of the fastest growing economies in 2011

*Ghana is culturally diverse with over 5 different ethnic groups

*They love Football (soccer) 

they are located in West Africa which is the exact OPPOSITE of where I've been looking

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uh... not sure I'd be doing this

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looks like they take sports seriously... mu kind of place

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I still have some time to decide and I'm continuing to do research, but that seems like an awesome thing to do. One thing I noticed was that the farming trip is 3 weeks, which I probably can't do. But the village trip is 2 weeks and I can work do lots of things there. Who knows... 

I Bless the Rains Down in Africa

If any of my 12 followers have been reading my blog, you know that I've been talking about going to Africa. This is how it all started:

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1) I was in a history class and we were talking about Africa. My teacher had been there and she described a trip she took. I can't remember where she went or really even any of her stories, BUT, I remember thinking, I'd love to go to Africa. That sounds really interesting

2) I went to visit my husband's family in Michigan and his cousin had been to South Africa to help with medical needs. I looked through her pics and I remember thinking again, gosh, I would really love to go to Africa. How fun would it be to work with all of these kids.

3) I met a couple (Brian & Jeanne, both of whom I've mentioned in this blog) who have done mission work in Kenya. I looked through their pictures and listened to their stories... the desire grew stronger every time I heard something about it.

4) Brian & Jeanne had 3 of the people they worked with from Kenya come visit. Talking to them was AMAZING and I felt like crying at the table. I knew right then and there that i WOULD be going to Africa at some point. Even more significant, I wanted to go to Kenya.

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5) Then i got a bunch of little signals (I felt like they were signals from God) telling me that I WOULD be going to Africa. I met a lady in our running group who was from Kenya, one of my friends was telling her life story and she mentioned going to Kenya, I was walking through the market in Charleston, and I stopped at this lady's booth who sold jewelry. It turns out that her jewelry was made from materials in... guess where... Kenya

I couldn't BELIEVE it. And every single time I thought about it, talked about it with someone, I wanted to cry. I just felt such a compelling force in my chest that I knew that's what I was supposed to do. And so now the time is here. I've decided that now is the time and I am beginning to do research organizations. It turns out, there are tons and tons of organizations that go everywhere in the world. Here are a couple of things I've seen in my research:

Global Volunteer Network
There are a couple of trips that I can take, one to Kenya to work with orphans of HIV/AIDS mothers, tutor, etc. There are also a couple of trips to Rwanda which is another place I hold dear to my heart. I could actually teach business practices to women which sounds VERY interesting as I actually have some skill in that area. I would live in a homestay and while the duration can be as long as I want, it'll probably be two weeks because that's all my work will allow.

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Kenya Voluntary and Community Development Project
I could actually do football coaching here!! How fun... I can also help build gardens for communities and work with orphans. All are in Kenya (hence the name) and would be a variety of living arrangements. Some are in volunteer centers, some in homes, etc. This is also the one where you can help council women on the weekends which would be VERY attractive to me.

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I've got so many other organizations to review so this will take a while. I think the cost of the trip will probably be about $2500 so I may also use my Full in Savannah to help raise money for the trip. I'm still deciding. Either way, I'm excited I finally have a plan and am starting to implement it. How life changing will this be? Every time I see a movie or a documentary about Africa, I remember that we know NOTHING about poverty here in the US. There are many third world countries out there that want something more and have NO access to getting it. And that's why I want to go. Do I think that my one 2 week visit is going to make a huge difference? no... Do I think that should stop me from doing it? no... Will it be worth it if I can even show one child a little bit of love from somewhere else in the world?? yes.... and that's why I want to do it.


Have you ever volunteered abroad? 
What was it like? 
Do you have any recommendations on organizations? 

Dinner and Blood Diamonds...

Wednesday night was my hubby & I's usual date night. I usually cook dinner and we watch our Netflix movie of the week.

Dinner: Capellini Pomodoro courtesy of my Whole Foods App for iPhone

Ingredients:
3/4 Capellini (cooked Al dente) : and of course I bought whole grain pasta from Whole Foods
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I do not mince my garlic, I chop it which is what I did here)
1 large tomato (which translated into two small tomatoes because it's not quite tomato season)
1 cup fresh basil (which I got from my garden!)
1 cup cooked chickpeas (I actually used a pound of shrimp - wild caught)
1/4 cup grated asiago cheese
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (I use Kosher salt)
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

*So I never measure anything, I didn't use any of these measurements, I just went by look, but it ended up ok so whatevs)

*heat olive oil on low/medium heat (it says medium high but our stove gets too hot) and add shrimp. Once it gets a little pink, add garlic and chopped tomato & let it saute for about 2 minutes. At least long enough for the tomato to break down a bit
*Add basil and cooked pasta, cook stirring frequently for another minute
*add asiago, balsamic, salt and pepper and sever

Voila!

shrimp, tomato and garlic

basil and pasta

cheese and others... 

After our delicious dinner, we watched the movie Blood Diamond

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It was about (duh) the diamond trade in Sierra Leone and the bloodshed that it caused. Let me just start by saying this; The things that are happening in Africa now and in the past 20-30 years, are disturbing to me. I was first exposed to this is college when I took a Race, Ethnicity and Class class (that sounds weird), and we studied about Rwanda. We studied different forms of genocide in that class, but for whatever reason, Rwanda really stood out to me. Since then, I have been drawn to Africa and the desire I have to go there has grown stronger. 

So, immediately, I was like, oh no, this is going to be tough on me. I'm so sensitive, which I guess is good because I am really motivated to go do something there. But in my little bubble of blogging and running where I worry about how fat I am or how I don't like my haircut, I never have to think about children bring forced into war as soldiers over there. And that's the part that was disturbing to me. Sometimes, I have to remember that my life is so easy compared to others. I have what I like to call, "high-class problems". So that's what I went to bed with last night. It was such a good movie and I think it's something we all need to see. 

Sorry to go heavy on you, but it effected me so deeply, I wanted to write about it. I am not sure that I'm intellectual enough to really write something in depth... but in my plain, simple language, let's remember there is a world out there that is so much bigger than we are and the trivial things we deal with in life are nothing compared to what people in South Africa, West Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, China, and even our own backyard, Latin America have to deal with.