I’m finally hopping on the bandwagon and participating in this week’s Paper Mama Photo Challenge since I have the perfect photo for this week’s theme.
EEEE!
Killian was practicing standing unassisted as we were cheering him on, and he got so hyped up on our attention he finally fell against my leg and just started screaming in excitement. It was cute, and I’m glad I had my camera out to snap a picture! Check out those new teeth, too! Aww.
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On our month of adventure, we took a 4 hour cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Freeport, Bahamas. It was a teeny tiny, outdated cruise ship, but it was the cheapest way to get to the island.
On our first trip, tropical storm Bonnie was nearby, and the ocean was so rough J & I both got sick and I decided I would nevereverever go on a sea vessel again.
Luckily it was smooth sailing on the way back and we got to sit on deck and take some pictures and heal our emotional wounds from the first cruise. It was evening, so we got to see the gorgeous sunset out in the middle of nowhere. It was so peaceful, even with all those people around.
It changed my mind about sea vessels, and now I look forward to a time where we can take a proper, multi-day cruise (in the Mediterranean?!) in one of those huge ships that dwarfed our little thing at the docks. I bet it would handle rough seas much butter, too.
Please vote for this blog on the Top Baby Blogs directory and help me get back up to the top of page 2! Thank you so much!
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One in six children in Africa do not survive to age five – mostly due to hunger-related causes. 75% of East Africans are farmers, yet those with the smallest plots of land are only growing about 20% of the food that that small acre could provide.
These farmers are stuck in bronze-age farming methods which leaves them and their children severely hungry for 3-6 months every year. Not only does this stunt and kill countless children, it leaves the parents with no money to send the surviving children to school to break the cycle of poverty.
The difference One Acre Fund assistance can make.
One Acre Fund aims to change that. They utilize community groups and give micro-investments of quality seeds, fertilizer and irrigation technology, along with training in modern farming and food storage techniques. This usually DOUBLES (or more) the output of their land, and therefore doubles their food and profits, bringing their yearly income, on average, up from $120 a year, to $240 a year. It still sounds like so little to us, but it can be the difference between life and death, starvation and health, and uneducated children and those who can improve their lots in life.
Regular farm vs. One Acre Fund farm
Community groups come together to help each member plant and harvest with the new seeds, fertilizer and techniques.
One Acre Fund also provides market access, buying the food from the farmers and selling it for much more than the farmers could do on their own, with the profits going back to the farmers or back into the program. They also provide crop insurance, which was formerly unheard of for small farmers.
With their new profits, families are able to send their children to school and repay the Fund. It is a sustainable loan program, not a charity, but it takes startup money to pay for supplies and staffing until the farmers can repay (repayment time is 1 year, with an 85% and rising repayment rate.)
One Acre Fund reaches 28,000 families in Kenya and Rwanda, and hopes to reach one million by 2020. They employ over 100 local field officers and managers, many of who started as One Acre Fund farmers themselves. OAF wants to see the end of the “Season of Hunger” (what we get to call spring) and the end of hunger-related child deaths.
A donation of 240$ can fund two families of six (often headed by grandmothers or widows), allowing them to double their amount of food, send their children to school, and begin the climb out of poverty.
Field officers check on the farmers progress and answer questions every week.
Even if you only have a dollar to spare, please help me invest in these amazing people. For the costs of a cup of coffee or a pizza, together we can help hard working farmers help themselves and make the difference between life and death for their children.
For more information, check out their website & their blog & read all about these amazing people and the huge difference this is making in their lives.
PS: If any of you were wondering what “Social Entrepreneurship” (my major) means, this is it. Using the market to make a sustainable (even profit-making) business that changes the world in amazing ways. Many social ventures, like this one, start out relying on donor money (same as for-profit businesses) but will eventually sustain itself by the affordable repayments of the farmers.
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We all know that the best nutrition a baby can get is breastmilk. This is especially true in impoverished areas around the world where formula is too expensive and parents often dilute it with (unclean) water to make it last longer. This lack of breastmilk causes malnutrition and diarrhea and UNISEF estimates 1.4 MILLION infant deaths a year.
So, what about those mothers who are HIV+? Can you imagine having to chose between possibly giving your child HIV or risking them dying from sickness or malnutrition?
The people at JustMilk can’t, and they’ve been working on something to address this problem.
The are working on a filter for a nipple shield that can inactivate HIV, and possibly deliver important vitamins and antibiotics as well. Their goal is to allow normal breastfeeding while significantly reducing the risk of transmission.
It’s still in the testing phase, but it looks promising. It’s even supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This really excites me. A HUGE kudos to the JustMilk team, and I can’t wait to hear that these are being widely distributed throughout the world!
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This past week, Jeremy and I both checked out the massage place under our apartment. They have a 2 hour full body massage, ear candling & fire cupping for 180元 (yuan) which is 26$. Uh, yes please… times infinity. I’m a massage addict (my muscles are usually as hard as rock and achey) so I was pumped. I was nervous about the cupping though. Jeremy went before me and told me it didn’t hurt, and the internet confirmed. So why not? I need something to blog about!
Fire cupping is first found in one of the oldest medical books in history. According to it, Egyptians were using fire cupping in 1550 BC. We know the Chinese have been doing it since at least 1000 BC, and the Greeks were doing it in 400BC. So, it has quite a history.
The theory behind it is that the suction from the cups causes blood to be pulled up to that area and relieves stagnation, improves blood and lymph flow, gets stuck qi (body energy) flowing and can help with tons of things from aches to bronchitis. Like most everything that can’t make big pharma money, western doctors mostly think it’s a crock- but they’re quite often full of it too, so take that with a grain of salt. I’m not particularly a believer in cupping, just sayin’.
They take a cotton ball soaked in alcohol, light it in fire, put it in the cup for a moment, then pull it out and place the cup on your back. It usually follows the lines of energy in a body. Many people find it relaxing and invigorating, and female celebrities often get made fun of for wearing backless dresses at awards shows when they have recently been cupped.
Like I mentioned, my husband liked his experience. It felt good to him. It did NOT feel good to me.
After two hours of massaging, I was immediately back to the tensed-up state of before (or worse) from the pain of the cups, and it hurt to sleep for two nights, though maybe part of that was just the rough massage itself. If you can see in the picture, he put a cup on, let it get suction, and then pushed and pulled it down my back, without releasing the suction. It hurt! I think it might be due to the fact that fat is more sensitive than muscle, and I have lots. After a few minutes, it sorta faded into a dull discomfort, as the massues kept working on my legs, and then it wasn’t so bad. But I was very grateful to learn that the cups were only left on a few minutes. I was happy to be done with them.
I’m fairly familiar with energy work, and I didn’t feel any improvements. But, that’s just my experience. Who am I to fight with 3560+ years of people liking it? It’s just not for me.
Have any of you had cupping done before? Did you like it, or do you think you’ll ever try it?
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Today (well, in some time zones) is my step-son’s 2nd birthday! Happy Day, little dude! We miss you!
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