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Fasting for East Africa & Yemen 2017

  • Day 30!

      16 July 2017
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    Day 30 of my Fasting for East Africa & Yemen Famine Fundraiser ended yesterday and it has been an experience.

    But This is NOT the end! The Givealittle page is still open to NZ/international donations for another month and would of course welcome support from anyone with empathy & care for others like us living in a different continent under terrible conditions.

    A huge heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this to make a difference for others. Amazing people! Bless your generous hearts! I am sure there are extremely grateful families smiling as they access clean water and food supplies.

    Catching up on updates and news on the crisis makes me cry, one from the heartbreaking issues and another from knowing that this money will really go far for some.

    Over 30 million people in 4 countries are facing severe hunger. They're not hungry because of some diet program, or because they choose to miss morning tea. They actually have NO food. Adults and children. Even if they were trying their best to continue with their usual farming and lives etc, it is just out of their hands. It's a state of emergency really!

    Thanks to longtime friend Suhaila Deni, for your support & advice during fasting. Funny it so happened that some of it coincided with Ramadan. I couldn't have done it without your help. A Big Thanks also to anyone who provided prayer support for the cause. I think to have hope, I have to believe in something greater too as humans are not able to always pull through for one another... though I think there is a lot more sharing/generosity in the affected places than we see in a developed country.

    "Covering the world’s biggest hunger crises, I saw people with nothing give everything to save a life"

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/the-untold-story-of-how-africas-poor-are-rescuing-people-from-famine/2017/05/30/e506bdb0-3b6d-11e7-a59b-26e0451a96fd_story.html?utm_term=.cd499541b35d

    It has been another lesson as to the human limits of how much one is willing to care for other strangers, or sacrifice or give up for another in more need, especially when they are so far away. On the extreme end: 8 billionaires own the same wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion people! It also continues the learning journey of trying to understand how something like the Holocaust could happen with not much done by those overseas (sorry, end rant).

    Anyway...to end on a better note, thank you thank you thank you so much from me, from them. Ever so grateful!!!! This has been totally worth it!!

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  • How far would you go to get water?

      6 July 2017
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    Day 25: Nearly there! Can't believe it. Thank you all for the support : ) It has been eye-opening and it is only the cause that has kept me going. Each week has had its challenges, with the body going into crazy mode with the blood sugar level spikes post-dinner, turning dinner from something I looked forward to into a pretty lousy time.

    One thing that has hit home has been the importance of water. There is no way I could continue fasting if I did not have access to water. It has been insightful into situations where people are struggling with a poor water supply or where the only water to drink is the stuff that will make them incredibly ill.

    Oxfam has a great write up about water and the difference that financial support makes.

    https://www.oxfam.org.nz/blogs/2017/06/28/how-far-would-you-go-get-water

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  • Hunger is not just a stomach thing

      29 June 2017

    Starvation is the worst... but general hunger and malnutrition have hugely significant impacts. Check out this short video (1 m 46 s).

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  • Day 12: 23 June: the taste lingers

      29 June 2017
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    Still in quarantine from whooping cough, but hopefully will be done with this soon. Being home has been difficult as food is so easily accessible, the kids are constantly snacking throughout the day in front of me, and cooking is something the mind has to fight as preparing food and the cooking smells somehow make my body start thinking it's eating time already! (only to be let down)

    I get the tiniest glimpse into this knowledge in your mind of the food you have had / could have, yet now having to go without it. Those that have had water supplies, healthy animals and good food in the past - and have lost it all now.

    "When I see these animals laying all over, I remember what it was like to have milk and sugar"

    One community was named Nanaam, which means water. Now they call their village Ngikwasinyen, or dry sand, after a series of droughts. “There was a river here that used to flow with water,” says Nalet Ekapuon, 53.

    Ngikwasinyen was once a place of beauty, where pastoralists grazed their animals under shooting stars and the children would laugh and play until the sun went down. There was milk to drink and meat to eat. Now there is nothing but dry sand and dry bones.

    https://www.worldvision.org/hunger-news-stories/hunger-east-africa-food-crisis-turkana

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  • Day 8: Whooping cough

      29 June 2017

    The eldest has been diagnosed with whooping cough so everyone's on antibiotics as a preventative measure (and so that we're not infecting everyone else). This will add a twist as am meant to be taking antibiotics for 2 weeks, 3 times a day, with food as it's not meant to be on an empty stomach... (but I'm fasting during the day)...

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  • Day 1: Monday 12 June: getting started...

      29 June 2017

    Absolutely thirsty throughout the day, but learnt my lesson from yesterday! Was leading a 5 hour meeting non stop from morning til afternoon so the usual morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea times were missed anyway, but really felt the tiredness levels starting to rise by 3.30pm onwards and brain going fuzzy. I haven't drunk so many refills of my water bottle at the office before! Workmates commenting on whether my blood sugars are going to be badly affected by this fast?! Really feeling the tiredness, so I might actually sleep 'early'/by 11pm today.

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  • Day 0: Sunday 11 June: Day prior to starting the fast

      29 June 2017

    Thought to prep by starting a day earlier, though I did sneak in a bliss ball during the preschool working bee (it was hard seeing the morning tea spread and not eating it all! Plus the smell of beef sausages being BBQ is really something when you're hungry...) Body didn't cope well yesterday. I ended up being dehydrated, headaches and vision blurred, did not drink enough water and brain was not functioning at all well from 12noon onwards. Could hardly keep my eyes open during the last Holocaust lecture. Stink! Stayed up late to work, but felt even more exhausted than usual. Eyes strangely feel super tired and totally fuzzy.

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  • How far would you walk?

      29 June 2017
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    Michael Morrah: The people affected by the East African crisis

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2017/05/michael-morrah-the-people-affected-by-the-east-african-crisis.html

    The article mentions a mother, who with 5 children with her, walked across South Sudan to get to Kenya:

    "Betty Eilea walked for five months across South Sudan with her two sons, and three nephews to get to Kenya. Her husband, brother, and parents were all killed. She was forced to drink water from rivers and eat plants as she crossed the country. She arrived in Kakuma refugee camp in December. I met her at the medical centre where she was taking her young boy Samuel, who had a fever and ulcers around his mouth.

    Betty told me she just wants to ensure that her children grow up and get a decent education. It's hard to comprehend how she survived such a rugged journey with five children, and impossible to fathom the trauma she's feeling after losing much of her family in such a brutal civil war."

    I was interested to see how far she ended up walking with the five children and did a quick google map comparison. The distance she had to cover on foot, whilst eating/drinking very little, was:

    - greater distance than someone walking from Invercargill to Picton

    - greater distance than someone walking from Paris to Berlin

    - and about the same as someone walking from Oxford UK to Glasgow UK, and back again!

    It puts things into perspective doesn't it?

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  • Week 1 funds raised: $685!

      20 June 2017

    Thank you to all the early supporters!!! You are awesome :)

    So...What exactly is famine? According to Oxfam:

    Famine represents the most serious food insecurity situation in terms of both scale and severity.

    It occurs when a substantial number of people are dying due to a lack of food or because of a combination of lack of food and disease. When more than 20% of households cannot eat, acute malnutrition exceeds 30% and death and starvation are evident we cannot talk about a humanitarian “emergency” situation anymore but a “famine”.

    There is not a single root cause that just explains all famines - each context has its unique aspects. However, there is always a fatal combination of various factors that can include conflict, insecurity, access, chronic poverty, lack of trade and severe weather events such as persistent drought.

    For example, ongoing war and conflict are the primary drivers of the situation in northern Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen, and for Somalia it is drought and weak governance after years of conflict. In some parts of Ethiopia and Kenya, communities are also suffering from a catastrophic drought which makes it incredibly hard for them to buy food locally or have any source of income.

    What is sure is that we always have the power to prevent and end famine, but we always let it happen! A declaration of famine is effectively an admission that the international community has failed to organize and act in time and that national governments have been unable or unwilling to respond!!

    https://www.oxfam.org.nz/donate-online/appeals/emergency-food-crisis-hunger-famine-threaten-millions

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    • 20/06/2017 by Li Ling Ho

      Oops, Not sure why the picture didn't show up! (It's in the gallery as well) we've raised enough for 24 families to have clean water for 4 months!! :)