The main challenges of their colony are lack of clean water, no electricity, and snake infestations--yes, snake infestations. This is no exaggeration; it's not the goal of this blog to shock you, rather, just document the realities of what I've seen and what I'm experiencing. I walk barefoot in part to remember them and what they deal with on a daily basis, although my challenge is a cake walk compared to theirs--it's nothing, this is easy, not a challenge--it's a farce compared to what they deal with. Yet they smile simply because I smiled at them.
They do not go to school. They help their parents sift through the garbage of the local trash heap, hoping to find metals and other recyclables which they can redeem for maybe the equivalent of a dollar a day. This is why I'm pushing this goal for the scholarships to enroll more young girls and boys into our slum education center in Hyderabad, India--we're offering a way out, offering them hope and showing their parents that there's a better way.
The great news is that we're now up to $1,400 raised as a result of this blog! That's enough to rescue two more children from the trash heaps!
Thank you to all of you who have chipped in, no matter how small the amount. I'm proud of you, because again, you did something. You took action and choose to overcome indifference. So with just another $100, we'll have enough to enroll at total of 3 more of these children into our education center. Please click here to chip in toward the goal of $5,000 (10 scholarships). Any amount, however small, makes a difference. We're doing it! Way to go!
On to today's meals, for those of you interested in following along on this aspect of the 30 day challenge...
Breakfast. I've been feeling the need for a little more of a kick in the morning, so I splurged and used two eggs right out of the gate. Along with a small portion of boiled potatoes, brown rice and pinto beans, it made for two satisfying breakfast tacos.
Lunch. I did a repeat of the improvised Chinese cabbage coleslaw. It's very light, but delicious and a very welcomed shift in the texture and flavor of the more common dishes of the challenge. Toasting the ramen noodles with a bit of cooking oil, soy sauce and seasonings results in an explosion of flavors.
Dinner. As usual, by the end of the day, I'm running out of options on my daily rations, so I punted and went with a kind of improvised minestrone soup consisting of pasta, pinto beans, brown rice, potato and a very small amount of carrot and cabbage I had leftover from my omelette preparations a couple of days ago. Again used the broth created from cooking my current stock of pinto beans a few days ago. Seasoned with a ramen spice pack and of course, my favorite, season-all.
General update. Overall things are going really well. I've definitely felt hunger but I know it's nothing compared to real hunger. Weight loss is starting to set in; I've lost 4 pounds. The key to getting through it is discipline and focusing on the goal of getting these kids enrolled in the education center. Also having the accountability of knowing that you're reading along here provides a huge advantage in sticking with it. So, thanks for reading! We're still holding fast at about 300 visitors per day, which is way more than I expected. Thanks for spreading the word!
Take Action!
1) Please consider giving toward my goal of 10 scholarships for children of the Indian slums. So far we've raised $1,400 of my $5,000 goal (10 scholarships). Every little bit helps!
2) Please visit my unofficial sponsor, Amazon.com through this link. 7% of your purchases made through the link are given to Peace Gospel. If you're in the UK, use this link.
3) If you're compelled by my effort here, please share it with friends. The main goal is awareness. So if you can help with that, huge.
4) Leave me feedback. Please comment on this post, especially if you have any ideas about what I should try to cook with these ingredients I have available. I love hearing from you! It really helps!
No comments:
Post a Comment