Even though a casual perusal of Billy Goat’s Bluff Digest reveals that a whole lot of people seem to be scrambling to the top of Mt. Everest these days, climbing the tallest summit in the world is no easy feat, and certainly not something any Appalachian Trail hiker can accomplish. That’s why if Helen Kinuthia successfully surmounts the mountain in 2014 as part of Expedition Everest, she would become the very first Kenyan ever to climb to the very top of the world.

According to some handy press materials, Expedition Everest is a New York-based initiative aimed at raising $500,000 for the Flying Kites Leadership Acadamey in Njambini, Kenya, an organization seeking “to raise the standards of care available to the world’s poorest children” through education and advocacy. Kinuthia was selected for the 2014 climb from a pool of more than 150 certified adventurers after proving her mettle during an audition climb on Mt. Kenya, Africa’s second-tallest mountain. When she was selected, Kinuthia explained how awesome it would feel to be not only to be the first Kenyan to the top of Everest, but the first black African woman to reach the top as well:

Click here to read the full story.

By Jessica Amir

Nicole is found crying, starving and naked.

Her ribs protrude from her tiny body that is surrounded by scraps of rubbish. She lies on top of a trash heap, on a quiet Ugandan Street. The stench is thick.

She is the size of the masculine bare right hand which picks her up. He swats the flies from her eyes and mouth with the flick of his left wrist. He then dusts the orange peel and sticky rice from her body. He notices her umbilical cord is still attached.

He fumbles for his motorbike keys, starts the engine. The red dirt swirls in the air. He removes the white t-shirt, padding it into his helmet, which now gently cradles her limp body, tucking his shirt around her wrinkly limbs and skeletal torso. Her breath is laboured and she opens her mouth gasping for air.

He rides along the burnt orange roads of the capital city, Kampala, until he arrives at Watoto. He nurses Nicole’s one kilo body into the arms of a volunteer.

Nicole was premature and abandoned by her parents. She is the face of the millions of children across Africa who are abandoned at birth, and saved by orphan care programs, like Watoto. Now Good Samaritans know where to take the forsaken infants they find on the streets. The dilemma is Watoto has insufficient funding to save all of the abandoned babies. Medical supplies, shelter and carers are needed.

Most babies that go to Watoto are found dumped in trash cans, gutters, or left on door steps. Children are abandoned by their parents or are ex-child soldiers. Some babies are severely premature or have special needs. 14 million children are orphaned every year from AIDS and 11 million children die before their fifth birthday, as their families cannot afford medical care, according to the United Nations.

The program is a saviour for the children of Uganda who suffer. It takes in the infants and children, giving medical attention, “food, love, affection, education and skills to succeed later in life”, to hopefully become “leaders of Uganda and the World” explains Annie Duguid, Camp leader.

Intervention is needed to prevent unnecessary infant deaths, although, “It is very costly to provide one on one attention, food and medical care to these tiny babies”, says Ms Duguid. She adds that her biggest challenge is funding ongoing operational costs, so they can take in more babies.

One school from Sydney’s northern beaches, St Lukes Grammar, is attempting to make a difference in Watoto’s plight. They plan to raise $30,000 for next year’s mission to Watoto, to pay for building materials and a Ugandan building team.

They have been raising money and rolling up their sleeves for the orphanage since 2005, helping construct Watoto homes, provide care, education and spiritual leadership for the children.

Today, Nicole is three years old, she smiles and energetically sings, “if you are happy and you know it, clap your hands” while wearing her favourite bright pink dress. She is one of hundreds of babies over the last three years that have been rescued by Watoto.

The unknown man, who lifted Nicole out of a rubbish bin three years ago, drives down the red dusty road every day on his way to work. His helmet is fastened tight to his head, which once carried Nicole to Watoto. He looks down into the village as he rides past. He sees children laughing and playing. Their homes are brightly coloured and in clusters, just like the traditional African dwellings that came before them, close together, in groups of three. Carers walk hand in hand with toddlers, through the bright green vegetable gardens.

Nicole sits in her family home, in the village which she shares with her Watoto brothers and sisters. She wraps her plastic doll in a cotton blanket, clutches it close to her chest. She places the doll gently in the bassinette. She will never leave her. She kisses her on her forehead, and with a silent prayer, she hopes she has the life that every child deserves.

For more information or to make a donation visit Watoto’s website www.watoto.com/sponsorship

Rwese orphanage managed by REACH Italia has lost its main benefactor, Mr. Romano. He recently died in his nineties after building shelter, and funding food and medicine for these children of war. Now, it’s falling to me to take his place. At times it’s frightening but I will stand up and push back against the impulse to run. The two most urgent needs are clean drinking water and food. The children drink contaminated water and so are often sick with parasite and bacteria related illness. This was recently fatal to a child that I had met and photographed 3 days earlier. Children under five years old do not have the strength to withstand these conditions and parish in numbers difficult to fathom. They have also lost their sponsor for food so I’m soliciting donations, sponsors and volunteers to accompany me on my next upcoming trip.

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Dodger Clayton Kershaw is arguably the best starting pitcher in baseball.

But his relief work off the field is even more impressive – using his celebrity to help others.

Kershaw and his wife, Ellen, are working to save orphans halfway around the world.

He and Ellen spent some of the off-season in the slums of Africa to help children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.

“I think that you understand that Africa is third world and that you’re going to see some poverty and things like that. But, until you walk the streets and see how these people’s living conditions are, it puts things in perspective and lets you know how blessed you are. At the same time, you see how joyful these people are, especially the kids,” Clayton said.

The dusty streets of Zambia are almost 9,000 miles away from the glitz of Los Angeles.

“I was tentative to go over there. I was nervous about it. Twenty-hour flights and sleeping in places I’ve never seen or heard about,” the pitcher said.

“But then you get over there and it makes sense. You understand why you’re there and understand the good you can do,” he said.

Kershaw credits his wife with inspiring his good deeds.

The couple, childhood sweethearts, married in 2010. A few days after their wedding, they made their first trip to Africa together.

“I knew early on in our marriage that I wanted Clayton to experience this part of my heart. It was so cool to see sort of my two worlds collide. Clayton was over there and teaching the kids how to play baseball. We were in the middle of Zambia, kind of where my heart beat is. I love those kids,” Ellen said.

On the streets of Africa, the 24-year-old had a captive crowd. No fancy team jerseys or Dodger Dogs there — only hungry, barefoot children awed by the American who could make the ball dance in the air.

One child, Hope, especially captured their hearts.

“She’s our girl! We love her so much. I met her when she was nine or so and she’s HIV positive and that was just a gut punch for me,” Ellen said.

Hope is now 12 years old and healthy. She’s the Kershaw’s inspiration for Hope’s Home, an orphanage the Kershaws help sponsor in Zambia. Hope will live there, along with a dozen other children whose parents died of AIDS.

“We believe that with intense mentoring and discipleship and a high education that these kids can really make a difference in their country. So we’re starting small, but we hope to grow and who knows we’re we’ll go from here,” Ellen said.

Ellen is convinced Clayton’s experience in Africa made him a better person and a better ball player. A few months after his first visit, he won the pitching Triple Crown and the National League Cy Young Award.

The Kershaws have written a book about their life experiences, “Arise”, that is meant to inspire others.

“That’s the cool think about this. So many people have gotten on board and heard about the cause. And they want to help and that’s awesome!” Clayton said.

Kershaw now is back in L.A., starting his fifth season with the Dodgers.
But he’s left something behind in Zambia. In the village of Lusaka, Kershaw’s blue pitching tarp is a reminder of the athlete who threw his heart into something bigger than baseball and a big blue promise that Clayton will be coming back again.

For every strikeout he pitches, Clayton Kershaw donates $100 to his charity, “Kershaw’s Challenge”. To learn more about “Kershaw’s Challenge” click here.

Please check out the History for a bit more background about the orphans we are targetting. Also, if you have ideas to get this out there and get more blankets, please contact us!

In the next little bit there will be much more pictures and info added of this journey, so please stay tuned, and share with all your friends!

Click the photo for the full a video on the full story on the kickstarter page.

He teaches them more than meditation and kung fu, these kids are fluent in Mandarin too!

A documentary film by alison Noni richards and James Gien Varney Wong. African Kung Fu Kids tells the story of a man and his dedication to transforming the children of Africa.

I met her a few months earlier, during training. Our topic for the day was orphans in Lesotho.  With HIV/AIDS infection rate at 24 percent, it’s not uncommon for a child to lose a parent, sometimes two.  Like in America, this population falls through the cracks. Sure, they can live with family members, but it isn’t always a guarantee that that family member can feed them or even wants them.

Megan is a double orphan, meaning she has lost both her mother and father. I am too afraid to ask how, but HIV/AIDS is the assumption. She was forced to quit school to look after her three younger brothers.

Thanks to the help of one very good Peace Corps Volunteer, Megan’s three younger brothers now go to school and the family has money for food and other daily needs. The volunteer also helped her turn her situation into an opportunity. Megan runs a youth group for children who are not in school because they are orphans or their parents can’t afford to pay the fees. She teaches them income-generating activities, such as planting vegetables to sell at the market, raising chickens to slaughter for meat and making brooms. She’s also collaborated with local offices of international organizations, such as World Vision, to put on clinics about poverty and HIV/AIDS.

The girl dreams big. She is now hoping to finish a few of her high school credits to go to school for project development. She wants to start more groups like hers in surrounding villages (we hope to work together to get one started in my village) and eventually create her own non-profit for the region.

No big thinker, politician, writer, celebrity or athlete inspires me the way Megan does. She doesn’t want other children to go through what she did, and if they do, she wants them to know they are not alone.

There is nothing I could do during my time in Lesotho that will make as big of impact as what Megan is doing. Unlike me, Megan won’t leave in two years. She will most likely spend the rest of her life trying to make her country a better place. She is the kind of person this world needs more of and I’ll do whatever I can to resemble even a 10^th of her character.

*Megan is a pseudo name. 

But I have recently read Timothy Ferris’ book the 4-Hour-Workweek and found it very practical and inspiring. He starts with encouraging readers to define the greatest dream of their lives…put a monetary cost on its achievement and then design an internet business from the beginning with the end goal as the guiding focus.

In my case, I want orphans to have everything they need. I want to start with one orphanage and finance them with an online business that can be run from anywhere in the world. Whether I’m at home in the States or on extended stays in DRC I want an income stream for myself and for the children. In terms of time investment I believe it’s more efficient to operate an online business than to plan and execute charity events.

Once I learn how to run the first business and provide for the needs of the first orphanage…I’d be able to move to the next and teach these methods to reproduce the model…and so on. Stay tuned for progress reports and links to the Tim Ferris Network of Forward thinkers.

Nathan Ross Freeman to “Charles” – The Griot

Death is hard headed, wounds are stubborn and mistakes are unforgiving.

PLEASE COMMENT:

What is your take on the GRIOT?

Are you a Story Teller? Tell us a story of an actual event in your journies.

NEXT:

The next blog we will ask KACEY,  the documentary filmmaker, “What was your mission?”

“Common Threadz is one of those rare non-profits that is extremely effective in their mission while staying relevant to youth culture,” explains AP Co-Owner Jesse DenHerder. “Action sports athletes are creative by nature and ActionProfiles is a perfect venue to harness it.” Zac Folk, founder of CommonThreadz added, “It’s great to be working with Action Profiles on this project and to witness how the nonprofit and private sector can work together in a win-win fashion. We’re excited to see the designs and hope to make this an annual contest.” AP has also put together an elite team of judges who will be announcing the winning design including:

Monica Staniec - Board member of WIAS (Women in Action Sports) and VP of Marketing at iMa, a marketing and PR agency that targets the actions sports, art, music and fashion markets. Monica is also an active Snowboarder and enjoys surfing.

Luiz Calado – Photographer, writer and award winning editor, Luiz’s work has been published in many US and Brazilian publications including Thrasher, Tribo, SKT, Veja, and Yeah! Magazine. With degrees in Communications and Photojournalism, Luiz blends insight and ingenuity in his reporting, while remaining true to his skateboarding roots.

Wendy Burkman – Co-Founder/producer of the Wanda Show and media personality for ActionProfiles.com. Wendy is also a talented singer/songwriter and model.

The Design For Good T-shirt design competition kicks off on Nov. 1st. Submissions are welcome from November through December 23, 2009 and we encourage artists from all over the world to submit their entries. The winner will receive national exposure as an artist/humanitarian, and a generous prize package from our sponsors, including watches, headphones, apparel and much more. Presentations to the winner and commercialization of the T-shirt designs will take place in January. For more info go to: http://www.actionprofiles.com/designforgood or http://www.commonthreadz.org

About Common Threadz:
Common Threadz is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is working to build and fund sustainable projects that help save orphans and vulnerable children living in extreme poverty in Africa and other developing nations. They employ a holistic approach to their programs that aid the children and their caretakers, with an emphasis on education as the building block for sustainable change and the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.

About Action Profiles:
ActionProfiles.com is a leading online Action Sports network for riders, quality brands, and worthy causes. Communities include Skateboarding, Snowboarding, Surfing, Wakeboarding, Mountain Biking, BMX, Motorcross, Skiing, Kiteboarding, as well as a new Filmer and Photographer network. AP merges cutting edge social media with on site event marketing to create an environment that effectively engages both consumer and brand. AP is owned and operated by riders with award winning talent and proven business chops.

Jesse Den Herder
Co-Owner | CCO
PH: +1 231.590.3583
FX: +1 928.441.3583
jesse@actionprofiles.com
http://www.ActionProfiles.com

Posh and Becks have talked about having more children, but it looks like Posh is sick of being pregnant. The two may adopt a baby from African. Becks visited Sierra Leone with UNICEF and that trip moved him to want to adopt an orphan. Becks has apparently even talked to Tom Cruise about it, because Tom has two adopted children.

A source said “Tom has talked to David about how adoption changed him and how he’s been able to change the lives of two amazing children.” Posh & Becks’ spokeswhore deny the claims.

The couple currently have 3 boys.

Talking to Tom about adopting an African orphan? I’m sure Tom told Becks that he will definitely help him if……Becks let’s him toss his salad. “Can we talk about this over salads?” Tom knows nothing about adopting! He probably didn’t even handle the adoption of his kids. He just told his people that he needed to look softer in the media, so they handled it.

I think it’s a good idea for Posh & Becks to adopt. She’s always wanted a girl and I don’t think it’s healthy for her to carry a baby with all those alleged tummy tucks. That baby is going to be trapped. Living in Posh’s belly is like living in a Manhattan studio apartment. It’s not comfortable.

Here’s Posh wearing a robe from Z Gallerie while sashaying through the Toronto airport with Cruz.

Image: INFDaily.com