My friends are fabulous!

I've started (with some trepidation) fundraising for my 'Umoja 3030' challenge. It's been a long time since I've done anything that required asking people to sponsor me and I must say it's a bit odd. There's a kind of tension between wanting someone to sponsor me, and putting them in an awkward positon so that they feel obligated. I hope I'm not doing too much of the latter. I'm so impressed with the genersoity of my friends and work colleagues so far. What a fabulous bunch!

The challenge is a personal one- my 'extreme poverty' challenge. The current 'extreme poverty line' is set at $1.25 (US) per day. 1.4 billion people live on less than this per day. And don't kid yourself that this is actually a lot of money in a developing country- this is the adjusted amount. But don't feel too sorry for me- I'm only going to do it for a week. Having been born into a wealthy society I'm priveliged enough to be able to chose poverty for a week and then go back to my nice life.

This isn't the case for the young people that will benefit from my week-long challenge. They are the students of the Umoja Centre. I'll write more about this wonderful place next week, including about my time there last year.