100 Days of Happiness - Day 79

[dizzojay]

I don't do new year resolutions like trying to lose weight or giving up chocolate because I have no willpower - I never take them seriously and I never last beyond the first frustrating day at work.

However, having said that, I always like to try to make a new year mean something, even if not for me!

Last year was a particularly hard act to follow as thanks to my amazing friends and family I raised £600 for cancer research by giving up wine for three months, and so I gave lots of thought about what I could do to follow that up this year (and giving up wine wasn't an option)!

Eventually, once I got my arse in gear and made my choice, it was actually a very easy decision to make.

I decided to sponsor a child in the third world, and particularly I wanted to sponsor a little girl because in so many of these countries, women and girls are subjected to subjugation and abuse for all sorts of spurious political, cultural or religious reasons, all of which are completely indefensible as far as I'm concerned.

I decided I wanted to play a small part in giving one little girl a taste of the opportunities that I've been lucky enough to have, and, today I heard from the charity I set up the sponsorship with and I finally met my little girl!

Her name is Brendi, she's seven years old and she lives in Honduras, and I'm really looking forward to getting to know her, and having even the smallest positive impact on her life.

This is Brendi.

Comments

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

Good for you. We all do need to contribute in some way in assisting our fellow man. She is very cute. I hope you will update us on your correspondence with her.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Oh I will, I haven't written my first letter to her yet. The charity says that your correspondence is used to supplement her schooling, so I want to make it as interesting as I can.

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

Oh she's lovely! I sponsored a little girl, Kitzi in Kenya several years ago from when she was 8 to 14 and it was a wonderful experience, very rewarding. I still have her letters and ended up writing to her family too! It's a great way to contribute and also interact with others too. Well done x

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I want, I don't doubt I'll get massive satisfaction from this experience.

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

You're a beautiful person honey :) And I feel proud to call you friend ♥

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Thank you, that's very sweet. I don't think of myself as beautiful, just idealistic; I'd like to think even insignificant little me can make a speck of difference to the crap that goes on in this world if I put my mind to it!

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

And let's hope there are more people like you out there, because the world would be a lot simpler and a lot nicer with a few more, Glass half full' people in it :)

[blackrabbit42.livejournal.com]

This really brightened my morning. What a wonderful idea. You are shining right through my laptop monitor with your inner beauty!!

:)

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

As I said to Milly, I'm not beautiful, I'm just a sap who wants to make a dent in some of the crap that goes on in this world. :)

[waywardprimrose.livejournal.com]

That's fantastic. Last year I got involved with Kiva.org where you lend $25 to a person in the developing world. It's really exciting when I get their $1 repayment each month because it means they're doing well enough to pay it back (you're warned at the start if there's a disaster or the person dies or their business fails you won't get the money back). Sometimes the loans are to help someone become more self sufficient (e.g. expand their farm or start a farm) but other times its giving someone a hand up they might not otherwise have (like helping someone finish building their home).

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

These are all great initiatives to help those who really need helping, aren't they. What a good job there are people around with the gumption to organise all this :)

[waywardprimrose.livejournal.com]

well said, as good as it feels to participate when I was researching the founding of Kiva I was just blown away by the mindset that some people have - that drive to take an idea and make it happen, it wasn't easy for them, unlike setting up a charity similar to other existing charities they had to blaze and entirely new path (with huge legal obstacles) and yet they did it.

It's hard not to look at your own life and feel insignificant and unworthy in the face of stories like that but I try to focus on the idea that if they can do a big thing that took months and months I can keep working at the small things like working with some pretty disadvantaged kids despite the frustrations that go with that. A few years back I worked in a private school and in some ways it was easier but it didn't feel like my calling if that makes sense. I don't miss it.