On the Run

Ok, I think I'm ready to post on this.

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to try jogging again. What got me going, besides a growing dissatisfaction with the condition my body is in, was the realization that this year's Elephant Stampede at St. Bridget needs some kind of "shot in the arm" in order to make it, financially.


The Elephant Stampede is a parish 5K walk/run and picnic for our sister parish in Namitembo, Malawi. It's been an annual event since 1997, and we've raised lots of money and lots of awareness on behalf of our friends there. We've raised funds to build teacher housing & elementary school classrooms for 7 different elementary schools, renovate one high school and build another from scratch, and we have just completed construction of the Namitembo Trade and Agriculture School in April. We've purchased vehicles and other kinds of equipment, helped with three famine/food shortages, and more. Two parish families have even started ambitious agricultural projects on their own within the Namitembo area, and several others have quietly assisted "penpals." Every year we host a visitor or two from Namitembo, and we've had maybe 75 visitors go over there from St. Bridget, many of them multiple visits (I've been there 5 times). Some of us have stayed... Ann and Chet Nachtigal stayed for four months, and my son John stayed for two and a half years.

Our two communities are truly sisters...and they're the elder sister, having celebrated their 50 year anniversary about 6 years ago (St. Bridget is a comparative youngster at a mere 42 years old). There are several different articles on our parish web page -- HERE.

So, what's this about my running? After 13 years, and with the pressure of the financial slowdown, the Stampede needs a boost. So I've decided to try to get in shape, and ask friends, family, and parishioners to sponsor me by "sponsoring a student" in the Trade School. The cost to sponsor a student is about $350 -- the unmet per student operating cost of the Namitembo Trade and Agriculture School. An individual or family can raise or donate that amount themselves, or partner with someone else. For this amount, a student will learn a skill that will enable him/her to get an actual income-producing job. This is HUGE if you live in rural Malawi!

So... between now and September 19th, I'll be chugging away, getting ready, 3-5 times a week, pushing my extra weight and my extra years... so won't you help me? See that guy with the megaphone (last year's Stampede) -- get him out on the trail!