14%

Well, 13.75% to be exact. Today the first support letters came in! It's going to be a stretch making $1,500 by Monday, but I'm coming up with a few ideas with the help of friends.

What happens if

A dear friend asked me today, "What happens if you don't raise the funds?"

......

I don't go. 

This hit me pretty hard last night and seems to be an overwhelming possibility. It's too early to say, but I feel I will be able to raise an absolute maximum of $1,000.

I believe that God has the power and the resources to provide the money. That's never the question, is it? The question is always... will He?

Why should I believe that He will bring $4,000 to some washed up college grad on the West Coast so she can take an outrageously expensive trip to the other side of the world? Why, especially when there are so many more pressing needs around the world that are not being met?

The fact is that God does not meet every need. I have gone without certain needs many times in my life. Many, many other people in the world go without crucial basic needs- even to the point of death.

But He has promised that He will provide for everything I need to follow Him. He has promised that I can face any need and be content. He has promised I can suffer greatly and still feel joy.

I'm curious to see how that will work.

I still have many questions and heartbreaks over the possibility of failing. First of all, I am in love with Malawi and this church and my team. To not be able to give to them in person is heartbreaking.

Secondly, what a career heartbreak. My attempts to pursue this dream have been a checkerboard with some successes and some failures. This seems like an overwhelming square that will wipe out my checkerboard. The question is, will it be black or white?

Which leads me to my final question. Regardless of the color of this square, I won't give up. With all the strength left in me, I won't give up. But this seems like it could be such a devastating blow to my ability to take risks, I feel that my attempts will go from cliff diving to puddle splashing.

I will support my team, my church and this project the best that I can. If that means doing research and praying from home, I will throw my heart into it.

(Cue emo moment:)

The broken, shattered pieces of it at least.

Alternative Forms of Support

One of the biggest ways that I need support for this trip is financial support (give online on the sidebar!). However, I wanted to write a post about other ways that I would welcome support!

• Prayer support. Pray with me or for me. 
• Support references. Could you refer me to 4-5 other people who would be interested in supporting this project? Many people have a heart for human rights, this is a great chance to get involved!
• Research support. Send me articles, books, facts and news on Malawi and human rights issues in Malawi or the southern Africa region. Interact with the research that I post- ask questions, criticize, comment, compliment. Give me thoughts, counterarguments, alternatives. 
• Fundraisers. Help me host a fundraiser! 
• Come to the Mighty Waters Conference! 

Don't wait, get involved today. Time is flying by until our departure date!

Child Labor in Malawi

For my Politics of Human Rights class, I have to write a 10-page research paper. Here is the my topic and the inspiration:

BBC News In Pictures: Malawi Child Workers

"Child tobacco pickers in Malawi are being regularly exposed to extremely high levels of nicotine poisoning, according to a new report by children's organisation Plan International.

Images from Plan International

The report claims that child labourers, some as young as five years old, are suffering severe symptoms from absorbing up to 54 milligrams a day of nicotine through their skin- equivalent to smoking about 50 cigarettes.

It is estimated that more than 78,000 children work on tobacco estates across Malawi, some working 12 hours a day, many for less than 1p (1.7 US cents) an hour and without protective clothing.

Children have reported common symptoms of Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS), or nicotine poisoning, including sever headaches, abdominal pain, muscle weakness, coughing and breathlessness.

Plan is now calling upon the Malawi government to enforce existing child labour laws, plantations to provide safer, fairer working conditions and multi-national tobacco companies to scrutinise suppliers far more closely.

British American Tobacco, one of the major buyers of Malawi's tobacco, says it shares many of Plan's concerns and stresses it does not use child labour in its operations."

BBC News, August 24, 2009

Another organization to investigate: Plan International

Introduction to Malawi

I enjoyed reading about Malawi on the CIA World Factbook. Here are some interesting facts that stood out to me:

Malawi is a land-locked country in Southern Africa, one of the smaller countries in the world at about the size of Pennsylvania.

Malawi has a sub-tropical climate, and we will be going during the dry season. Lake Nyasa is the eighth largest lake in the world and shares the previous name of the country, Nyasaland.

Lake Nyasa

Malawi has a population of almost 16 million, which, considering its small geographical size, makes it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Interestingly, despite Malawi's dense population, it remains 80% rural and 90% of the workforce is employed in agriculture. The two largest cities still have less than 900,000 people.

The capital of Malawi, Lilongwe

The population is very young, with a median age of 17, with a high population growth rate and birth rate. Life expectancy is about 51 years, the 11th worst in the world. Malawi's geographical neighbors also rank among the bottom 12 for life expectancy, worsening Malawi's situation.

Some social statistics:
- Almost 1/10 infant mortality rate
- Fertility rate: 5.43 children per woman
- HIV/AIDS adult prevalency rate 11% (9th highest in the world)
- 80% Christian, with Muslim ranking second.

Adult literacy rate is 76% for males, but only 50% for females. This highlights some of the inequality that women face. Education expectancy is 9 years, which is like 8th grade as my last school year.

A market in Lilongwe

Malawi has the 10th lowest GDP per capita in the world, at only $900 per person. More than half of the population is below the poverty line. Malawi has very poor transportation and communication networks (telephone, Internet, roadways, airports, etc.).  90% of workforce is employed in agriculture, but agriculture only makes up 33% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Still, Malawi is about in the middle in terms of inequality of income distribution as measusred by the Gini coefficient. Tobacco is one of Malawi's major exports at 53%.

Tobacco industry in Malawi

We will be in country for Malawi's 46th independence day from the UK on July 6. The two official languages of Malawi are English and Chichewa.

The government is multi-party democracy with universal adult suffrange (18+). It appears to be proportional representation, my personal favorite, like in Scandinavia, although I need to do more reading on the government and politics of Malawi.

National Anthem: "Oh God Bless Our Land Malawi"

Malawian flag

Black represents the native peoples, red the blood shed in their struggle for freedom, and green the color of nature; the sun represents Malawi's economic progress since attaining independence.

Some interesting NGOs we should look up: Council for NGOs in Malawi or CONGOMA (human rights, democracy, and development); Human Rights Consultative Committee or HRCC (human rights); Malawi Law Society (human rights and law reform); Malawi Movement for the Restoration of Democracy or MMRD (acts to restore and maintain democracy); Public Affairs Committee or PAC (promotes democracy, development, peace and unity), Partners In Health, Malawi Voice (Malawian news agency)

Jann's $60

Back in December, my dear friend from Switzerland gave me $60 for my trip to Africa. I had no definite plans for a trip at that point, it was just a distant dream from childhood that has lingered and grown.

Over the months since then, I have kept it in a hidden pocket of my wallet. Everywhere I went, every time I pulled out money to spend, I saw the $60. It was a precious reminder to me that someone believed enough in my dream to put money on it.

I am so excited to use Jann's $60 to start off this human rights trip. Thanks for believing, Jann.

Human Rights Trip Proposal

Vision

- To reduce human rights violations and increase the health of marriages in Malawi through Christ inspired education and empowerment

Mission

- To host free three day clinics in villages in Malawi in partnership with the Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre that would address the following issues: domestic violence, family desertion, child labor, marriage, child rearing, and trafficking.
- The clinics would be led by American and Malawians, but communicated in Chichewa with a small group format to allow for trust, confidentiality, relationship building and counseling.
- Each small group would be led by a representative from a local church to allow for long-term support and care.

Dates and Details

Our first clinics would take place sometime between July 2-17, 2011 in Kudoku Village and Flood Malawi Church

Goals
- Create a sustainable, long-term ministry partnership
- Build and maintain collaboration with Flood San Diego and Flood Malawi
- Develop this as part of the ongoing ministry of Flood