In rural areas of East Africa, it’s a struggle for kids to go to school. Extreme poverty is common. Families rely on the crops from their tiny parcel of land to feed their children. If it’s a good harvest, and there’s surplus, children benefit by having enough money for school fees.

One of my meetings yesterday was with , founder of the . OAF is a charity I support, that makes loans of simple farm inputs. Farmers get seeds, fertilizer, training and access to markets. The crop yields are always at least double. In one growing season, lives change.

I love a cause that’s efficient. For every $25 I , I'm ending hunger for one family. So far, 40,000 farm families have been served and the number is growing. Andrew talked about Razoa, a . Before the harvest her boys went to the public school with 80 kids in a classroom. Only half had a pencil and less had paper. After the harvest, there was money to send both boys to a school where each student had books, supplies and one teacher for a classroom of eleven.

How is it that I sat through a positively motivating story about a family permanently lifting themselves out of poverty, and I was unmoved?  It’s shocking that I can run a business, do volunteer work, chat with family and friends and not really be emotionally present. It wasn’t until I woke up this morning that I stopped to think about the kids in Kenya sitting in a packed classroom with nothing in front of them to help them learn. In my world, Rosie is starting kindergarten today. She has a full backpack and a new box of . Thank God, for all we have and for all those who will have what they need, one day soon. Today is a new day. May I be inspired and do my part, fully connected to those whose lives I touch.

 

In Italian there is a
lingering note that precedes
the fugue of living.
Appoggiatura - a sustained tone
that cuts into the time
of the next chord.
Sometimes it's called a grace note
alternately, a time-stealer.

There's a whole constellation
of distractions in my repertoire.
Things I tell myself
I must accomplish before
I let joy settle:
That last ten pounds
That college degree
That nest egg.

Please help me take
Your words to heart -
that grace is a gift,
and life is to be lived.
Right now.

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