by kenn | May 21, 2012 | Blogs |
This weekend I was having a nice chat with my Grandma and told her about 25 in Change. I told her why it is such a great campaign. About 14,000 kids are dying every day due to lack of food. I have never seen a look on her face like that before. She couldn’t comprehend those kinds of numbers, and I don’t blame her one bit. By eating beans and rice for 25 days, we try to place ourselves in the lives of the kids that suffer from lack of food. We can’t see or experience all of their suffering, but through being in solidarity with them in their fight with chronic hunger, we get a little bit closer to understanding them and ourselves. Last Sunday, after our group meeting, I couldn’t sleep. Not because I was hungry, but because I was pumped in seeing the people around me changing. Since I was 18, I have been pretty involved with mission work–both locally and globally. A thought came to me during last week’s session: We are on a mission trip. We haven’t applied for passports, and haven’t received any shots to prevent tropical diseases, but we feel connected the same way one feels when going to a developing country and immersing oneself in a radically different culture. To be honest, I am amazed at the feelings we are all experiencing; I even lose sleep some nights because I get so excited about what this is doing in my life, the lives of advocates around me, and especially, the lives of children who are getting a fighting chance in life. As...
by kenn | May 20, 2012 | Blogs |
Close to 20 years ago, I had a dear friend come to the States from Belarus, former Soviet Union, to study for year. We formed a deep friendship despite language barriers. Many nights giggling over my lack of eloquence with Belarusian as she patiently taught me simple words like good morning and good night. She was a consistent source of joy and always beaming with life, however one day she came back from running errands sobbing and undone. I helped her unbind her heart and apprehensively reveal her days events. She ran to Walmart, of all stores, to purchase a simple tube of toothpaste. This was her first experience going into an American grocery store which, as I write this, seems absurd to call it that. What she came upon was nothing less than complete culture shock. She had never been faced with so many choices in her life. In Belarus, there is only one choice for a tube of toothpaste. My friend ended up coming home empty handed, but a heart full of defeat and anger. I’ve never forgotten this. For her, a simple trip to the market turned into an experience with a machine that will eat you alive if you are unsuspecting. I was listening to NPR last week and heard an interview with Dr. Chow from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He uses mathematics to solve everyday problems of real life. In the interview, the question was asked, “Did you ever solve the question – what caused the obesity epidemic?” and this was his answer, “We think so. And its...
by kenn | May 14, 2012 | Blogs |
I love seeing people come together and sacrifice some of their greatest pleasures for a great cause. You all are amazing people in my eyes. I know some of the advocates have gone through some really tough challenges with their mind, body, and soul and I just want to say, stay strong! You and your sponsors are the voices for the 14,000 kids that pass away everyday due to starvation. This is a blip on the screen of life for most of us; but, could be a child’s entire screen if you save their life by providing a meal. I have been very blessed to only have had to deal with a couple issues back on day 3 when I believe my body was detoxing itself. I enjoy torturing myself though, so, when my college buddies were visiting this weekend, I took them to every food establishment I love. Wooo!! I know why dogs drool when you place food at within their reach but won’t let them have it. It blows my mind that I have never had to experience this before. I spent time in Haiti and Zimbabwe and although I was very limited in food, I didn’t have delicious meals in front of me to have to deal with. What do we want in this world?? To be happy… not worry… those are just a few. Let’s see, money is not evil at all, it is amoral. Money is feeding these kids but money doesn’t buy happiness. It can buy fun, that is for sure; but, fun ends and then what? As a nation we spend billions...
by kenn | May 12, 2012 | Blogs |
Its day 6 and my famous red cup and water bottle have become my loathed best friends. I love them because they keep me going, and loath them because they are the last thing in the world I want. I’m only a week in and it’s been extremely interesting to not only self evaluate my physical being but my psychological being. When we started we were challenged to keep an eye on our psych and watch changes in our behavior. Not thinking enough into it time I now understand why we were asked to do that – for me this is where the true empathy is coming from. While I cannot image what it would be like to live a life of starvation, I am truly starting to scratch the surface of understanding what physical poverty is like and why its a downward spiral. Anyone in desperate need of help, needs just that, help. However if you cannot help yourself the only place that help can come from is other people. The catch 22 is that when you are physically impoverished your first and natural reaction is to go into seclusion avoiding contact with other, and thus ultimately decreasing any if not all your chances to receive support. I am more an extrovert than an introvert but during this time it has really challenged me to be in large groups, social settings, or the like – I’m becoming an introvert, not that that’s bad, just crazy for me. The true question is why? What I have personally found is that when you cannot participate fully with others in activities that are outside your means (even...
by kenn | May 5, 2012 | The First 25 |
[singlepic id=10 w=320 h=240 mode=web20 float=left] More than anything, I believe with my whole heart that we don’t have a food production problem but rather a food distribution problem. I believe we need change and I am committed to being part of that change. Its been extremely encouraging and motivating to see a community of people rally behind something with an unwaivering persistance to let anything but change happen. The support from family and friends has been incredible, thank you for everything! You can follow my Tweets here @KennKelly and my blog here at...
by kenn | Apr 30, 2012 | Blogs |
“World Food Program USA (WFP USA) is a nonprofit organization that builds support in the United States to end global hunger. WFP USA engages individuals and organizations, shapes public policy and generates resources for the United Nations World Food Program and other hunger relief operations.” “Imagine a world without hunger…what would it take? With nearly 1 billion hungry people around the world, how do we get there? WFP USA believes that everyone has a role to play in eradicating hunger, from individuals to organizations, from governments to the private sector. Leadership at the highest levels of the U.S. government is a critical component of solving the problem. We educate Members of Congress, the administration and other government officials about international hunger issues and specific policies that could improve U.S. government efforts to address global hunger. We also advocate for sufficient funding to ensure that U.S. government programs are reaching as many people as possible who are in need around the world. To build support for strong U.S. leadership in addressing global hunger, we collaborate with and mobilize opinion leaders, businesses, grassroots networks, nonprofits, coalitions and others.” ~World Food Programme “We can put an end to global hunger, but not without your help! More than 1 billion people are going hungry today. They need your voice to ensure that they are not forgotten in Congress. Members of Congress are elected to represent you in Washington, DC, and they want to hear from their constituents on what issues are most important to them. These tools will help you shape your message so you can speak to Congress on behalf of the...
