Announcing the 30 till 30 Challenge

It's October 19. On November 19 I turn 30. Birthdays are, almost by definition, a massively narcissistic phenomenon. This year I'd like to do something a little different.

So I'm officially announcing the 30 till 30 Challenge.

In the next 30 days I want to raise $3,000 for HEAL Africa. $3,000 will provide three Fresh Start Kits, each of which provides basic training and equipment to a woman in the Democratic Republic of Congo (be it a sewing machine, start-up capital, livestock, etc.) so that she can be economically independent and escape the endless cycles of poverty and violence in this war-torn region.

$3,000 will change three women's lives. One for each decade I've been on the planet. That kind of beautiful symmetry is the best birthday present you can give.

If you'd be so kind as to make your donation through the One Day's Wages "Birthday for a Cause" page I've set up, we can keep track of how much we've raised. You can donate directly through HEAL Africa's site, of course, but like I said, birthdays are an exercise in narcissism.




Seriously, though. This blog has enough readers that if everyone kicks in a few bucks, we can easily raise $3,000 by November 19. We can make a world of difference for some people we'll probably never meet. That would be way better than anything I could ever unwrap.