About the French Word Challenge for Haiti

THE DEAL:

I'm asking you to pledge to donate to Partners in Health if I can learn 400 new French words by the end of April.

Partners in Health, started by Dr. Paul Farmer, has been working in Haiti for over twenty years. Because of the recent earthquake, they need your support now more than ever.

To pledge, please email me or pledge in the comment box, below. When I am done learning all these words, I'll get back in touch with you to remind you to send your money directly to Partners in Health.

You can donate to Partners in Health by clicking on the red DONATE button at http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti

THE EXPLANATION:

While I was studying for a research project on children's rights I was forced into the lives of children whose lives never should've turned out the way they did. There are children in the world who are forced to be married under the age of thirteen, children who are isolated from their families and forced to go to war, children without healthcare, children forced to skip school and work in factories, children dying of preventable causes, and many other horrible things.

It was only shortly afterwards when I heard about the earthquake in Haiti. When I learned that Haiti was already one of the poorest countries in the world, you can probably understand how sad I was for the children growing up there. And that's when I realized that not only children are suffering from abuse and lack of safety and healthcare, but people of every age, kind, and civilization. By this point I was overpowered by sadness and I knew I had to do something about it.

So I decided to do a French-Word-a-thon. I didn't want to do another read-a-thon because people do them so often that every school has one at least once a year. I wanted to do something different that no-one else would think of and that was really hard to do because then people would be really excited about it and would want to pledge more money for Haiti.

And I hope that at least a few of you can find love in your heart for all those dying parents and their uneducated, sick or injured children who need them to continue living and loving them.

Current sponsors:

Nona
Katie
Mom
Dad
Kate T

Kate W
Maria
Lucia
Anna-Maria and Dermot
Aups Jessica

Paris Jessica

Hilary, Peter, and Hawthorne

Aunt Mary

Aunt Bonnie

Zaro

Toni and Bud

Wendy