Bellingham Traverse

Three years ago Marcia and I joined like-minded people in Whatcom County as we started Action for Africa to partner with World Vision in Lesotho, Africa. Our goal has been to help the poorest of the poor in that country. We have been privileged to participate in two trips to visit Lesotho which has put familiar faces on the scourge of HIV, poverty, hunger and thirst. We cannot look away from the needs of the amazing people we met during those visits.

Lesotho is a small, single-tribe nation in extreme poverty with an HIV/Aids rate of 23%, third highest in the world. The HIV/Aids Pandemic leaves children orphaned and vulnerable and causing those as young as eight years old to be the head of their household, endeavoring to secure food and shelter for their younger siblings.

AFA has also come alongside Mike & Selloane Breeding of Bellingham as they brought her nephews and niece from Lesotho to become part of their family. This involved helping to remodel their home and with the many expenses related to this undertaking. AFA continues to be involved with the Breeding family.

In addition to our on-going mission and commitment to the people of Lesotho, Action for Africa is responding to the present crisis of drought and famine in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

That drought has resulted in massive crop failure to the extent that the United Nations reports that 10 million people have become vulnerable to starvation. To put that in perspective, that is equal to the approximate number of men, women and children in the states of Washington and Oregon combined.

Action for Africa has successfully raised $100,000 in each of the past two years. With that funding, World Vision has helped to facilitate the provision of food and clean drinking water, to establish individuals and families in sustainable livelihoods, and to improve healthcare and educational opportunities in Lesotho. Our hope is to continue to work to improve the lives of those in Lesotho for the next 20 years.

I am participating in the Bellingham Traverse, a local fund-raising 5 event race which takes place on Saturday, September 17, 2011. A significant portion of funds raised through the Bellingham Traverse 2011 will be sent to World Vision in support of their work in the Horn of Africa. I would like to invite you to sponsor me in that race by contributing to Action for Africa.

Proverbs 22:9 "Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor."

Proverbs 31:8 "Speak for the people who have no voice, for the rights of the down-and-outers. Speak out for justice! Stand for the poor and destitute!"