Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5
Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography

Thank you Shire and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week.

A hungry child in East Africa can’t wait. Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we’ll respond and save her life. In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water. Their crops failed for the third year in a row. All their animals died. They lost everything. Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps. 

At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching. Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren’t so lucky. Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this? Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia. This is the world’s first famine in 20 years.12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone. A child is dying every 5 minutes. It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over. Take a moment and let that settle in.

The media plays a major role in disasters. They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond–or not. Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets. News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity’s baby bump dominate headlines. That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers. Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don’t do anything at all.

When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it. I didn’t want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. I wanted to protect myself. I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening. You see, this food crisis is personal. I have a 4-year-old son and a 1 yr-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought. If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million. My children: extremely hungry and malnourished? Gulp. I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child. But would you do something for another mother’s hungry child?

My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya–the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people. He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, 1 yr-old-baby, Suleiman, and 4 yr.-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia. When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed. As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, “I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm.” The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up. “We don’t have enough food now…our food is finished. I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues.”

Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman? Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.

That something I knew I would need to do became a campaign called #Ask5for5 to raise awareness and funds for famine and drought victims. The concept is simple, give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on–in nine generations of 5x5x5…we could raise $2.4 Million! In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000! I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100% of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended. Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to
help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support,
healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.

I need you to help me save lives. It’s so so simple; here’s what you need to do:

1. Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)
2. Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.
3. Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I’m looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week. Email me at ask5for5@gmail.com if you’re interested in participating this week.

A hungry child doesn’t wait. She doesn’t wait for us to finish the other things on our to-do list, or get to it next month when we might have a little more money to give. She doesn’t wait for us to decide if she’s important enough to deserve a response. She will only wait as long as her weakened little body will hold on…please respond now and help save her life. Ask 5 for 5.

Thank you on behalf of all of those who will be helped–you are saving lives and changing history.

p.s. Please don’t move on to the next website before you donate and email your friends right now. It only takes 5 minutes and just $5, and if you’re life is busy like mine, you probably won’t get back to it later. Let’s not be a generation that ignores hundreds of thousands of starving people, instead let’s leave a legacy of compassion. You have the opportunity to save a life today!

I began pursuing a BIG dream two weeks ago. After deciding I could no longer avoid the news about the famine in the horn of Africa, I had that gut feeling that I couldn’t sit this one out. I HAD to do something because I could. Something bigger than I could do alone.

Two of my children, Ashen and Bereket, were adopted and are from the region affected by the drought in Ethiopia. They would be two of the statistics if they still lived there. I see my son’s and daughter’s faces in the photos of those suffering in the refugee camps. It could have been him. It could have been her. The thought haunts me.

And moms just like us are watching their children go hungry day after day. I can’t imagine what it’s like, but I have to –I have to be there to help them, because it could have been my children. These families have lost their livestock, their crops, food prices are inflated at the market if there any food there, and don’t have any more lifelines to tap into. Many are traveling hundreds of miles through parched land in hope of finding help. Many are dying along the way. It is estimated that 29,000 children have died in the last 90 days in the famine in Somalia alone.

But I KNOW we can do something about it. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed, we can rally ourselves and our friends to respond! I set up a fundraiser through See Your Impact. 100% of your gift will go to the relief and development organization World Vision, where it will be combined with government grants to multiply up to 5 times in impact!

You’ll receive updates on just how your funding is being used to help save lives affected by famine in East Africa. I’m amazed at how much we’ve raised already — over $7,000 in just four days! We blew through our first 3 goals in just 3 days and are well on our way to $10,000 and beyond!
I need you to help me save lives. It’s so so simple; here’s what you need to do:

1. Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)
2. Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.
3. Share Ask5for5 on Facebook to stay updated too!

I’m also looking for 100 bloggers to stand with Ask5for5 to spread the word during Social Media week, September 19th – 23rd. If you’re interested, email me, ask5for5@gmail.com.

Thanks! Please donate and email your friends right now–don’t wait for a calmer moment, because if you’re like me, other demands inevitably crop up and you won’t get to it. A child’s life hangs in the balance, but you can help save her!

A child suffering with serious illness is one of the saddest things in the world. Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® has given hope, strength and joy to children with life-threatening medical conditions.

One of these children is Erik “Electron Boy”. He wished to be a superhero. On World Wish Day® 2010, Erik transformed into Electron Boy. More than 350 people helped the Make-A-Wish Foundation® make Erik’s wish come true on this special day. Watch this video to see Erik’s wish, one of the many wishes, that was granted last year:

World Wish Day® 2010 – Erik’s wish to be a superhero

World Wish Day® 2011, a global celebration of wish granting, is coming up on Friday, April 29, 2011.

Please visit Ways to Help: World Wish Day® and get involved in World Wish ® 2011. There is a variety of options for helping and giving.

Follow Make-A-Wish Foundation® on Twitter @MakeAWish and “like” on Facebook at facebook.com/makeawish.

Everyone should get involved in supporting the World Wish Day campaign on April 29, 2011.

Spread the word!

With Much Love & Gratitude
~Shire

During this period of hardship, I moved from the apartment I shared with my brother. I formed a special friendship with my new neighbor. A very kind, elderly lady who lived alone in her two bedroom apartment. She had the most beautiful curly gray hair with a smile that could make your heart sing. We connected with each other in a miraculous way. I called her Grandma and she treated me as if I was her biological grand daughter. However, my new Grandma was very ill. She gave me a key to her apartment so I could check-in on her. Although she had children and grandchildren living in the same city, she was by herself most of the time. I didn’t know then that my beautiful Grandma was an Angel showing up in my life to ease my pain, the loss of my only brother.

One day I felt an overwhelming urge to go home at 5 pm instead of working overtime. When I entered the hallway of my apartment building, I smelled a strong burning odor. I remember being nervous and opening Grandma’s door with shaky hands. I found her on the kitchen floor. She had turned on the hot plate but fainted shortly thereafter. I called the paramedics and followed her to the ER. She was sent back home the same night. I remember, I didn’t work much overtime after that. I would rather come home and spend my evenings and weekends with Grandma. This special lady with her witty nature enhanced my life profoundly. She would always thank me. My answer would be: “Grandma, I’m sure I will never be able to express my gratitude for how much you helped me to become a stronger and better person.”

Ironically, I never would have met her if not for my brother’s sudden passing.

Years later, I was deeply affected by the loss of my Grandma. I’m grateful for knowing her. We shared so many things. I feel Grandma is my Guardian Angel. I love her with all my heart and I always will.

Your heart tells you who your true “family” is.

The love within us is the source of all good.
The act of giving fulfills a fundamental need.
It’s our spiritual fuel.

If we don’t love ourselves, how can we offer a loving act? My “best friend” could not bear to spend time with me after the tragic loss of my brother. She was not strong enough (emotionally and spiritually). That’s when I began (practicing) being nonjudgmental and compassionate towards others.

When we lend our hand to someone who needs it, the universe rewards us. Even when we don’t, the universe does not judge us. The universe is compassionate. The universe loves us unconditionally. When each of us act the same way as the universe, we form a loving circle. Giving gives back, becoming a “good” habit. A joyful experience enhancing our lives.

With Much Love & Gratitude
~Shire

Jill Bolte Taylor, a 37-year-old Harvard-trained Neuroscientist, had a research opportunity few would wish for, when a blood vessel exploded in her brain causing a massive stroke. In the video below she talks about how she watched as her brain functions — motion, speech, self-awareness — shut down one by one, and about the spiritual and medical metamorphosis she experienced after.

Taylor explains how the brain is split into two hemispheres, and how each processes information differently and thinks and cares about different things, essentially having it’s own personality.

The right hemisphere thinks visually and learns kinesthetically. It is all about the present: “right here, right now,” which is the basic teaching of Zen philosophy; Zen meaning to wake up to the present moment. It is empathetic and sees that “we are energy beings connected through the consciousness of our right hemispheres as one human family.”
The left hemisphere thinks linearly and methodically and is all about the past and the future. It thinks in language and creates on-going brain-chatter, being the source of the little voice that says, “I am,” giving the sense of ego and separateness. On the morning of her stroke, Taylor’s left-brain was knocked out of action by a blood clot the size of a golf ball. She lost the ability to speak and read as her left-brain began to shut down. At the same time she stepped into the right-brain world of connectedness and empathy which she affectionately calls “la la land”. When she woke in hospital later that afternoon, she was shocked to still be alive. “I’m still alive, and I have found Nirvana, and if I have found Nirvana and I am still alive, then everyone can find Nirvana! I pictured a world filled with beautiful, peaceful, compassionate, loving people who knew that they could come to this space at any time and that they could purposely choose to step to the right of their left hemispheres and find this peace, and then I realized what a tremendous gift this could be, what a stroke of insight this could be, and it motivated me to recover.”

Fortunately, her left hemisphere was not permanently destroyed, and over the course of eight years, with an angel of a mother by her side, she made an awe-inspiring complete recovery.


Today, she says she is a new person, one who can step into the consciousness of her right hemisphere on command and be “one with all that is.”

I was deeply moved by her astonishing story which brought to tears when watching the video for the first time. Taylor’s drive and enthusiasm is infectious, and the combination of her science expertise and personal stroke of insight was profound and penetrative. It allowed my left-brained way of thinking to be utterly convinced of the reality of something else, something natural, something that was “part of the potential experience of every person.”

Through the process of meditation – a right brain activity – we can each cultivate a greater sense of peace, teaching our right-brains to dominate our left, and thus really harness the power of the left-brain, with the ego being tamed; perhaps converted from a perceived enemy into a friend.

Jill Bolte Taylor believes that “the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world, and the more peaceful our planet will be.”

What an amazing insight she has brought to us by means of her own personal, somewhat traumatic experience! I’m tremendously grateful for the blessing and see it as an incredibly important message that really needs to be shared with our world.

I hope one day everyone on our planet will embrace these profound insights and begin to develop their own sense of inner peace, for which meditation is an invaluable key.
Peace on Earth – it’s only a breath away.

About the Author of this Article: Matthew Fry is a Positive Change Agent and Social Activist. His Love and Enthusiasm is contagious.
You can follow him on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lovepeaceunity
You can help him unleash his Best Idea For Humanity by voting here: http://www.bit.ly/votepeace

“Begin each day in ways that are consistent with love and harmony. Do not attach yourself in any way to the fruits of your labor. If you attain this state of grace, your life will have peace, stability and serenity. Live your life entirely with purpose (giving) and selfless action; by renouncing fruits of action and by dedicating all activities to God. At all times, honor God and serve others in any and all of your actions.”

Then, my husband told me whom it reminds him of. He said the name Chris and everything came rushing back.

We had a brief encounter with Chris 10 years ago. We were moving into a beautiful new place, but they had one rule: We had to complete our move-in by 5 pm. It was late in the afternoon. We still had lots of things to unload, including heavy furniture. We were both tired and worried we couldn’t finish in time. I remember wiping my tears and saying a silent prayer in the elevator. Shortly after, Chris showed up like an angel. He was so kind and gentle. He said hello and asked if we were moving in. We said yes and explained we had to be done by 5 pm. He was on his way out to get himself some dinner, but instead, he took off his jacket and helped us finish moving in to make the 5pm deadline. I was in tears again when we thanked him. We invited him to dinner. He paused a moment and said “I didn’t help you to receive something in return”.

We have never forgotten Chris or his selfless act of kindness after all these years. We rarely saw Chris after that. Our schedules never seemed to come together, except for that one moment in time when we needed a small miracle from a kind and generous soul.

We never had that dinner together. He must have quietly moved away one day, leaving us the same way he entered our lives, with humility and grace.

What would happen if we all lived our lives like Chris with selfless action? Spreading love and good will everywhere, everyday….leaving behind our soul prints.

What a wonderful world it would be!

With Much Love & Gratitude
~Shire

I believe the quality of our relationships with our family, friends and loved ones is influenced by the quality of our lives. How we see ourselves directly effects how we see and treat others.

A true and authentic friendship is formed when nothing is expected in return whether online or in person. It’s the healthiest of relationships. It is pure and simple. No pretense or judgment. Nothing to prove or explain. No one is taken for granted. Both are equal.

A spiritual relationship begins with love, trust and understanding. The bond is pure, and the love unconditional. It warms my heart to have such relationships allowing each other to grow.

When we relate to others on a deeper level, we can maintain a more meaningful relationship. This has nothing to do with our (physical) presence.

My best friend and I have been living far away from each other most of our lives. We respect each others’ individuality. I chose to move away and live in different places whereas she chose to live in the same place. Our friendship is solid. It doesn’t matter the distance or length of the time we have not seen one another. We are always connected. It’s a giving friendship without boundaries. I am privileged to have friends like her. Just knowing that they are on this earth, gives me much joy.

A relationship is a place we go to give, not to receive.
To nurture our soul and spirit.

With Much Love
~Shire

There are times that babies with medical needs in the orphanage system need an extra dose of tender loving care. These children are among the most vulnerable due to being born with special needs that often cannot be met in an institutional setting. 

Healing homes are staffed with well-trained nannies who devote their time to the careful nurturing of these children. Through their medical work in China, they have realized that orphaned children born with cleft lip and palate often become failure to thrive babies due to their inability to feed properly. It’s heartbreaking as life in a crowded institution can be a true struggle to survive for a child born with cleft.


In 2008, LWB opened the Anhui Cleft Healing Home, welcoming the babies with cleft into a safe and warm environment. The careful feeding of the children is being provided by devoted nannies, and then the children receive surgery to correct their cleft lip at the first possible opportunity. LWB’s second healing home, Henan Cleft Healing Home opened in June 2009, providing nurturing care to cleft effected children of one of China’s poorest provinces.
Please watch LWB Cleft Healing Homes Video.

According to an ancient Chinese legend when a child is born, an invisible red thread connects the child’s soul to everyone who will play a part in that child’s life, present and future. Whether you believe in this ancient legend or not, through sponsorship or adoption you connect with a child born in a country with a history of 4000 years.

Every new-born has a purpose. Children at cleft healing homes are waiting to find their place in this world. One of the children who are currently waiting for sponsorship is baby Neil. This beautiful child is living at the Henan Cleft Healing Home, waiting for a kind soul to give him a chance. For a sponsorship of $50 a month, you can help Neil have a new beginning on life!

LJ2 is a beautiful hard cover, coffee table style book filled with hundreds of photos and stories about China and international adoption. I know because I have got one. After reading this awesome book packed with great stories and photos, all I could think of is international adoption.

Please find all the details here:
http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/loves_journey2.cfm

Take advantage of this offer now and give a copy to your family members or friends. A perfect holiday gift!

LOVE'S JOURNEY 2 The Red Thread

We can create a miracle in our world.

We must encourage International Adoption. Because we know it’s our job to accomplish.

With Much Love & Gratitude,
~Shire

Children around the world who suffer emotional trauma need our help.

In many places, trauma is not just from personal tragedy but due to conflict, poverty, disaster or discrimination.
Most of these children simply do not have access to adequate care.

OperationSAFE is working on a solution…
•Child-friendly resources that help children recover.
•Easily reproduced volunteer-run program
•Large scale screening allows professional counselors to focus on the most serious cases.

We are encouraged by the results we have seen…
In fifteen camps after the Great Sichuan Earthquake in China,
•Children opened up about the trauma they experienced
•Families welcomed counselors into their homes to receive more help
•Local authorities enthusiastically invited teams back to hold follow-up camps.

For many of these children the OperationSAFE camp was “the most fun I have EVER had!”

But we need your help…
•Become a fan on FB and Twitter and spread the word
•Give so we can make this available to children worldwide!
•Volunteer to translate, edit, train, teach, go!

You can become a fan here on Facebook, or follow me @operationSAFE on Twitter.

You can give through http://firstgiving.com/operationSAFE

You can volunteer by contacting us on Facebook or Twitter.

Children learn that they are not alone through a game where they have to rely on someone else to help them.