Walking for Project Africa
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your support of Walking for Project Africa/ The
Children's Pantry.
I've been back in California for 5 days now and I'm still dreaming of
England every night. It was a fantastic walk. I would have done it
anyway but the added dimension of knowing I was raising money for
children and knowing that dozens of people were participating with their
contributions to that cause filled me with gratitude for life, for love,
for friendship, for the path and not least of all, for my feet that kept
on walking each day.
There is a Chinese proverb that reads 'he who returns from a journey is
not the same as he who left.' I'm in the process of sorting out the
changes.
It was an amazing feeling to be squelching seaweed on the sands of Robin
Hood's Bay, 190 miles to the east of where we began walking. Seventeen
days, three national parks, thousands of sheep, one red squirrel,
sunshine, rain, mist, floods, blisters, a rash on both my ankles,
hundreds of chips (as in fries), several sticky toffee puddings, one
spotted dick, three prawn mayonnaise sandwiches, the best mango chicken
tikka I have ever eaten, uphill, downhill, over rocks, through streams
and fields of barley, we walked and walked and walked.
Over the next few weeks I'll be sorting through photos and writing some
of my experiences and reflections and hopefully creating some sort of
presentation for any who are interested.
We'll add some more photos of the website. I apologize for those of you
who were expecting email updates as I walked. I decided not to search
out internet access because I wanted to remain more in the moment and my
previous trips taught me that checking my email changed my present time
experience more than I liked. I learned to use text messaging for the
first time and my attempts were somewhat primitive. You can read those
on the website. (www.walkingforprojectafrica.org)
For now, I'd like to share a poem I found on the wall of The Jumble Room
Restaurant in Grasmere.
I wish you could have been there
for the sun and the rain and the long hard hills.
For the sound of a thousand conversations
scattered along the road.
For the people laughing and crying
and remembering the end.
But mainly, I wish you could have been there.
Thank you again,
Connie
Walking for Project Africa began here
This story begins with a photo in the September 2003 issue of The Smithsonian, a brilliant green hillside and a track running through it in Yorkshire, England. The accompanying article describes a 'walk' named the 'Coast to Coast', stretching from the Irish Sea to the North Sea, one hundred and ninety miles across English countryside. I wanted to be there.
I'd just completed a solo, 7 day, 65 mile walk in Scotland, St. Cuthbert's Way. Although I'd started and completed the walk on my own, there were days when I had companions on the path. Every one of them was using their walking holiday to raise money for a nonprofit organization. The 'Yorkshire Ladies', a group of four veteran walkers, became my particular guardian angels. Millicent, Mildred, Ann and Pauline were walking for their local Children's Hospice and a radio station was reporting on their progress.
Fast forward to the summer of 2006. An opportunity arose to join three friends also interested in walking the Coast to Coast. The Over-the-Hill Hiking Group was formed as plans were made for a walk in June of 2007.
I was planning to pursue my dream and I knew that I wanted to support a bigger vision- assisting the children of the world who are living with AIDS and HIV until a cure is found.
Here's the pitch, friends. For every dollar you donate in support of my walk, half will support Project Africa, an outreach project of Food for Thought, the AIDS Food Bank in Sonoma County. Project Africa is providing funds for the Okahandja Park Soup Kitchen in Windhoek, Namibia which offers a noon meal to children and pregnant women of the area. The other half of all money raised will support the Children's Pantry, a new program at Food For Thought AIDS Food Bank, which provides weekly groceries for children of HIV/AIDS infected parents. I've volunteered at FFT for twelve years and counting. The dedication and love the volunteers and staff offer the clients has captured my heart.
My goal is to raise $100 for every mile I walk. Pick your mile, your half mile, quarter mile, or your 14 mile day. Will it be climbing the fells of the Lake District or striding across the Yorkshire moors? All donations are gratefully accepted.
This walk will pose quite a physical challenge for me and your support will strengthen my resolve when the hills seem steep, the miles too long, or the rain unrelenting.
Thank you for supporting the Walking for Project Africa journey,
Connie Beall