Please Dont Eat While You Read This.

I want to begin this post with a government health warning. There are pictures at the end of this post which will seriously make you ill. Please be advised, if you are eating, or have a queezy stomach, better leave this one and come back to it another day.

Anyhoo, for the brave of heart and strong of constitution, this week has seen an increase in the aches in the old body - I knew exercise was bad for me - but also a steeling of the determination to try to inspire as many people as possible to reach out and help children who are living in poverty.

The earthquake in Haiti has heightened the world's awareness of how those living in poverty truly live. The images from the devastation have shown the reality of life for so many children. There have been heart warming stories of rescue and survival, but the overwhelming heartache has been the thought that hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives - and hundreds of thousands of families have been affected, and an already incredible orphan issue has been magnified multiple times.

Derek Torsani, a gifted young man from Mt Oak designed a t-shirt with the simple, but inspirational message of "MY DESIRE IS TO INSPIRE" emblazoned across the front. I bought two of these shirts from Derek. One that fits me now, and one that will fit me in a few months time. I am struck this week by the longevity of the challenge I have set myself, and the determination it will take to achieve it. But, with the images I have witnessed on the tv this week, I am reminded of the fact that for me, there is an end point, a goal, a finish line. For those living in poverty, there is no end in sight.

Well, for a small number of children, we can give them an end point to their suffering. We can give them a brighter future, where their needs are taken care of. We can be the difference in their lives.

Are you ready for some horrifying images? I show you these as a sign of my dedication to this challenge. I have posted these pictures as a humbling declaration that I have lived my life for me, and now it is truly time to make a difference. The British band Delirious? have a some which contains the line, "I'm going to be a history maker in this land..." and this week the cold reality of my challenge has struck me that I want to live out that lyric. I want to be a history maker in this land, and by doing so create a new future for hundreds of children in other lands.

Will you join me? Will you give what you can to end poverty in the life of a child?

Join my cause, sponsor a child, save a life. JOIN AND DONATE HERE

The following pictures were taken on Saturday January 16th 2010. I post these as a reminder of my excess and as an inspiration to the change that can occur in one life, and the change that can multiply in hundreds of lives, because of that one change.