FINAL TALLY FROM KAREN'S RIDE

I am very happy to announce our final total from Karen's Ride:

$2,656!! A special HUGE thank you to J. Rockwell "Rocky" Allen for his very generous donation of $500.

With this final donation and other fundraisers this Fall, we have been able to send monies for the purchase of paint for the classroom block!! Aside from desks and chairs, the project is complete and the children will soon be using it!!

As soon as photos arrive from Malawi, I will post them!

So...as the last blog mentioned, I plan to continue this ride, Karen's ride for Malawi, in 2012 and ride 500 miles up the coast of Maine! It is my hope to spread the word about this beautiful but impoverished country and support their efforts to succeed and prosper! It was a successful event last year and my hopes are that it is equally successful this year. I am seriously considering riding through all 50 states ultimately in this effort and believe that I will be able to do that! With the continuing support from family and friends there is no doubt that anything is possible, so I keep riding and raising money.

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I think about Malawi often and have just watched "The Amazing Race" which recently took place in Malawi and it always stirs something inside me...so I thought I might use this blog to share my story from the beginning. Many of the people who I have met over these last few years know just a small bit of my story and I thought this might be a good place to put some of the details of 'how it all started'. Hopefully it will be enjoyable to some and if not, it will be a nice reminiscence for me!
In 2003 my oldest child, Shannon, was just starting high school. I didn't understand how she got so old and I felt ill-prepared to have a child of that age! She came home from school about 2 weeks in and announced that she wanted to go to Africa. I dismissed the idea a little because it was too overwhelming for me to think about her going to Africa, because I couldn't even believe she was in HIGH SCHOOL!! To make a long story short, we agreed to 'let' her go - I don't think anything could have stopped her! She worked hard and was determined to go on this trip and in the summer of 2005, when she was just 16 years old she left for Malawi for one month with a group of her peers and 2 chaperones!
The 'deal' was that if we (the parents) didn't hear anything from the kids, we were to consider that 'good news'. They were discouraged from contacting home in order to minimize the home-sickness that that contact might bring. So, I didn't hear anything from her for a month...until 2 days before they were due home she emailed her brother who called me to say that there was a strike at the airlines and they would be delayed in coming home. I didn't find out until she returned home, that she and a friend on the trip had a 'bet' that neither of them would contact home (even though others on the trip were). The debate continues today as to who won or lost, because she sent the email to her brother...she hadn't wanted me to 'freak out' hearing from the organization and she wanted to share that news.
The pictures they all shared and the stories they shared were amazing and inspiring. I admired greatly their hard work and courage in making such a journey and was impressed beyond words with the adults who traveled with them and kept them safe and walked with them on this trip.
This was what inspired me and moved me to want to go and see 'what all the fuss was about', so to speak.

So...that was the very beginning of this Malawi interest and endeavor we are on. I will continue with more on the next post!

Zikomo, (Thank you)

Karen

KAREN'S RIDE CONTINUES IN MAINE

So...I am off on another adventure!! I am currently 'scoping out' the route for next year's Karen's ride for Malawi. This past year's bike ride was fun, adventurous, but most of all it was successful in my gaining some support for Malawi. My last blog post was on September 11, and this past Friday was Veteran's Day...a little ironic in one sense. I know my 'cause' is not in gaining money for America, and some people don't like that, but on my 421 mile ride this past September, I gained an increased appreciation for our Country. Because of people's generosity

and willingness to help, that is what makes us such a wonderful nation!! The beauty is something that is unmistakable, as well!! It is so beautiful when I am out on the road; I get to see up close the natural beauty and I witness people from all over living their lives and going about their business as a passerby.
Yesterday I rode about 22 miles (I got lost on the way back, but only by about 3 miles). I took some photos along the way; only a few...these are 'teasers' because I plan to take many more on this ride coming up.
Today I am riding up the Coast to check out the roads and see what might be a good route for me to ride in September. Stephen told me to keep my eyes open for moose, so I plan to have my camera by my side in the car today!

My plan is to ride 500 miles along the Maine coast in September 2012; again, I hope to raise money and awareness about the Country of Malawi and support them in the area of education. We have a big year planned and will be identifying a new project to work towards as our classroom block project is nearing completion. My goal this year on my ride is to do a little bit more in the way of awareness-raising in the form of press and public speaking wherever I can.
My long-term goal is to eventually ride around the country in these small segments, doing the same thing. Raising money and awareness about Malawi and Educate Malawi, Inc.

Stay tuned for more photos and info. about the upcoming ride and the progress Educate Malawi is making in carrying out their mission. As always, if anyone can and wants to ride with me, I am planning to start around September 6th...the Farmer's Almanac looks pretty good for that week's time!

Cheers!

Karen