Posted by: Frugal Trenches | May 7, 2009

World Aids Orphan Day!

Everyone who reads this blog knows that I have a great affinity for orphans. I find it sickening that people are happy to throw stones about the rights and wrongs of intercountry & trans-racial adoptions, when there are over 136 million children in the world who are orphans! Life for these children is grim, while I believe every single child deserves a forever family, I see people make statements about why we should “care for our own backyard first” and I think they really don’t get it.

These children face:

:: Life in an orphanage – this alone puts them at incredible risk of abuse, some orphanages practice lock in at night meaning a security guard or no one is left with the children for 8, 10, 12 hrs overnight. Can you imagine what happens to some of these children at night?

::The children don’t have access to basic medications like antibiotics, this means that they are much more likely to die from very simple common childhood illness’, become deaf due to recurrent ear infections, become delayed due to minor physical challenges which with physio therapy wouldn’t even be a challenge.

::The children are forced to leave when they become too old, this could be age 8, 10, 12 depending on the country – they don’t leave to go to loving families, it is a known fact that certain kinds of men are waiting for children when they leave the orphanages. Yet we do nothing, but if this is what awaited out 8, 10, 12 year olds, if they were kicked out of foster care, there would be public outrage. Yet we allow 8 year old children, sometimes even younger, to be kicked out of an orphanage with only the clothes on their backs and face a life (if you can call it that) of forced sex-working, rape, abuse, torture.

:: They often get no education, no services, no days spent at the park, what kind of childhood is that?

Number of AIDS Orphans from Worlds Aids Orphans Website

  • There are over 15 million children orphaned by AIDS around the world.
  • Well over 12 million AIDS orphans live in Sub-Saharan Africa, alone.
  • Experts believe that millions more orphans remain unaccounted for in India, China and Russia.
  • At least 10 million more children will be orphans by AIDS by 2010.

I do not believe ANY child is less deserving of the basic things, no matter what their skin colour or country of birth. All children deserve a family and it would only take less than 1% of safe people to adopt to stop there being orphans in the world. Shocking really how much attention people will give swine flu, the economy, sports, celebrities – and yet the fact that thousands of babies die simply because they are living in an orphanage doesn’t even register as something that is newsworthy.

So what can we all do?

:: Sponsor a child/family – this is seriously so basic and yet changes the lives of families, prevents children having to live in an orphanage, gives families education, services, immunizations. For £18 (about $35) a month you can literally change lives. I honestly believe that the vast majority of people in the Western World can afford to sponsor a child. Check out World Vision and look at what you can cut out in order to give more! 

::Sponsor a child with HIV living in an orphanage – this will give them increased care, help provide medications, education, services, clothing and good quality caregivers.

:: Adopt – Yes it takes time, energy and resources. But so does maintaining a car and we all seem to see that as a pretty normal thing. No I’m not comparing adoption to having a car. What I am saying is that people will often say they can’t afford to adopt, yet they’ll spend £15,000 + on a car. We need to change how we view children & families. Children from all over the UK and all over the world need adopting. I don’t believe adoption should only be for those people who can’t have biological children, I believe adoption is a very good choice for building families for anyone with or without biological children, married or single, people who are 25 and people who are 45. Yes there are at times unique challenges, but you know there can also be unique challenges with biological children.  Yes trans-racial adoption may mean you family stands out more, but there is no evidence that those children don’t do just as well.

::Help someone else adopt – if you really feel that for some reason you can’t (although please challenge that view), then if you know someone else who is embarking on this journey, help them raise funds, contribute to their adoption needs, have a carboot sale and give them the earnings, get creative!

:: Prevent HIV – I honestly think we are in a ticking time bomb when it comes to HIV & AIDS. Today figures were released in the UK that we have more diagnosis in the last year than any other country in Western Europe. I’m amazed and very very saddened by the number of my friends who make very poor sexual health choices, people who should know better. I honestly don’t know what to say when friends  don’t use condoms and have to yet again have another AIDS test. People view these tests as a clean bill of health, but then make risky decisions again.

:: Challenge ignorance! I recently had someone say to me in a meeting that a child is better off in an orphanage and/or better off in care rather than being adopted. I could of just let the comment slide, but I decided that while I may never change his views, maybe someone else listening might think about the facts. So I presented a few facts that show how well children do when adopted (in a timely fashion) by adoptive parents who are educated about the challenges, what life is like for children in orphanages, what life is like for a child that has no family. I definitely didn’t change this mans view, but another person there told me that I really changed their view, that they hadn’t really thought about it before but how can a child succeed if they don’t have the most basic thing – a family?

:: Teach your children & family about adoption – one of the biggest challenges for adopted children is that other children often make statements like “my mummy told me that your mummy isn’t your real mummy”. How hurtful and unkind. We need to as a society begin to accept adoption as a valid norm, we need to make our children whether they are 2 or 22 understand that family is who loves each other, that adoption is a great way to build a family! We need to stop using unkind language (real, natural etc), teachers need to check their wording and be inclusive of all types of families and we need to examine whether our words could hurt. Here is a great sample of positive adoption language!

I’ll leave you with a comment by Hugh Jackman

“There are 130 million orphans in the world — who is looking after them? If you are a citizen of the world, on some level they are all our responsibility. And if you have got parents who want to adopt and there are children who need a home, it seems like a no-brainer.”

Finally I’ll end with this; today dear friends before you buy that coffee, moan about being in debt, do that grocery shop, look at new shoes “you need”, talk about retirement savings, fill up that car with petrol, think about what you could do today to make a difference in the life of a child. Think about sending a cheque for £10 or £20 or £30 to an organization like World Vision, consider sponsoring a child, discuss adoption. Because today, while you go about your normal day 6000 more children will be orphaned. 6000 more children will have no one to wipe their tears, no one to read to them, no one to love them that alone should spur you into action!

My new post is up at the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op! I’d love if you added some of your ideas!

Posted by: Frugal Trenches | May 5, 2009

Day 8, 9 & 10!

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Oh, let’s see. 

Tucked in bed. Check

Hot water bottle. Check.

Eating ice-cream. Check.

Sipping a cup of lemon & honey tea. Check.

Can you guess?

F.L.U. or a very very bad cold, can’t tell at the moment!

But you are here for day 8, 9 & 10. So I shall provide.

Due to problems with my camera I could only get photos of 1 days worth of food – why do these things go wrong at the worst possible times?!  So I’m going to make a hodge-podge of a post!

Day 8:
Breakfast: cereal, kiwi, orange juice

Lunch: cheese & crackers, carrot sticks, cucumber slices with hummus

Dinner: Salmon tortellini with goat cheese, peas & cherry tomatoes.

Day 9:

Breakfast: Smoothie, cereal with milk

Lunch: cous cous with feta cheese, rocket, pineapple, grapes

Dinner: Carrot & corriander soup, salmon tortellini with goat cheese, plum tomatoes & peas

Day 10:

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Breakfast was a yummy piece of bread with organic peanut butter & marmalade, kiwi fruit & grapes!

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This doesn’t look yummy, but wow was it ever. Chili nachos from Mangos in Exeter – enjoyed watching people boat along the Quay! My love of all mexican food makes me want to move to the USA where there is so much available compared to little old Devon!

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Yes and Greek food is pretty tough to find here to, thankfully I enjoy making my own :0)  Yes a Greek salad is the perfect dinner!

And just because I’ve really missed posting photos from around Devon, here are some from the last few days – pre-flu!

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I could of sat & watched swans all day – this one and I ended up walking along side each other!

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I love this little walk.

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I love this bridge :0)

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I just love my daily walk along these lanes!

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And then there is my beloved Cathederal!

Thank you so much to EVERYONEwho took place, I’ll get to your blogs within the next day to give you a final cheer! I’m also hoping to get a little something together for each of you. Just give me a few days though as I’m not up to much at the moment, sadly!!!

So I’m going to just sit & snuggle with my guy!

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Posted by: Frugal Trenches | May 2, 2009

Day 7

Well, as said Day 6 was a right off, but it only makes me appreciate Day 7 all the more!

Breakfast: Organic peanut butter on sourdough bread with marmalade, grapes, orange juice!

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Lunch: Roast!!! I really needed the protein & calories!

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Dinner: Pasta with broccoli & spinach, nuts, grapes, fizzy fish!

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Exercise:

AM – 1 hour swim

PM – 45 minute walk

Get Stuff Done: Paperwork!

Hope everyone is doing well, I’ll be checking in later!

Thank you for all the comments & suggestions on the last post, i will email you all later!

Posted by: Frugal Trenches | May 1, 2009

Grains of Gratitide Friday

 

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Yesterday was a tough day, a day where it seemed impossible to get anything to go right, for anything to be easy. I struggled through the day and then something inside me told me to stop. I need to try to be a more gracious, thankful, appreciative person. I am so blessed, while life is not always so easy, I have so much, so very very much. A few events over the last week have made me realize how blessed I am and I thought I’d share

:: I witnessed a woman who was clearly unable to read/write at the Dr’s yesterday, with a receptionist who made no effort to support the lady and simply told her she will have to take the forms and find someone who can write & bring them back. I would of gladly sat (with hot water bottle in tow!) and filled them out for her, but she ran out as quickly as her legs would carry her. Yes I will be writing a formal complaint letter on her behalf to the NHS & the surgery’s practice manager. How blessed I am to be able to read, write and communicate through speech! I need to use this blessing to help those who are unable.

:: I feel like I was quite snippy with the receptionist, which is very unlike me, but I had just witnessed her unkindness, I felt she was being very unfair towards me. It was as though she felt I was doing something wrong asking to register with a new surgery, when actually due to my move I have to!  She would not give me an appointment to see a Dr, despite the hospital saying I had to see one asap so he/she could administer some recommended treatment. She also said that they might not be taking any new patients in the month of May, I said I thought it was April (they had confirmed yesterday they were taking new patients) and she said to me that tomorrow was May and was just so difficult. Where’s the blessing in all this? Well it was wrong of me to get snippy (although I’m not sure she even noticed!) but it was wrong, so the blessing - it was a good reminder to me to have good character even in times of stress & trouble! I may not be able to control other people’s actions, but I can be a good steward in my own actions! What a great blessing that is! Then I had a wonderful surprise, the Dr I eventually was assigned to ended up being a friend I know and trust who was so proactive in getting me help!

:: I watched the story of a little girl in Iraq who was 13 years old, was a little person, and was so badly deformed that she could not even sit or hold up her own head! What pain she must be in, what a life to have to be unable to walk, jump, run, reach for things & toilet oneself. How blessed I am to be able to do all of these, things we take for granted every single day!

:: I am still having bleeding issues, 50+ days at the moment, a great deal of blood loss, and depending on the day there can be a great deal of pain (lower back, uterus, ovaries). But I am so blessed. No Physician can believe I haven’t needed to have a blood transfusion and several are amazed I still have my uterus in tact. Obviously they have now ruled out any minor issues causing this and are moving towards more serious possibilities, but I know I’m not alone. My faith lets me know that while the Lord has never promised me I will not suffer, He will never leave me. When the pain has been at it’s worst (nighttime) and I have called out in agony & fear, I have felt clothed in safety and love. How blessed I am to go through something that has affirmed to me I am never alone. How blessed I am to go through something that makes me know I have a Father in Heaven who will always have the answers, who always has a plan.  I know like Joseph, a time of testing comes before fulfillment of a promise.  I am so thankful!

::On a practical level, I have been able to swim – something that brings me so much joy, even in this time of pain! How blessed I am that the sport which has brought me so much joy in life, is actually something I can currently enjoy because it actually reduces my pain! Albeit yesterday I had to take a day off, it again reminded me how grateful I am when I am able to swim. So very blessed indeed!

:: I have had two lovely friends from Church constantly check in on me, provide love and support. What a blessing!

Life is not always easy, we are human beings with human desires, it is a constant battle to ensure that our heart’s desires are pure and not based on greed, money or selfishness but instead based on being the best person we can be, with a wise & giving heart. I’m learning that however normal it is to desire a family and a home, those desires should not distract me from being the best person I can be now, from being grateful for what I have now, for that will only help me be the person I want to be in the future and appeciate the blessings I have then. God has a more perfect plan than I could ever imagine! I have so much to be thankful for!

Please remember to pray for one of my dear readers who is facing a hysterectomy today! L you are in my thoughts & prayers!

Posted by: Frugal Trenches | April 30, 2009

Day 5 – The 1/2 Way Mark!

So it is day 5 ladies in our challenge of Simply Getting Healthy!

I’m amazed at how routine it has become to exercise, think about what I am eating & even photograph my food! I definitely have more energy than 5 days ago, which is such a blessing under the circumstances, so it really just proves that what we put into our bodies and how we treat them, even if we have other challenges (long term health issues etc) has a positive effect!  We all owe it to ourselves & our bodies to be the best stewards of them that we can be. That doesn’t mean under-eating, it doesn’t mean obsessing about weight, it doesn’t mean forcing our bodies to over exercise. I really really believe that life is a balance – we need to eat the good food our body needs, give it an opportunity to exercise & work those many muscles & let it shine. Lately I’ve really been thinking about this because despite the fact I want to lose some unwanted pounds that crept on during hormone treatment (very common!) I feel like the Lord has purposely made me see blogs and people in real life who have gone too far, women whose heads look too big for their bodies, women who obviously have not enough body fat. We are not doing ourselves, our current or future health any good unless we view food & exercise as a balance! What  a great reminder this is to me!

Breakfast: 1 piece of toast with crunchy organic peanut butter & Devon honey! Delicious! With a red delicious apple!

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Snack:  After my swim I was craving a smoothie so I went and got one! It was made with raspberries, strawberries, apple, orange & yogurt! I also stocked up on some pineapple!

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Lunch: A yummy tuna fish sandwich on sourdough bread with pineapple! I had about double this in pineapple!

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Dinner: completely forgot to take a photo – I had homemade flapjack, cheese, grapes, cherry tomatoes. It was nice & light and hit the spot!

Exercise:

AM – 1 hour &  5 min swim – it was f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s

PM

1 30 min walk

 1 45 min walk

Get Stuff Done: Telephone calls that urgently needed doing!

How is everyone else finding it?

Remember to check out Day 1 to find the group of participants! If anyone else has joined please leave your details here! Happy 1/2 way mark!!!

Posted by: Frugal Trenches | April 28, 2009

Day 4 – Simply Getting Healthy!

Today I started to notice that this more focused look at health both by eating right, exercising and accomplishing my list of things to do is making me feel so much better, much more focused and driven!

Breakfast: 1 piece of bread with peanut butter & an orange! A large glass of water & a cup of lemon & ginger tea! Oh yes, I also had a laughing cow cheese!

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Lunch: I wasn’t hungry and was dashing out to an appointment that ended up taking longer than I anticipated, so in the end I only enjoyed a raw peanut butter cookie with about 10 grapes and a lemon & ginger tea (although planned to have a tuna salad, but like I said ended up being gone a lot longer than expected, so much so it was time for dinner!)

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Dinner:Oh it was delicious – I made roast pork, a greek salad, cheesy mashed potato, roasted sweet potato & cabbage! Delicious!

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I also drank a lot of water today and have really noticed how much clearer my skin has become in the last 4 days. I’ve written about frugal skin care before, this challenge is such a good reminder!

Exercise:

AM – 55 minute swim (it was fabulous, I really really wanted to stay!)

PM – 1 hour & 10 minutes walk!

Get Stuff Done:

  • I’m still having trouble with BT, I decided to pay this months bill (despite the fact I moved out in October) because it would effect my credit rating if I didn’t. I now have 7 months payments due back to me & a one off fee, total over £600. I know it seems crazy to pay this bill, but I don’t want my credit rating to be poor, so in the end I prayed about it and decided to pay it, which has given me some peace. I now have my bank on board and they will help me get the money back. BT has been terrible, never telephoning me back, saying that it is in the hands of management etc and no one ever does anything to rectify the situation! I will never use BT again after this experience. I’m just praying I get the £600 back.
  • I got my credit card bill for the month paid in full
  • I ordered my books for my certificate in Theology which I am sooo excited about!

All in all it was a good day, I’m feeling healthier and have more energy! A very wonderful reader is having a significant surgery tomorrow and I just wanted to ask everyone to pray for this very lovely lady in hope her surgery and recovery goes well and that her young family is well taken care of while she is recuperating!

I will post the recipe for the cookies, it is a tough one because a lot depends on the type of marg/butter you use and peanut butter, so I’ve come up with a basic recipe you’ll have to tweak as needed. Will post soon!

Remember to check out all the other wonderful people on this challenge & encourage them! We are almost 1/2 way there ladies!

Posted by: Frugal Trenches | April 28, 2009

Day 3 – the one with no electricity!

Sorry for the quietness yesterday, most of the evening was spent without electricity so posting was impossible. However, it was a great day!

Food:

Breakfast: Homemade whole wheat bread with crunchy organic peanut butter, 1/2 a 0% fage yogurt with flax seeds, 3 organic strawberries & 8 black grapes. I enjoyed this with a glass of lemon & ginger tea.

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Lunch:  Sandwich – spinach, rocket, emmental cheese, russian mustard, my wonderful lentil kitchen sink soup, 3 olives & grapes

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Dinner: Ricotta cheese & spinach pizza with a salad made with carrots, grapes, cherry tomatoes, rocket & feta cheese!

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I have to say I didn’t like the pizza, so pretty much had the salad with only a couple of bites!

Exercise:

AM – Swim 45 minutes

PM – Hike 1 hour

Get Stuff Done: I spent over an hour trying to get the bill sorted with BT with no such luck! Grr!

So how are all you lovelies doing?

Remember to see Day 1’s post to see all the other participants!

I have to say I am finding this such a great way to encourage and motivate myself!  I don’t believe in depriving myself of anything, in fact right now I’m eating one of my raw peanut butter cookies, but I’m moving, I’m thinking about exercise, I’m making sure I get protein & fruits & veg etc and I’m conscientiously planning my meals! To me that is what healthy eating is all about! Balance.

Posted by: Frugal Trenches | April 26, 2009

Day 2 – Simply Getting Healthy!

Today didn’t start off so simple. I tried to go swimming, twice. The first attempt I forgot a crucial item and the second attempt was so filled with children swimming in the adult lanes, jumping on your head. Now I love kids, but I don’t understand why parents allow them into the adult lanes and basically I had to abandon any plans of swimming. Sadly.

Came home & made some breakfast: sausage, beans, homemade bread, an apple. It was yummy!

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Followed by lunch several hours later: A roast – I made roast beef, roasted red onions, roasted sweet potato, roast potatoes, roasted parsnips, roasted carrots, peas & cabbage oh and a yummy Yorkshire pudding. It was lovely to have a traditional British Sunday roast!

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Evening tea was definitely light, strawberries, a hot chocolate & a laughing cow cheese.

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Exercise: a 1 hour walk - the 2 attempts at swimming don’t count  ;0)

Get Stuff Done: I cleaned & organized my whole room!

Please see yesterday’s post to see everyone who is participating!

How did everyone do???

Tomorrow I will be swimming before work & hiking in the evening!

Posted by: Frugal Trenches | April 25, 2009

Day 1 – Towards Health

Welcome To Day 1 Towards Health!!

A few people asked me what program I was following: I honestly don’t believe in programs, I believe in eating healthy & moving. I don’t believe buying expensive meals or shakes is what our bodies need. I think so many of these programs make people fail, but changing how we view food simply makes us healthy! I also think blogging about it helps keep me on track because this am I really didn’t want to swim, but knowing I had people counting on me to encourage them, I made myself do it!

Breakfast: 1 bacon sandwich on granary bread with an apple & tiny piece of cheese

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Lunch: Mac & Cheese, spinach, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, nuts with a glass of OJ to up the iron absorption from the spinach.

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Dinner: Hummus with cucumber & carrot sticks, organic strawberries, organic ham, olives, grated cheese & leftover mac & cheese! It was yummmmy!

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Exercise:

60 minute swim – it was a fabulous swim!!

Task:

Clean & Organize Bathroom – DONE!

Now Here’s Our Team:

A Piece Of Wood (starting tomorrow)

Money Funk

Amelia’s Healthy Life

Annie – Northern Living Allowance

Get Stuff Done

Penny Pence

Move To Portugal

What’s Happening At My House

Four Miles North Of Nowhere

Simply Getting Healthy

Plus Kylee who doesn’t have a blog but will be leaving her info in the comments!

So let us go and encourage each other to keep going! Day 1 done, 9 to go!

Tomorrow I plan to swim for at least 45 minutes and take in a brisk 1-2 hour walk! I also want to de-clutter & clean my bedroom as my task to accomplish! Just blogging about it means I’ll get it done!

So how did the other 11 ladies do??

Posted by: Frugal Trenches | April 24, 2009

Ten Days Towards Health * Edited to add*

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Tomorrow I’m going to start 10 days towards health project!

I’ll be blogging exactly what I eat & how much exercise I do with pictures of course!

The point of it is to make sure I’m treating my body kindly, getting my fruit & veg intake (as well as that thing called protein) and getting my rear moving!  I’ll also be focused on getting 1 thing done each day on my list of things to do!  The point is to make sure my body & mind are as clean & uncluttered as possible.

Now, does anyone care to join me?

How about Sarah, Moving to Portugal & A Piece of Wood?? Amelia? Anyone else?

This project will begin Saturday April 25th and finish Monday May 4th.

* Edited to add:

Money Funk 

Healthy Amelia (don’t you just love that name)

Move To Portugal

Annie

Mo

I am soooooooo proud of you all! Remember to get your cameras ready & plan your meals & exercise for tomorrow to make it easier. I’ll link to you all each day so people can provide encouragement!

Everyone else it is not too late to get in on the action! You never know 10 days from now you might be a couple of pounds lighter and feel healthier!!

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