Habitat for Haiti

This will be a mid-week update, and also a plug for Habitat.

This week has been great! Monday's 3-miler was good - not great. I didn't take my Multivitamin and didn't eat a mid-afternoon snack, so I was sort of dragging on the run. Nevertheless, got through it ok, but had to stop twice (mayyyybe 3 times, I can't remember) to catch my breath. Tuesday, I had a work meeting until about 6:30 and then a phone catch-up date with Gilly to hear all about her NYE trip to the Big Easy. 7:30 rolls around and I still hadn't done my 2 miles/crosstrain, so I made Tuesday a rest day and am doing 2 miles tonight instead. Yesterday's 3-mile run was AWESOME! I made a goal to not stop the entire time, and accomplished that goal! We were forced to stop Broad Street and Calhoun St. both ways, and while it was a welcome break, I did not ASK to stop. Tonight is 2 miles, where I am going to try and do some interval training to build up my endurance and maybe pick up some speed, too. Saturday is 4 miles with a girl I work with. I don't trust myself to do the long runs alone, yet.

Ok, the plug. I'm sure you've all heard about the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday. The devastation that resulted is beyond belief. For a nation that is one of the poorest in the world already, a disaster like this is crippling. Also, you're all aware that in 4 months I am going on an 11-day mission trip to Guatemala with Habitat for Humanity. I got an email last night from Habitat with a link to their Disaster Response page. I'm posting that here in case any of you (or people you know, as I'd really like this blog to be spread far and wide) have been thinking of how to get involved, but were not sure what to do. The website doesn't really explain HFHI's mission in Haiti, so if you're interested, I've attached the email I got below:

Dear Jennifer,

Imagine the fear of the earth shaking violently beneath you as you would never have thought possible. Imagine the utter terror of your home crumbling in around you. While the assessments are just beginning, already we know that the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince Tuesday is a catastrophe of major proportions.

Your support NOW is critically important! The extent of Habitat's ability to help families rebuild their homes and lives after this devastating earthquake will depend on the funds we can raise for the work—and on how quickly those funds are available.

Join us in praying for the best—but preparing for the worst. Please help by making a secure online donation today.

Habitat has worked in Haiti for 26 years — and we will be there for the long term to help families whose homes were lost get back into safe, decent and affordable housing.

Support the victims in Haiti with an emergency online donation.

Thank you for your help during this critical time.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Reckford
Chief Executive Officer
Habitat for Humanity

Please consider donating - after reading about the disaster and seeing pictures I wish I hadn't seen, I can't get it out of my mind. Feel free to pass the link and/or this blog post along to friends and family.



I also wanted to share with you 2 other blogs I was sent yesterday. My friend Boe in ATL has friends of friends who are living and working as missionaries in Haiti and they wrote about their experience on Tuesday here and here. Please check it out and pray for them as they deal with this most challenging path ahead of them.

XOXO