and raise funds for the Little Sapphires School in Madagascar
How long can you stand on one foot? Ten seconds? One minute? Three?
Studies have shown that the ability to stand on one leg is a a good predictor of health in old age.
Improving your health, helping a school in Madagascar, and having fun - three good reasons to join me in my Balancing Challenge.
How does it work? For every minute you stand on one foot, you get sponsored. A dollar a minute is fine - whatever your friends, family and colleagues fancy giving. You might want to set an upper limit though - you don't want to wipe them out by standing for a whole day. The world record, by the way, is 76 hours 40 minutes - set 30 years ago, so it's there for the taking 🙂
My own target is 10 minutes. At my age (72), I think that'll be quite challenging enough.
The Little Sapphires School in Ambondromifehy, Madagascar provides an education to children whose parents are too poor to send them to school. Crucially, it provides also a midday meal, so the children are not left to fend for themselves in the streets. Ambondromifehy is a sapphire mining town where the miners typically earn less than $3 a day, and child trafficking or sexual exploitation is a constant risk.
Sapphire mines are holes dug deep underground with no safety precautions and frequent accidents. Few sapphires are found but the miners keep digging in the hope of finding that rare gem that will make their fortune.
My friend Laurette Serybano set up the Little Sapphires School to offer a decent future to the children of Madagascar. The school started with 38 children and now has 145. Some of the former pupils are now at University. With no state funds available, the school relies on donations. Any donation, however small, to my GoFundMe page will make a difference.
But even better is to take part in the Balancing Challenge.
Are you up for it? Drop me a line at curtis.bausse(at)outlook.com and we'll work on the details.
I look forward to hearing from you!
