Walk with me on my birthday.

For the people of Darfur.

To add some meaning to my birthday this year (and to take the sting out of the sound of “forty-two”), I’ve decided to take advantage of a calendar coincidence, and spend the morning of my birthday (Sunday, April 10, for those of you taking notes) walking in Jewish World Watch‘s Walk to End Genocide.

For me, it is a small but concrete way to help women and girls in a region of the world, the Congo, that has been devastated by incomprehensible violence. How does JWW do that, you ask? Well, one way is through its solar cooker project, which raises funds to buy solar cookers for villages in the Congo, so that girls do not need to forage for firewood in order to cook meals, and risk being captured and raped while looking for wood, a daily risk. (And our kids balk if we don’t have the “right” kind of mac ‘n’ cheese!) Another is JWW’s campaign to persuade the companies that make our cellphones and computers to use “conflict-free minerals” in their products. You can read more at www.Jewishworldwatch.org.

If you would like to join us in Sunday morning (disclaimer: it’s in Woodland Hills) for a fun and proactive birthday activity, please do; I’d love it!

But hey, I know Sundays are for sleeping in. So if that’s not your thing, but you still feel inclined to do something to improve the lives of women and girls in the world, I would be honored if this little pitch motivated you to do so. You might want to donate to JWW (through my walk page…) Or maybe you’d like more ideas. For that, scroll down to the bottom of my previous essay, “What Have You Done for Girls Lately?”.

Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful day.

Laura