Day 30: "Heart"

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Today's theme: "Heart"

My fitness challenge: My goal was to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday. 

TODAY I ACHIEVED MY GOAL! In achieving my goal I raised $758.50 for World Visions' 30for30 fitness challenge! I did 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by today, 30th January 2015. And I wrote a poem everyday. 

Yay! I achieved my goal!

Today's poem

Heart

it's still there
as are you:
as she is:
like sound
like sound.


Postscript
It seemed obvious to me to do the 30for30  fitness challenge. As I said at the beginning, this year I turn 60 and my deceased daughter would have turned 30. I was 30 when she was stillborn. I was dreading the start of 2015, and 30for30 gave me hope, strength and focus - and yes, distraction. It also allowed me to turn my deep-felt empathy for other mothers, and other babies, to action. 

During the challenge my mother's Alzheimer's suddenly deteriorated and she had a fall on Day 28. On Day 30 she was in a difficult state, so achieving my goal was one of those life moments - great pleasure and deep pain. 30for30 helped me more than I can say. I am very glad I was able to raise funds to help infants in their first 30 days. Thank you World Vision.

Day 29: "Change"

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The Gates Foundation: 5 ways to save newborn lives for less than $5 a day

As I've done this challenge, I've learn new things, often drawing on my twitter feed for inspiration to bring to this Blog. This week Bill and Melinda Gates released their Big Bets for the Future, in the Gates Annual Letter 2015. It's an inspiring read. For a summary, see the video below.

They present the argument that the child death rate will be cut in half in the next 15 years.

They make a call for people to become global citizens and make a difference:

Click here

I have learnt during my 30for30 challenge, many things. With one more day to go, I am thinking about the next steps I'll take to turn empathy into action, as I have tried to do by raising funds for World Vision.

Today's Poem

with a break

of heart, and fear

this journey came.

Alice Walker whispered

"each one pull one",

packed her bags, came with me.

and I saw into the mud

where your feet walked

where my feet (shod) left marks.

i am bookmarked 

between poetry, keyboard, muscles, whiteness:

it is a small gesture Alice,

I pulled. And I pulled.

Merilyn Childs, 29/01/2015

Alice Walker reading "Each One, Pull One" from Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems 1965-1990 

Alice Walker - 'Each one pull one' (poem) by mickeynold

Days 27-28: "Daughters"

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Today's theme: "Daughters". Image taken from the article "Not without our daughters"

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

This post is dedicated to my mother Helen, as I am her daughter. Also to my deceased daughter who would have turned 30 in 2015 had she lived. Symbolically, to all daughters.

And to 8 month old Aria. May your journey be resilient, compassionate and hopeful.

My progress: Yesterday my challenge came uninvited. My mother, who has Alzheimer's, had a fall and was taken to the local hospital where it was found she has two "teardrop" fractures in her L1 & L2 vertebrae. These will self-heal, so she was back to her care facility by late afternoon. I spent the day caring for her at the hospital. My physical challenge was met by doing assisted lifting. I think had I not done the 30for30 challenge I would not have been able to do the lifting as confidently as I did. 

To day I went back to the gym, knowing I have only 2 days left in the challenge (oh no!!). I did a range of tasks designed to warm my shoulder muscles and build my resilience.

Oh and I achieved 1 x 10 at 75 kl lat pull-downs in addition to 2 x 30 at 62.5 

Poem

I am doing a combined poem for yesterday and today. [Edit: Can't get this one right.] [I think I am deeply hopeful and positive, despite life's challenges, so I find it hard to be a grump in a poem].

Daughters
each week in my newsfeed:
"if you love your daughter hit share"
pisses me off.
[srsly].

My mother's daughter is angry
every time a pink puffed up smug
meme lands.
she says: love all daughters -
fight for them:
your daughter is alive, right?
fed? well-dressed? pink?
But:
[My daughter is addicted to ice
My daughter is a sex worker
My daughter was kidnapped by ISIS and is a sex slave
I had to sell my daughter for the family to have enough food
My daughter's forced "marriage" is daily rape
My daughter was abused by her uncle
My daughter is starving
My daughter is gay, transexual, wants to be a man
My daughter is sick, disfigured, disabled
My daughter can't read
My daughter has a black dog calling]


Merilyn Childs 28/01/2015

Day 26: "Australia Day"

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Today's theme: "Australia Day"

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: It's Australia Day, went to the gym early so I could hunker down with a rare beer in the afternoon. At the gym I did my usual routine, and managed 2 x 20 lat pull-downs at 62.5. Strength building- and to reassure my friend Liz, yes I did lots of stretching! There are only four days to go!!

Before I write my poem, here is a photo that has a great deal of meaning for me - taken from behind my mother pushing my son in a stroller, on Australia Day 1988 (the Bicentenary). We were heading towards the Aboriginal protest march agitating for better conditions of Indigenous Australians. 

Mum, January 26th 1988, walking with 100,000 Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
We marched under the Teacher's Federation Banner.

Poem:

Australia Day
A rhyming Australian poem,
A bush ballad forced into rhyme,
Rhythms so bad you could throw 'em,                                               
Then coooee! yelled just in time.

Ouch!


Nah, not putting my name to this! 26/01/2015

Day 25: "Going in the right direction"

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Where are we up to? Read

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: After today I have 5 days of this challenge to go. I'm on track, with a plan to do a bike ride before sunset. At present it is 4.30pm in the afternoon and still 33 degrees C. If I have to make a change of plans, I report it here.

Today's Poem:

direction

sometimes it's hard to tell

the direction of good.

Bad seems visceral; vocal: like

Vlad with vampire teeth

on the blood of hope.

I weave garlic into chains,

ring bells, knot ropes

and throw handfuls of rice. 

(The last rather odd, but there you have it):

in search of sunlight.

Merilyn Childs 25/1/2015

Day 23-24: "The struggle against forgetting"

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Today's theme: "The struggle against forgetting"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: I've been sad these past 2 days. Perhaps my poem "View" might give you a clue as to why. That said, I've done my challenge each day. Yesterday I walked 3 km, and today I did work at the gym. I made the following post on my 30for30 fundraising page: 

I am incredibly excited to say that on Day 24 of my 30for30 challenge I have achieved my fund-raising goal. Thankyou so much to my supporters, you are amazing! Your money is going to a wonderful cause. Follow my journey at http://30for30mc.blogspot.com.au/ And I don't mind more sponsorship either!!

I don't like sentimental quotes often posted in Facebook like "life is an up and down hill journey". Doh! But doing this challenge began from a position of sadness and strength, working together to make a difference. Sometimes that sadness is my biggest challenge. I tried to use today's theme to explore infant funerals in the developing world - but I found the exploration tough. I also kept coming up against a very western view of child death: lots of teddy bears. Lots of assumptions about the resources and infrastructure available.

Poems:

...forgetting
For the first time Mum
your world
was nothing more
than an ice-cream bowl.

Merilyn Childs 23/1/2015


The struggle against 
When I die
my dust will be lain with yours
under the azaleas.
Passing strangers might say your name-
And: "Oh look, mother and child
Isn't that sad".

Merilyn Childs 24/1/2015


The title of today's theme is drawn from a quote in Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1999)

“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting”

Day 22: "My feet hurt whah!"

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My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: Today (22nd January) I did 2 flights at our local iFly early in the morning with my son, then stood all day helping him pack. By night fall my feet really hurt!! (I have feet problems made worse by the 30for30 challenge, even with great shoes and foot care). 

I started to think about pregnant women and children in the developing world, and their feet - something I had not really thought about before. I started searching for information, and found very little. But I did find the NFP Soles4Shoes, see video above, and visit here.

Poem:

My feet hurt!

I've made progress, true.

Carried weight, lalala

Gone some distance yeah!

But my feet hurt whah!

Yes, my feet hurt, whah!

I've got the sore feet ice-pack blues!!

lol, Merilyn Childs 22/1/2015

Day 21: "View"

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Today's theme: "View". This photo is a view
of the wisteria tunnel referred to in the poem below. 

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: Back to the gym today, where I did the usual workout, but decided I would add in a challenge test to see what my progress is like. I managed to do 2 x 30 supported pull-ups, then had a break and did some leg work. After 10 minutes I did 1 x 25 supported pull-ups. So: progress, thankfully, with 8 days to go. [Note though, it sounds easier than it was!].

Poem:

View.

Today is memory.

Through window grime

to park: the wisteria tunnel

where once there was a rocket

and a roundabout

long since gone.

where once I pushed a stroller

with grandparents

long now dead.

On Sunday I walked there with you

once-were-Helen. Mother.

We sat on the second wooden bench

your eyes closed/skin an empty shell.

My eyes blinded.

A young girl runs past, we stir.

There's a Labor Party BBQ. Speeches I can't hear.

I think of David Hicks. Your protest.

I want to tell you: He's free now Mum. 

Vindicated. I know you'd be pleased.

Through window grime
to park, and the wisteria tunnel:
Yes, I see the landscape of my years,
and the view of yours forgotten.


Merilyn Childs, 21/1/2015


[The gym I work out at has a view over a park where I walk my mother, who has Alzheimer's].

Days 19-20: "Burden"

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Today's theme: "Burden". 

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: On 19th January (yesterday) I walked for 5km. Today (20th January) I set myself a different challenge - to see how far I could walk carrying two buckets with 5 litres of water in each bucket. It turned out I managed only 1km. The pain my my arms and shoulder joints was tough, and I became worried I'd do an injury that would stop me achieving my overall challenge. I did this challenge because I wanted to understand more about the burden of collecting water for women in the developing world when pregnant. My small challenge was nothing compared to theirs. After the 1 km, I then did a fast 2 km through local streets.

Poems

From: http://girlsglobe.org/2013/12/12/the-burden-of-collecting-water-while-pregnant-2/

Burden

mine is a noun:

quick, flowing-

a blue bucket

on an asphalt street.

Burden Two

hers is an endless

relentless verb:

to.

Merilyn Childs 20/1/2015

Days 16-18: "Warming"

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Today''s theme: "Warming"
2012: Local people taking local action:
350.org and climatedots.org with the global slogan
"It's time to connect dots between climatic change and extreme weather"
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/350org/

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

Reflection: NASA has released data to show that 2014 was the hottest year in modern history. Climate change impacts different regions, countries and populations differently, and climate impact management is resourced differently across the globe as well. Climate change impacts on the most vulnerable in poorer countries and communities - including "the mother, the fetus and the newborn child" (Rylander, Odland & Sandanger, 2013). 

My progress: I completed the following during the past 3 days: Jan 16th: a 4 km walk, Jan 17th: gym, Jan 18th (more gym). 

Poems:

Warming I
"warming one's toes": hearth
&  home; winter fires/
hot chocolate/
the lights on low.

Warming II
lobster
boiled red:
                   dead.

Warming III
born into hot air
the dew long forsaken
the babies of potluck
sicken, horizon-blinded
by winter fires & lobsters
                   boiled
                   in the mouths of somewhere else
                   where the lights are low.



Merilyn Childs 18/01/2015

Day 15: "Gap"

HALF WAY THROUGH THE CHALLENGE!

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Today's theme: "Gap"

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: I began today with a visit to the gym. I did all round fitness training, and also focused on lat pull-downs as a way of preparing for the supported pull-ups. Today I achieved 3 x 30 lat pull-downs at 50 kilo setting. I could not have done this at the start of the challenge, so I'm pleased!!

Reflection: Because of people doing this challenge, more than $87,000 has been raised so far for World Vision Australia's campaign to improve the survival and health of babies in their first 30 days of life!

Today's Poem:

Gap

I squeezed in to the ball room.

Madeleine was there,

and an injured paramedic with a trainer.

I had to wait my turn.

It crossed my mind that it should be

bigger, cooler, better equipped.

Mental note (or so I said): 

"Next time after 10

There'll be a bigger gap":

#firstworldproblem

Merilyn Childs 15/01/2015

[World Vision reports that "child deaths have been almost cut in half, from 12.6 million per year in 1990 to to 6.6 million in 2012. Despite this welcome progress the Killer Gap report 2013 shows that millions of children, including the 6.6 million who sadly died in 2012, are still not benefiting from improvements."]

Day 12-14: "Acute"

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Today's theme: "Acute".
UNICEF recently reported the efficacy of the work they did after the Haiti earthquake,
with money raised through donations. Read the report.

My fitness challenge: My goal is to do 3 x 30 supported pull-ups at Level 1 by 30th January 2015. And to write a poem everyday.

My progress: This entry is for the 12th (I walked 4 km), the 13th (I worked out at the gym) and the 14th (I did hard physical labour around the house and did a 15 minute bike ride). This has allowed my shoulders to recover, ready for more work at the gym tomorrow.

Reflection: Sometimes cynicism exists about the impact of fundraising by NGOs on the lives of those the funds are meant to help. It's good therefore to read outcomes based reports from organisations like UNICEF to show how moneys raised change the lives of those they are meant to help. 

Poems.

12th January 2015:

Acute

behind the door

a mathematician

carves fine lines,

perfecting Division.

tasting Subtraction.

Yum. Saliva on chin.

He's never been hungry

Not even in dreams,

and when he comes out

Boo! the children scream.

Merilyn Childs 12th January 2015

[This poem is in response to cuts made to foreign aid by the Australian Abbott Liberal Government of AU$3 billion over 3 years on 15th December 2014]

13th January 2015:

acute

/əˈkjuːt/

intense, deep, sharp.

//pain//pain*

in the depths of where you died.

Merilyn Childs, 13th January 2015

[Sometimes even years after the loss of a child, living is like drowning in thick treacle.]

14th January 2015

acute

I'm not a story teller baby,

But I want to tell you this:

They have no idea

the knife will kill you.

They've waited for you

smiling, fearful, hungry.

They sing to you

as the cut is made.

Merilyn Childs, 14th January 2015

[This poem was written to reflect the fact that "Newborn sepsis is responsible for over 500,000 of the 3.1m newborn deaths globally. The infection is usually transmitted when the umbilical cord is removed with unsterilised materials. Applying a basic antiseptic which cost less than $1 helps to stop infections. This action reduces mortality by 23%" (Olagunju, 2014)]