Day 7-9: "Three"

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Today's theme is "three"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/30839999@N06/

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 have now had 3 days when I've had poor access to wifi and a computer, so I am putting three day's work of records in today's Blog post. I have spent today, and the previous two days, walking 4-5 km a day. Tomorrow I plan to return to the gym and check my progress towards my goal.

Poems for 3 days

Poem 1

you had membrane

i never held.

Poem 2

you were born as laughter

into February and our slow

decay.

Poem 3

you were my tender

quiet, the world

like dark sound.

Merilyn Childs

9/01/2015

Day 6: "Celebration"

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Today's theme "Celebration".
https://www.flickr.com/photos/julien_harneis/

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 I focused on stretching and walking.

Today's Poem

celebration

Oh, incredible.

this human being

who once was conceived

then lived til now

to be sitting here thus:

weaving dreams.

Merilyn Childs 6/1/2015

[On the occasion of a celebration for my oldest son].

Day 5: "What hope looks like"

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Today's theme is "What hope looks like". Photo above shows viral meningitis. 

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 I did time at the gym. I tested my progress towards my goal, and achieved 1 x 30, 1 x 20, 1 x 13, then I waited 5 minutes and did another 1 x 20 supported pull-ups at Level 1. So I am feeling more positive about achieving the goal I've set myself. [At the start of the challenge I could only do 1 x 25, 1 x 20 and 1 x 12]. In 5 days, I've improved! I've also improved in other ways. 

Today's Poem:

what hope looks like

he screamed during the spinal tap.

"He has meningitis". There it is.

We can't block out that sound.

6 weeks and he has taken his first step.

Curtains wide open, no looking away.

He is bandaged and needled.

We make phone calls.

We wait. We cling. We keen.

There is a room full of mothers

sleeping on the floor.

Impossibly, I am one of them. 

There is air-conditioning

and a play room, and 

People speak in whispers.

Family come and go.

Time is hot.

We are melting.

Then: the thermometer makes friends.

Merilyn Childs 5/1/2014

[My son contracted viral meningitis at 6 weeks. He is now 25 and well.]

World Vision 2011.
We can make a difference and reduce the incidence of meningitis around the world! 

Day 4: "Carrying weight"

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Today's theme "carrying weight"

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 I did fitness training at home, as part of a "rest day" to ensure I don't injure myself during the challenge. I did 3 x 20 2kg arm curls (the photo above shows the weights I used), yoga stretching like this, and 3 x count of 30 plank (no, those photos are not of me!). 

Some facts about the weight of living for women in developing countries. Did you know that many women, including pregnant women, carry water often for kilometres? So while I am working with a 2km hand-weight to try to build my strength in an air-conditioned house, poor women children spend 200 million hours a day collecting water. Water.org reports that "Nearly 1.5 million children under the age of five die every year from diarrhea globally". Babies within their first 30 days also die from poor access to safe drinking water.

Today's poem:

weight/wait

I start with a homophone.

To explain.

I have discovered that the words that we use,

(you and I)

intersect. Yes:

somewhere in English.

perhaps in a poster?

or a handout caught by wind?

perhaps on a sign left behind?

mother: somewhere between your poverty

and my Soda Stream bubbled air-conditioning

I pump 2kg weights

While you for water wait. 
Wait. Then walk.

                     

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ilri/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/waterdotorg/

Day 3: "Hardship and vulnerability"

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Today's theme is "Hardship and vulnerability".

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 I went to the gym early and did ball work, stretching and weight training.  Lots of improvements. No supported pull-ups, bu did lat pull-downs instead.

Some facts about vulnerability and the first 30 days of infant health: Vulnerability isn't what I experienced today at the gym - I simply found some of the exercises harder than others. The Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme is a good read to clarify the meaning of "vulnerability". When I do my fund-raising activities, I'm thinking about "unfair economic structures that create huge inequalities" (ibid, p. 14) and the small contributions I can make to mediate these inequalities. As I wrote in my poem Distance yesterday, my access to resources is far greater than those accessed by women and babies in developing countries, and compared to rural and remote Australians.

This does not mean I am comparing grief with grief, or minimizing my own painful experiences of child loss and infant illness. But these are a bridge to understanding, not the destination.

Today's poem:

Hard

muscles test weights

my mind sweats

memories:

being 29, before your name

was called.

I've fought for you/

my silent battle cry:

other people's daughters

my own

and other mother's sons.

Merilyn Childs 3/10/2015

Day 2: "Distance"

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Today's theme is "distance"
because dealing with infant health for many means very long walks to a doctor or hospital

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 I went for a 5 km local bike ride. I have done this ride previously, but in the past I've hopped off the bike going up two steep hills. Today I challenged myself mentally to ride to the top before resting, and I did it!

Some facts about distance from hospitals and infant health in the first 30 days:

Did you know that distance from hospital is an important factor in the first 30 days in infant health? Read more about Australian Indigenous mothers and their babies. In developing countries, distance to health care may be a 50 km walk away for a pregnant woman. Not surprisingly, poorer countries have much higher risks of child death before the age of 5, that we do, here in Australia (however, in Australia, Indigenous babies have a higher mortality rate than non-indigenous people). World Vision is one of many NGOs trying to achieve the WHO Millennium 4 goals. For example, it is promoting an in-community midwife education program to reduce the problems of the tyranny of distance, and educate women to achieve better maternal and infant health within communities. .

Today's poem:

Distance

your distances are not like mine.
there is no equity between us:
                            I have clean water; you have mud.
Oh, bridge: be short.
Midwife, lean into her heart.


Merilyn Childs 2/01/2014

Day 1: "Corridors"

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Today's theme is "corridors"
because dealing with infant health for many means hours waiting & worrying.

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 I went to the gym and established my base-line at 1 x 25, 1 x 20 and 1 x 12 supported pull-ups at Level 1.

To achieve progress I do lot of stretching and isometric exercises, ball work, weights, and walking (in the gym, and outside) mixing it up everyday.


Today's poem:

Corridor, 1985
i think i screamed.
wailed at least.
was it me, thus in a wheelchair?
wild, crazy, indestructible me?
the white tiles shiny/shiny
the walls passing/passing
some vague figure pushing:
pushing/pushing    pushing

the end of the hall kept it's distance
reluctant for my arrival
your arrival.
me: time-looped
in the dark-shifting corridor,
just where the hinges swung
just where an empty cot hovered.


Merilyn Childs 1/1/2015