Slowly but Surely

Well, the debut of our website is going to be put off for a few more weeks. Unfortunately our designer had some family health issues and so won't be able to finish things up as planned. Inshallah everything is OK.

Although it doesn't seem like I'm doing much (in my own mind), I continue to network to find people to help out with this project. I had breakfast with Malcolm Daly, owner of Great Trango Holdings, a few days ago. He's psyched to donate products for the fund-raisers that we do; La Sportiva is also supporting Heidi's slide show tour next year with product; Rock & Ice magazine said they'd help out with promoting some slide show fund raisers that we are going to do; and the ladies over at She Sends magazine offered to donate the funds to a big party they are planning for late winter to GEI. I've also talked with some folks over at the American Alpine Club. Jim Donini was enthusiastic about our project because he currently feels that one of the most important things we can do to contribute positively to the world community is to educate the poverty-stricken girls and women in foreign countries.

Educating girls and women benefits communities for a number of reasons. Not only do more educated women have fewer babies (i.e. less overpopulation), but they contribute their knowledge to the entire wellbeing of the community they live in.

"Increased education for women is not only a matter of justice, but would yield exceptional returns in terms of world food security. A World Bank study concluded that if women received the same amount of education as men, farm yields would rise by between seven and 22 percent." ((http://www.fao.org/Gender/en/educ-e.htm))

"Education can also play a major role in improving the status of women and would significantly improve household health and nutrition, lower child morbidity and mortality rates, and slow population growth. According to one UN study, child mortality would be reduced more effectively by providing women with ten years of education rather than by doubling their income, providing sanitation and piped water, and turning every agricultural worker into a white-collar worker." ((http://www.fao.org/Gender/en/educ-e.htm)

I'll have more facts up and running later!