Dear friends,
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| 23 March 2011, Luka's first feed |
It is very hard to believe that we are nearing the third anniversary of our lives with Luka, our favorite ex-prem. For those not familiar with his story, you can poke around this blog to learn how we went from blissfully pregnant to emergency evacuated by air to welcome our first child into the world, 10 weeks early, on 22 March 2011.
This post however, is not to dwell on the past, but rather to talk about an event in the future. To commemorate Luka's third year in our lives, Chris and I decided to attempt perhaps the only thing we could think of that would be harder than being in labor on an airplane - the 11th ABSA
Cape Epic mountain bike stage race. This 8-day torture fest occurs every year in March and traverses the mountains in and around Cape Town and the surrounding wine country. The 2014 route will include nearly 750km of rugged off-road riding, where 1,200 riders, including Olympians, world cup winners, professionals - and weekend warriors like us, will test our endurance to the fullest. For some, the prize money is a strong motivator, for others, like us, the mere honor of participating - and hope for being an "Epic Finisher" is glory enough.
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| Luka today - an avid biker |
But why write about a cycling race on Luka's blog? Because we decided to enter this race as a way to celebrate our life with Luka. For months after his birth, the uncertainties of whether or not he would be 'normal', and healthy, plagued our minds, hearts and souls. As time went on however, and we eased into the realization that we were one of the lucky ones - we started to understand just how fortunate and blessed we were. In order to celebrate this blessing, and his first three years - we have decided to raise funds for premature babies in the wonderful country that we call home at the moment,
Timor-Leste. It is here, in Dili, that we went into labor in 2011, and here that we returned with our very small infant son later that year. The Timorese have taken us in, loved us, cared for Luka, and been gracious in sharing their beautiful country with us. This despite being the poorest nation in Asia, plagued by development challenges including some of the highest mortality rates for mothers and infants, lowest literacy rates, and extremely poor healthcare options.
While we were fortunate enough to access world-class neonatal care for our premature baby in Darwin, Australia - many, many people around the world are not that fortunate. According to an
NGO dedicated to preterm births in Africa, an estimated 15 million babies are born too soon every year. According to a recent
report, premature birth kills 1 baby every 30 seconds!! That is more than die of malaria, AIDS or diarrhea. The worst part is that 75% of these deaths can be prevented without intensive care - through simple and inexpensive interventions like steroid injections (which I received prior to Luka's birth), proper hygiene, and warmth (the most valuable renewable energy source on the planet is a parent's skin-to-skin contact with a premature infant). Yet scores of babies will die this year of preventable preterm births.
Of course, we do not anticipate that the two of us on our bicycles can make a difference in the world's premature birth statistics - however, we do believe we can make a small contribution to the situation for preemies born in Timor-Leste. As such, we will be coordinating with healthcare professionals in Dili to seek opportunities to contribute to a low-tech intervention such as a 'Kangaroo Mothercare' room, or other similar intervention to assist parents of preemies to cope with, and adequately support their little miracles.
We are in the consultation process to find the most appropriate source to support, but with this letter, I am requesting those able to, please consider supporting our cause when the time comes. You may choose to give a flat-fee, or an amount per kilometer (1c, 10c, $1?). There will be no overhead, fee, or administration cost - just two very grateful parents, and one very boisterous ex-prem giving back to the world. Every cent you choose to donate will go directly to benefiting these little angels.
Once we have our specific project finalized, I will share the information and procedure to donate with you. There is however absolutely NO expectation, NO obligation - just gratification for knowing that you may be able to touch the life of a very special person.
More soon, until then - yours sincerely
Susan, Chris and Luka
