Shave Anji's Head!

About Anji

I feel other people's pain deeply, which is both a blessing and curse. The ugly truth is that I've spent weeks purposely avoiding any media about the famine. While I knew the enormity of the brewing disaster, I managed to keep it at arm's length. There are 12 million people on the brink of starvation, 1000 refugees per day pouring into already over-crowded refugee camps, and 29,000 children dead- and I closed my eyes to it...kept my world small. 

But all that changed because of a photograph I stumbled across on the internet. Maybe you've seen it? The wide eyes of a two year old malnourished child, holding on to the edges of a wash basin, his skin literally hanging from his tiny bones. My heart went straight into my throat as it struck me; that could be my son. That is someone's son. 

Why I decided to shave my head

The next morning, as I was washing my hair, several strange thoughts came to me, in this order:

1. I lose an unbelievable amount of hair when I wash it. Handfuls of hair every time!
2. The weird thing is that I still have a TON of hair left. You'd never know any was missing. 
3. Maybe generosity is like that. Maybe generosity should be measured not in terms of how much we give, but in terms of how much we keep. 
4. I need to shave my head as a fundraiser for the famine relief efforts. 
5. That's insane. Did I just think that?

And so, after a couple days wrestling with God, here I am with this challenge to you. In all my life, I have never given sacrificially because no matter how much I give, I still have enough. More than enough, actually. In this case though, I am going to make a sacrifice. On November 2nd, I am going to shave my head. Please help me make it count. 

After days and days of research, I decided to partner with an incredible organization, One Day's Wages. In order to meet the immediate needs of basic water, food, and sanitation, ODW is working with World Concern, Concern Worldwide, and Horn Relief to provide relief in the Horn of Africa.  While immediate relief is the most pressing issue to save lives, thse orgs are also working to promote long-term sustainability, especially in terms of access to clean water. 

If you have been blessed with enough, please give to my campaign. Please dig deep and give as much as you possibly can. And once you've done that, please share this page with anyone and everyone you know. I can't do this without you! If all my student friends gave $10, and my adult friends gave $20, we could raise over $5,000! Alternatively, if you're feeling brave, you can use ODW's wage calculator to determine what your one day's wages is, and give that. 

Thanks in advance for being so generous and supportive. It means more to me than you could know.