Recent Changes

WAGH Whittier recently decided as a group to move our donations from the MEDA project to World Relief. MEDA is a great and worthy organization, yet it seemed the "Through the Garden Gate" project in Afghanistan is no longer a focus for them. With similar timing, Cindi's husband joined staff with World Relief. This provided the opportunity to change our group's direction to support the Stand/Together Project to also empower women, this time in Africa. Cindi is currently the WAGH Whittier facilitator. WAGH is now in its 5th year. For further information on the Stand/Together Project:

https://standtogetherproject.org/

Empower a Hero.

Reach a village.

Change the world.

Food for Thought: Eating Well as a Spiritual Discipline

This article, Eating Well as a Spiritual Discipline, is worth the read. It has some fresh truth to it. Take a moment to read it and digest the ideas. Puns intended. Food for thought. Digest. Get it? Anyway, here you go:

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Eating-Well-as-a-Spiritual-Discipline-Paula-Huston-01-17-2012.html/?LLM=cindipete@verizon.net

Have a good week moving towards better health and a better world.

Heat Wave Coming - Keep Your Cool

In our area, we've been enjoying wonderful weather, but that is about to change with the 4th of July weekend. Temperatures during the day could hit 100 degrees for the next few days. Anything over 90 degrees is too hot in my frame of reference! For those of us who get exercise outdoors, we will need to be intentional about walking or bike riding early in the day or after dark, though that has other complications, such as personal safety.

For those of us going to the local pool for water exercise, perfect! The motivation to get in the water to cool off will be strong during this coming week.

Let's use the weather as our excuse to exercise early in the day, or head to the pool. Stay hydrated with ice water and a splash of lemon and/or mint.

Remember, salads and fruit are cool foods to serve during summer heat. I may freeze watermelon chunks for an icy treat. [See recipe below]

Keep up the step-by-step work, everyone. And again, our commitment benefits the women in Afghanistan in the Through the Garden Gate project with MEDA. Women are learning to read, feeding their families better, providing income, and enjoying new community support within their cultural limits with our help. That is exciting!

http://youtu.be/vFgOPFW1RWM

Here is a recipe to bring some frosty freshness to the days ahead:

Watermelon-Lime Frost
adapted from Gourmet
1 large watermelon
4 limes
lime salt (recipe below)

1. Cut the watermelon into cubes. 
2. Puree the watermelon and lime juice in a blender or food processor. 
3. Place in freezer until solid.
4. Rub lime juice around the rims of the serving glasses or bowls. 
5. Press the rims into the lime salt.
6. Fill with scoops the frozen watermelon mixture. 
7. Garnish with a lime slice

Lime Salt
1/4 c salt
1 tsp dried lime zest

• Combine by grinding together with a mortar and pestle or spin together in a food processor.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Whittier area WAGH will be meeting on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 7:00pm to discuss progress for the month and healthy lifestyle goals for the coming month. Keep up the good work and remember the cause!

We got a great progress update from our partner project, "Through the Garden Gate" project, via MEDA's work with women in Afghanistan. About 2375 women farmers are involved in the project.

"I gained respect in the village and I am proud that MEDA gave me so much knowledge to be used and to be shared. All of my children now go to school. I can buy their stationery and new clothes. I am so happy seeing them go to school because it was my dream to have them all educated," shared one participant.

June Update

Marianne, Karen, and Cindi met this morning. All reported progress: all three participants are meeting their fitness/exercise routine goals!

• Marianne has met with a trainer and worked hard throughout each week. She has been doing so for six weeks. She plans to continue to eat better in July and lose weight.
• Karen went to the YMCA 3-4 times a week for the past five weeks: Pilates and Water Fitness classes, plus some treadmill and swimming laps. She will be out-of-town for the month of July, and plans to continue her exercise routine there with walking, a Pilates DVD, and the stationary bike at her sister’s home. She has lost about 20 pounds since December and is encouraged.
• Cindi has completed four weeks at the YMCA, going 3-4 times a week: Pilates and Water Fitness classes, plus some swimming laps. She has eeked up 5 pounds in the last month or two. So easy to do! She is still at a 30 pound loss overall. She plans to eat healthier this month, looking forward to summer salads and fabulous fruit, with a goal of continuing weight loss.

Christine, Cheri, & Rena — we missed you all. We wish you the best on your healthy eating and fitness goals for July!

Our next meeting is the 4th Saturday of July: July 25th @ 8:00am.

We have contributed $220 to date towards the "Through the Garden Gate" Project with women in Afghanistan, a MEDA program.

MEDAzine Story Spreads the Word

I am happy to share this article about WAGH from MEDA's e-magazine, MEDAzine. How nice of them to give us a shout out! Thanks, MEDA! This coverage is so encouraging. Hopefully, it will lead to more interest in making a difference in the global hunger cause.

http://www.meda.org/news/MEDAzine/2009/March/ wagh.html

WAGH 2008

One WAGH house group of 5-7 women in Southern California is proud to have succeeded in contributing over $1,000 to MEDA's "Through the Garden Gate" project in Afghanistan, that empowers women to grow gardens for feeding their families better and for taking produce to market to provide income within cultural restraints, while becoming literate and trained in business and agricultural skills. Not only did we meet together to encourage one another to be authentic and to make changes toward becoming more fit and responsible in our eating habits, we helped another group of women in the fourth poorest country in the world to grow gardens, learn to read, and learn to write their names.
Through monthly meeting fees and a commitment to raise funds for this project, we were pleased to reach our fundraising goal. We've been very touched through the stories of the lives of these women as reported to us.

To learn more about MEDA, go to www.meda.org