I am celebrating my 37th birthday with a 37 Day Bikram Yoga Challenge! I will be doing 37 Bikram Yoga Classes in the 37 days leading up to my birthday.

MY GOAL: to raise $3700 for the King George VI Rehabiliation Centre for children with Disabilities, in my hometown of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

KG6 is an amazing institution for many reasons, one of them being that it is the ONLY school for children with disabilities in Zimbabwe. The school just celebrated its 53rd year in existence and currently has about 300 students with a wide variety of disabilities. Please watch the video on the left and see for yourself exactly what they do.

KG6 is struggling to survive in a nation buckling under the strain of a really tough economy. It is a government school so they do receive some support from the government, but this only enough to pay for teacher salaries. The rest of the approximately US$27,000 a month it takes to keep this school and center running has to be raised by the school and its supporters all over the world.

The odds seem insurmountable. The challenges - never ending, and the outlook is bleak. The latest KG6 newsletter offers just a glimpse into these problems. Worries about how the school will survive for the remainder of the year. The possibility that they may have to reduce students and cut staff back to working every other month. The challenges of keeping the students healthy, a number of whom suffer from late developing AIDS.

It is not all bleak though. There are some wonderful successes to share too; KG6's role in the development of a national sign language; the academic success of the students as they prepare for national examinations; the beautiful artwork created by the students which covers the art room; the 5 hairdressing students who passed their exams and are now qualified hairdressers; the deaf students who have just learned how to perform an intricate and beautiful Chinese dance.

So yes, things are very tough, but what really blows me away about KG6 is that in spite of these overwhelming challenges, it is a place of joy, hope and determination.

This is a very special place. So please, if you are able, help me to support KG6 in the amazing work they do.

HOW CAN YOU HELP

~Make a donation (EVERY little bit counts).
~Tell your friends and family about my challenge and KG6.
~Send some loving thoughts/prayers/blessings/vibes to the students of KG6