Situation in the Congo

I am over 4 weeks into my running plan. So far, I have run 83 miles of the 216 I hope to run in 12 weeks, so I am ahead of the goal. One of my favorite runs has been through downtown Denver--while on a business trip. I ran out to Invesco Field at Mile High, where the Broncos play, from downtown Denver. Most of this run was along the South Platte river, which also runs near my hometown.

You can track my progress here.  Eighteen miles a week has proven more difficult than I originally thought, but it's also been fun. Thank you to everyone who has donated to this cause. I'm grateful for your support and you've given me added motivation.  By the way my fundraising page is here.

I also want to write a little more about the reason for my fundraising and tell you a bit about the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I remember distinctly that one of the reasons for my interest in Africa in general was an article I read in Christianity Today--sometime in the early 2000's. It told the story of  a doctor in the DRC, and that story has stuck with me.

The current conflict in the DRC is the most violent event since WWII. I couldn't find the original article I read so many years ago, but here is a Christianity Today blog post that tells the story.

Did you know that the median age in the Congo is around 16? That means that most likely, you'd already be dead. It is even worse for women--more than two-thirds of women have been raped. This is why I run:  to build awareness (for myself and others) for the plight of the people in the DRC--a situation I wouldn't wish upon anyone.

The Congo was originally colonized by Belgium. During that time it was abused for slaves and rubber.  Now, the DRC is the 12th largest country (18th by population) and it has the second lowest Human Development Index score (right behind Zimbabwe). For many years, it was called Zaire. And, it is not to be confused with it's neighbor to the north, the Republic of Congo.  Both take their names from the Congo River, the second largest in the world.

Here are some interesting pictures celebrating the DRC's 50th anniversary of freedom from Belgium:
In pictures: The DR Congo at 50

Some recent news articles about the DRC:
DR Congo colonel Kibibi Mutware jailed for mass rape
Unesco: Conflict robs 28 million children of education
Congo's east - Still smuggling New DR Congo centre for rape victims opens
DR Congo: Six killed in 'coup bid' against Kabila

Finally, here is a map showing the development index of various countries. Pay special attention to the the black color--these countries are lowest on the scale.

UN_Human_Development_Report_2010 map

Run for Congo Women

Friends and family,

If you've known me for very long, you know how I have a passion for Africa. In fact, I believe it is my calling to help the people of Africa meet their economic needs. But with student loans, a loving community here, and plans for a career, I feel somewhat tied down and anxious to actually do something.

Now, I've found an opportunity to do something:  For 12 weeks I will run for the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Why the DRC? Quite simply it is the worst place in the world to be a human. And, it is literally one of the most under-reported and under-cared-about crises. (Zimbabwe is up there too.) For starters, the DRC has seen the greatest number of violent deaths since WWII, more than any other place in the world.

Well, I'm not the type of person to ask for money, but I think this is a good cause. I've created a page where you can donate to Run for Congo Women. It's a good organization and the money will be used for things like financial aid, job training, rights awareness, and leadership education.  Check out runforcongowomen.org to learn more.

My purpose in doing this, though, is less about the money. Instead, I hope I can inspire you to think outside your world and learn about others who are suffering. I hope you'll be inspired to do something too.

So in the future, you can look forward to more information about the DRC and constant updates on my progress as I try to run 216 miles in 12 weeks in remembrance of the women of the DRC. I'm starting with a 5k next Saturday with the Atlanta Track Club.

Click here to go to my fund-raising page.

Sincerely,
Zek

How many miles do you think I will actually run? Post your guess as a comment on my blog and let's see who comes the closest.

Growing up (finally)

I know I haven't written for some time, and I apologize for that.  At the same time I feel our lives are not as exciting as yours with all these wonderful births, people moving, new jobs, and new schools, etc.  I'll mention a couple highlights here and wrap up the year at or after Christmas.

One of the most exciting things that has happened in our lives recently is that Tracy and I had our first Thanksgiving at our own home.  We feel all growed up!  We invited a few friends and enjoyed a wonderful, traditional Thanksgiving spread.

Tracy has been on three clinical rotations and is learning a lot.  So far, so good.  In fact, she has had the chance to take part in a few births and caught a couple babies!  Zek has been enjoying his job, too.  Product management is definitely something new for him, but he is enjoying the challenge.  Siemens is a great company with good benefits and very loyal employees.  The company has already sent him to Seattle and Germany.  At some point Tracy will have to join one of the business trips, and we'll make a vacation out of it.

Some pictures from Zek's trip to Germany are in the slide show below and can also be found here.  Germany is a great place to visit, especially if you like Bratwurst and technology.  Just don't expect customer service, and don't wait to be seated.



A little while ago a good friend from college visited us for the weekend--John Matsui.  We had a good time, and I thought I should mention it so I could ask, why haven't you been our guest lately?

We'll be heading off to Nebraska this year for Christmas.  It will be 18 hours of driving with Kaya (our dog) and going from cold to colder.  Should be fun!

Don't forget the season is a celebration of an undeserved gift God has given each of us.  I hope you will represent that gift of salvation and forgiveness to others in your life during this time.

New job, new dog, new apartment

Zek starts work on Monday (August 2).  He will be working at Siemens as a product manager.  It is a global responsibility, and he will be traveling about 20% of the time with approximately 4 international trips a year.

Tracy starts clinical rotations in a few weeks.  She will be spending 5 weeks in each rotation at a different hospital or clinic--more than ten rotations in all with only a weekend break in between.  That weekend may be her only rest, because during the rotation, she may be working up to 7 days a week.  She is very excited to start applying her medical knowledge, but she'll actually be responsible for people's lives!  Eeek!

Several weeks ago we invited Elizabeth, our niece, to stay with us.  We all had a great time, and Elizabeth got to see the Georgia Aquarium, Stone Mountain, ride the airplane and the metro.  She also participated in an acting camp, which finished with a musical.  She had a lot of fun and discovered that flying isn't so bad.

Zek also attended his ten-year high-school anniversary.  It was great to catch up with old friends (OK, not that old!), but he only spent 42 hours in Nebraska, so he didn't have much time to catch up with everyone.  It was still a great time while it lasted.

With the new job, we've made some other "life changes", including moving to a new apartment (on the fourth floor!).  We won't put the address here, but if you want to send us something, ask first.

The new member of our family, Kaya:

Graduation around the bend

Tracy and Zek are almost done with the semester.  We will be finishing our last classes next week and Zek graduates May 10.  To celebrate all of our hard work this semester, we've decided to take a break and fly to San Francisco for a week the first week of May.  We will stay in the city for about half of the time and camp in Big Sur the other half.  We bought about a bunch of camping equipment at REI and are ready to go!

We have certainly done a lot this Spring.  We both ran our first half marathon.  Zek beat his goal and ran it in an hour 42 minutes.  Tracy accomplished her goal (finishing) and crossed the finish in 2 hours 17 minutes.  About 1 month earlier Tracy had injured her knee and couldn't train.  She muscled through the event, though, and the next week was in a good deal of pain.

This has been a busy time for each of us.  Zek is putting 10 to 20 hours of work in at Kimberly-Clark.  We're not sure if the company will extend him a full-time job, but he is working hard to ensure that happens.  He likes the company, so please pray for the best.  This is Tracy's busiest semester of the PA program, and it has been stressful.  She will get pretty close to straight A's.  She just has to keep up the good work.  Speaking of grades, Zek will graduate with honors.

By the way, since about half of our friends became pregnant or gave birth this Spring, we want to say congratulations to all of you.  We're excited for you and feel a little left behind, so we're getting a dog.

Other highlights in pictures:

 Zek's Parents visited Atlanta in February.

Some good friends had us over for a murder mystery and dinner.  Thanks Rick and Hannah (left and middle of first picture)!

Zek attended an Indian celebration known as Holi and got "colored".

Part of our Sunday class (Life Group) on Resurrection Sunday.

Here is a link to our Picasa album for more pictures.

Christmas 2009 and New Years 2010

Tracy and I really enjoyed our holidays this year.  Here are some highlights, and you can scroll to the bottom for pictures.

As most of you know, we started off by driving to Nebraska. 
Our time in NE was great.  The weather was great for us, because a blizzard came through before we arrived and another came through after we left.  We were able to satisfy our snow fix, but it was a bit chilly with windchill often below zero.

I was able to visit the new high school and saw a high-school basketball game.  That was a lot of fun, and all the little kids we once knew are now so big!  I haven't been gone that long, but some of them are already taller than me.  Tracy and I helped out with our church's youth group in Stromsburg when we were there, so it was a pleasure to see those kids again.

It was also great to see family.  
Ana and her husband, Jack, drove in from California, a whopping 20-hour drive.  And, she had alternator problems a long the way and a rather large dog in the backseat.  We're either dedicated children or poor.

Seeing my nieces and nephews (as well as sisters and brothers-in-law) was great.  Tracy planned a treasure hunt for them, which they enjoyed, even though they tired of clue-finding half-way through.  We also enjoyed the "talent show" mom always has before we open presents.  Elizabeth (niece) sang and Austin (nephew) danced.  I couldn't believe his moves.  We must have similar genes, but not even I could break that out at his age.  Check him out below.

From Christmas 2009 Nebraska

We also saw my Heidtbrink cousins, my grandparents and my new first-cousin once removed (learn more about cousin types here), Liam.  Of course, my cousins greeted us by pelting us with snow balls as soon as we got out of the car.


It wasn't very long until we had to leave.  
We were sad to go, but really happy we were able to see so many loved ones in the time we had.  So, back to Atlanta:  we left Stromsburg at 6:15 am and arrived in Atlanta at 12:30 am, grabbed a good night sleep and then packed up for our 2:30 pm flight.  We even had some time to go out for lunch with our good friends, Rachel and Brandon.

We spent a little more time in San Juan, seeing Tracy's family.  Her sister and brother-in-law was also able to make it.  Tracy's parents held a big party on Christmas eve, and we met a bunch of her family.  We joke that when we visit Zek's family, greetings aren't a big deal, because they act like you were never gone.  On Tracy's side, though, greetings are a big deal.  A third of your time is spent greeting, a third mingling, and a third saying good-bye.  Zek had to learn that early on in our marriage.

Some time at the beach and some at the hospital
The next day we visited the beach house at Palmas Del Mar and the next a friend of Pepe's took us on his boat to Isla Culebrita (located here).  It was awesome.  We traveled as fast as 45 knots on the boat, we snorkeled and hiked up to a lighthouse.  The weather was great and we didn't burn.

Later Zek had a chance to go with Tracy's brother to work at Banco Popular.  On the way back, he let Zek drive his Nissan 350Z.  Letting Zek drive it in Puerto Rico was very generous, because the roads are horrible.  Along the way he explained to Zek what a "chicken handle" was.  It's actually called something else, but I'll keep it PG.  It's the handle you hold onto for dear life when you don't trust the driver's driving.  Later, Manuel had to be rushed to the emergency room after developing a severe stress-related ulcer...  No really.  I say I was the straw that broke the camel's back.  Of course, he had had the ulcer for a while, but he didn't realize how serious it was until that day.  Over the course of time he had lost half of his blood through internal bleeding caused by the ulcer. He is lucky and happy to be alive, but he is doing really well now.

A few more pictures
Nebraska
Puerto Rico

We began training for the ING half-marathon while in Puerto Rico.  10 more weeks to go.

Fall update

We just returned from North Carolina, where we spent Thanksgiving.  We saw our new niece and had a splendid time eating fantastic food, taking runs around the lake, and spending time with family.  Zek even got the chance to visit the shooting range with Micah, Brandon, and Rachel.  It is more difficult to aim and shoot a pistol quickly than you might expect, but Zek usually hit the target.  If he is ever attacked, hopefully the assailant will stand still for a while, so he can get a good shot in.  Sadly, Tracy has 5 tests coming up, so she had to spend a lot of time studying.

Baby Eva was the belle of the ball, and we took turns holding her.  Some of us even took turns changing her diaper, though Zek managed to escape that duty.  We feel sorry for Trishie who had to wake every couple of hours during the night to attend to Eva and who was also up early every morning being an excellent host and up late at night doing the same.

Take a look at some of our pictures:



Earlier this fall, Zek visited a corn maze with our "life group" (ie Sunday School class), the biggest in Georgia.  That was the first time in a corn maze for him and he had fun.  Zek enjoyed all of the love he received on his birthday.  He thanks everyone a bunch!  This Fall we finally received money from a short project Zek worked on this summer. That is going to help us out tremendously to make it until we get another set of student loans.


Finally, we wanted to update you about Zek's career search.  He had a number of interviews in October - November, including a full-day interview with a consulting firm.  He did well but not well enough.  Also, he'll be doing a short internship with Kimberly-Clark during the school year.  This is great news also, because Kimberly-Clark is an ideal company for him in many ways.

I'll end with a few pictures.

My team from Chennai India, who visited Atlanta to present our project:

The Saturday morning running group after a rainy run:

We were given Snuggies from Tracy's grandma, Nani, and we have grown to love them: