Over the last 6 months Peter and I have become very involved with a charity called Merlin. Merlin is an aid agency that provides healthcare services in the worst places in the world. Where there's a disaster or confict zone, Merlin is there: Darfur, Congo, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Liberia...the list goes on.

Merlin does 2 things: It provides emergency medical relief when there's been a disaster, whether natural or man made, and then uniquely, Merlin stays long after the disaster to re-build the health care systems of those countries.

This August, Peter and I and 2 of our children, Ed (18) and Katy (15) were invited to Liberia to see Merlin's work there.  We were shocked and dismayed at seeing hardship that we couldn't imagine, and we were inspired and motivated by the miracles that the Merlin aid workers perform daily as they treat 62,000 LIberians each month. We kept a brief blog of our experiences which is at www.loveandgratitude.com.

Peter and I have decided that between now and Christmas we will raise $10,000 for Merlin. This is enough to train 4 midwives in a country where 1 in 4 babies die before they're 5, or to buy 2 generators to keep the Merlin hospitals operational 24 hours a day.

We're running a 10k race in Washington on 25th October as part of our fundraising campaign and wonder if you'd like to sponsor us for this or simply donate to our campaign.

Please help us to meet our goal and raise $10,000. 

With love and gratitude,

Helen and Peter

www.loveandgratitude.com