Adrienne Jerram

Adrienne Jerram

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

This is why I'm hot 9: I think the world should be a fair place

The other day at work we were asked to write down our beliefs and values. My number one was that 'I think the world should be a fair place'. I think over my life I have done a few things to help make it that way.

But the truth is the world is far from fair. That's why I'm dedicating my half-marathon run to Amnesty International. This year amnesty, a worldwide movement of people campaigning to protect human rights, celebrated 50 years of human rights campaigning. Here are just three of their recent secesses:

Earlier this year they celebrated the Australian government’s announcement of a nationwide plan to combat violence against women and their children. They had been campaigning for such a plan for nearly five years, and it’s arrival marked a huge win in this campaign.

Amnesty International USA recently celebrated the abolition for the death penalty in Illinois, making it the 16th state to abolish this antiquated, ineffective and inhumane punishment.

Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest after she peacefully protested to win power over the government's oppressive regime in Burma.  For years Amnesty supporters have been working tirelessly to bring about change and in 2010 the global campaign resulted in 110,000 actions, emails and letters calling for her release, together with the other 2,200 other political prisoners in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi was released on 13th November 2010, sparking worldwide celebrations.

You can sponsor me simply and easily by clicking on this link.

http://www.gofundraise.com.au/page/Adrienne_Jerram

You will receive a receipt immediately and you can even leave a personal message on my page - please be nice! : )

I'll do the hard work on the day - your part is easy.


Sunday, August 28, 2011

This is why I'm hot 8: I got it from my mama

There are many things I inherited from my mother. My fondness for a fireplace, that look I get when I don't really like something but will understand and put up with it anyway, my short stature. But more than that I got an ability to embrace change, when really all you want is to sit, in front of the fire, watching your favourite program on the TV, sipping tea like it is sweet comfort.

My mother grew up in less than prosperous circumstances in the terraces and tenements of post-war Edinburgh, raising two younger brothers, learning how not to parent (one egg and a pint of milk does not a dinner of scrambled eggs make!) and developing a passion for a life more comfortable.

My Dad came to her, with careless feet and Buddy Holly looks and a plan to go to Australia. A plan of which she wanted no part, but ended up buying, partly because my father was so persistent but also, more simply, because she loved him. As she stepped on that boat (plane travel wasn't for ordinary people then) she was leaving her friends, family, possibly believing she might not ever see them again. But she managed to pull her much yearned for comfort from the thought that 'she was saying goodbye to the cold and snow forever!

Move forward twenty years and still living in Sydney Australia, my mum has built a routine which enabled her to build and maintain a house, sing in the choir, coach softball and raise three children while working full time. Washing at our place was done everyday (towels on a Thursday, sheets on a Saturday) except Sunday, and there was satisfaction in just having it done. It is in the height of my Mum's new found comfort that my dad announces plans to build his own boat and sail it around Australia. And so, again, she gives up everything. But, through the churn of the storm and the flatline of the doldrums she pulls comfort from the maintenance of her routines. Dinner at six, lunch at 12, the floor gets swept everyday regardless.

It takes a special person to embrace adventure, when your sole ambition is for the comfort of quiet life. But hasn't my mother had some experiences as a result. She's coached a winning softball team,  sailed alongside a pod of dolphins, risen on the king tides of Western Australia, traversed Bass Strait, driven to almost every lookout to Australia, written a book, learned to cook (and then not cook) proper scrambled eggs - with cheese. She has experienced things, held ambitions for her children, that a poor girl from Edinburgh should never have been allowed.

It is a very special talent to pull comfort from the most uncomfortable of circumstances,  but this is my mother, this is her special skill, and I really, really hope I've inherited it.