I know I haven't posted in a long time. I've been busy trying to celebrate a holiday everyday (www.adriellealdrich.wordpress.com) but I wanted to post an update about my life here too. I am still teaching 2nd grade, still gardening, still making jelly, and still being awesome (and awkward). I am also training to walk a half-marathon! Yep this chubby chick is gonna walk 13.1 miles...and all at once not just like 1/2 a mile per day for 2 weeks (and yes I realize that's only 7 miles if you do the math...you get the point though!)
So why would I walk for that far for no good reason....well I wouldn't. I would however, walk that far for a great reason! The reason that I'm walking so many miles is to bring awareness to the topic of sexual violence. There is a group of teachers at my school who have committed to raising money for a program called Jeans 4 Justice. This program goes into high schools and colleges and creates a place for students to find their voice and become leaders.
It's important to me because I see my students with so much potential and hope and statistically speaking there will be a lot of them that will be abused and victims. It's mind-boggling that in America (we're not talking about some third-world country here) it's acceptable for 1 in 6 women and 1 in 10 men to be the victims of sexual violence. What's even more ludicrous is that no one is talking about it. It's almost as if to be the victim makes you the one at fault. You would never tell someone who was robbed that they were asking for it by they way the looked or acted, but the shame stigma for people who have been abused by sexual violence is the acceptable norm...not for me, not anymore.
You can help support me by going to my donation page and donating some cold hard cash. If you don't want to do that then hopefully you will consider doing something in your community to become an advocate for those who don't have their own voice about violence.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -E. Burke
