Introducing Amazing Women Wednesday, and Ruth Curran!

Today I am introducing a new Category and event on Travels with Tam: Amazing Women Wednesday. I plan to pay tribute to those amazing women who are out there in the world making a difference, and in doing so, they are setting incredibly strong examples for our girls.  In addition, they are empowering women everywhere to take a leap of faith in their own abilities.

First up: Ruth Curran. Ruth is a fellow blogger and scuba diver. Her blog is Cranium Crunches, a Blog about Brain Health.  She provides puzzles and word games, updates on research, memory matching, and now, she is in St. Lucia working with Global Volunteers on the St. Lucia Project.

Ruth is a perfect match for the St Lucia Project. St Lucia looks like, and is, a tropical paradise for tourists, but that is not always true for the island’s inhabitants.  30% of the island’s population lives in poverty.  The project is centered upon global research showing that lack of nutrition and parasitic diseases in developing countries negatively impacts the growth and development of brain function in children.  Children who do not fully develop their own potential are at a terrible disadvantage in the world.  The top three goals in the program are Hunger, Health, and IQ.  Providing essential services in these three categories is the mission of the St. Lucia Project.  Take the next 100 seconds and learn all about it HERE, in a short, quick video.

And who is Ruth Curran, and why does she have a blog about brain health?  Several years ago, Ruth suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury. If you’ve ever known someone who has had such an injury, you know that the consequences can be life-changing, not just for the person with the injury, but for their loved ones.  Ruth’s long rehabilitation made her feel like “she was trying to think her way out of a paper bag with no clues” on how to do it.  Ruth decided to get a Master’s Degree in Cognitive Psychology as a part of her rehab process.  Isn’t that amazing?  What a way to recover brain function….go back to school.  To learn more about her journey and reasons for starting her blog go to http://craniumcrunches.com/about.php.

So, at this moment, Ruth is in St Lucia with Global Volunteers making a difference in the quality of family lives, nutrition, and learning. So many children may be helped by her contribution to their education and to their current circumstances. To read her first blog on her trip, go to THE JOURNEY BEGINS: DROPPING ASSUMPTIONS.  Here is her second post, just up today! http://www.craniumcrunches.com/bepurposeful/changes-cultural-adjustments-and-wardrobe-malfunctions/

Ruth has taken on the challenge of changing her own life, and in doing so, she has inspired others to do the same.  Thank you, Ruth! You certainly inspire me!  I can’t wait to hear about the entire trip on Cranium Crunches!