Dear Oprah,
     I just finished watching the movie "In Time" with Justin Timberlake, the setting of which is a world where time is money and so in order to eat, people must trade time off of their lives in order to fulfill their needs. While watching, I couldn't help but think about the latest letter I received from Vallary just today.  She told me, apologetically, that she has fallen in rank to the 7th place amongst her classmates of over 200 students. Her father, she said, had spent two hours talking with her and she now sees what she has to do to recover the lost ground.  She thanked me, as she always does, for supporting her with schooling tuition and promised me that the money would not be wasted when she graduates in 3 years as she plans to make great use of her education. 
     Time...such a valuable resource to us all, but maybe even more so to those who don't even have the option to waste it in ways that seem viable to the rest of us.  I mean, what could her father have been lecturing her about for 2 hours? She hasn't been watching too much tv to be kept from her studies...she hasn't been playing video games...she didn't get distracted by too many play dates or an out of control sports fetish...so, I can't help but wonder how time plays a role in her vision for regaining her rank.  Perhaps she will study more. Whatever it is, I know she will do it.  She has such determination.

     Time was something I thought about a great deal during my weeks in Africa.  I watched people, daily, like the woman in the picture above, who spent great portions of each day going to find and collect water. WATER. The stuff we pay for in plastic bottles (yes, I'm guilty but much less so than before my time in Africa.... but admittedly I even have a "favorite" brand) and conversely are given freely with ice in a glass at every restaurant meal. Waiters and waitresses even scowl sometimes when we fail to order an additional, more costly drink that will add to the tab.  And yet all over the world, people are devote large portions of every single day doing what the woman in the red dress has set out to do...find a trickle of their part of the 1% of fresh water on the planet.
     In a country where so much precious time is spent on tasks that we take totally for granted in the states, I am that much more amazed that a child like Vallary can find the hours and the motivation to focus on loftier goals of making a difference in a place that is crying out for help.
     I know your TIME is super precious too, Oprah.  I would imagine with monetary demands being a non-issue (with all due respect for having, like Vallary, worked yourself to the place where you are) it must then also be time that has become your own most valuable resource.  Time you must fill on your network air...time you must ration to agree to appear at worthy events...time you WANT to allocate to your loved ones and pets...time you must feel obligated to fill with decisions that will continue to propel the advancement of people everywhere. Dividing and conquering appears to be the only way to make it all happen.  So to must be part of the answer for Africa.  Please, put Vallary into a position where she can also be part of your team of young females who are going to go out and move forward in the world, using their time to better ALL time, from this moment into all future moments. The clock is ticking. Please answer soon.