So it’s dare week for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and I still haven’t come up with a dare that’s challenging but do-able. I have, however, created a new 2010 calendar, and if you buy it, I will donate all the proceeds to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. This new calendar features images from my 2007 trip to South Africa that aren’t displayed in the gallery here and that I’ve never offered for sale. You can preview all the images in the calendar here. The calendars I sold last year are also still available, updated for 2010, and I will also donate 100% of the proceeds to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Happily, my friend, Janna, has come up with a fantastic dare. She and her family are eating a typical Malawian diet for the week. That means no booze, no juice or pop, no prepared foods, and a limited menu of beans, Nsima, the Malawian staple of corn meal, and beans. They’re even inviting us over for dinner tomorrow night.

Funnily enough, when I told my husband that we were going for a Malawian dinner of Nsima (the South African version is called mielie pap), he mentioned that he’s actually kind of already done the challenge. Years ago, when he lived in Toronto, he could only afford a $5 sack of corn meal, and because his job was a long commute, he only had time and energy to cook it once a day. Within a few weeks he started getting paid, and then he shifted to Chinese buffet once a day.

The great thing about this dare is that anyone can donate online. So please go support her. The Stephen Lewis Foundation does wonderful work, and this dare is a genuine challenge for them that requires a lot of thought and planning to actually carry it out.

So what are you waiting for?