Sharni Montgomery, Running for the Afghan Women's Writing Project

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Sharni Montomery is a self-proclaimed couch potato living in -- and blogging from -- rural Australia. Nine weeks ago she decided to get off the couch, spend nine short weeks in training, and then run a 5k. Why? To raise money for the Afghan Women's Writing Project. Sharni made a video for her blog Sharnanigans! to get the word out about her project:

Sharni has spent the last two months running, chronicling her mission, and raising money. Can one woman in Australia make a difference for women in Afghanistan? Sharni's run is on Saturday, and she graciously agreed to talk with me a little bit about why she's doing this, what it's been like so far, and what's next.

Mir Kamin: I want to know more about why the Afghan Women's Writing Project. I mean, it's a great cause, but there are lots of great causes out there. Why this? What makes AWWP so meaningful to you?

Sharni Montgomery: As all the women who blog would understand, to write is to breathe.

I have been writing to make sense of my life ever since I was five. My wardrobe is choc-a-bloc full of diaries lamenting anguish at being the last girl in my year to get a bra, confusion about boys, sadness from losing a pet. These days the journey of motherhood, or family life, grief, loss and love have all been worked out through this medium. Writing has been my outlet, my therapy; it is mine, but I can share it. If I couldn't write about my experiences, I would not feel the clarity I do about my life. Even the very difficult parts of my life have been made easier, or at least clearer, by putting them down on paper (or these days, my blog).

This is why the AWWP appealed to me. To write about our lives is to make sense of our lives, to find meaning in our lives, and to connect with others. From what I can understand, life as a woman in Afghanistan is incredibly challenging. I cannot do anything much to change the challenges, unfortunately, but I can help them use the one thing that I would be lost in my life without: the power to write and share their stories and experiences.

I sincerely hope, that, like me, the women of the AWWP can come to a higher understanding of their world through their writing, and through sharing it, can feel empowered.

MK: Tell me about your history as a writer.

SM: I wrote my first book, Animals of All Shapes and Sizes, when I was 10. Self-published, still well-read by the six family members who were given a copy, and now enjoyed by my two year old son.

But seriously, writing is my world. I adore writing; writing is my thing. I have written articles for the Sydney Morning Herald, Practical Parenting Magazine and an Aussie website called "Our Patch" which focuses on life in Rural Australia.

The most rewarding writing I have done? Creating my blog. For the last two years writing almost daily on my website has been the most enriching writing practice for me. I am hoping that 22 years later I can come up with my second book as I have so many stories I want to tell.

MK: What's been the toughest part of training, physically?

SM: I live in a very hot part of Rural Australia, in a small town called Hay. The weather is dry and hot, hot, hot. Walking outside on any given day between November and January (the times I chose for my training) is what I imagine walking into an oven might be like. The heat has made me physically exhausted. I am an indoors type and the heat has hit me hard. Add to the equation a plague of grasshoppers, flies and mosquitoes and you have very uncomfortable outside conditions that have made me want to curl up under the air-conditioner and cry! Over Christmas my town -- which has been in drought for the last ten years -- flooded. I had to change running routes and be on standby to sandbag our home. All was well. Much to my disgust it appears even more creatures and creepy crawlies have decided to join me on my run so to avoid the river.

I sometimes feel like the Pied Piper with a band of creepy crawlies following closely