Amy Graff is getting ready to fly halfway around the world. She'll need a jacket, anti-malarial pills, and a laptop.
"We're going to see Africa through the lens of a mom," said Graff.
Graff is a mom-blogger. She writes for several web sites and she's one of 10 selected by non-profit One.org to go to Kenya and see how moms there handle the challenge of raising kids in a developing nation. http://www.one.org/us/
"I think people are attracted to blogs because they're so honest and they're so real and they're so raw," said Graff.
For one week, Graff will follow Kenyan moms who trying to raise their children while dealing with the hardships of hunger and disease.
"I don't think anything can prepare you for seeing a child who hasn't eaten in a few days or who is suffering from AIDS and malaria," said Graff.
But Graff's hoping to see the other side, the help that Kenyan families are getting from U.S. Government aid programs.
"We really want to help bring those stories alive and let other people know about the successes that are going on in Africa," said Graff.
The goal, organizers say is to motivate moms to reach out to their lawmakers about protecting the 1 percent of the federal budget that goes to those programs.
"That's vaccinating kids against pneumonia and diarrhea. You know if your kid has diarrhea here, you go to Walgreens and buy some Pedialyte. In Kenya, that can be death. That can be a death sentence for them," said Lauren Balog, a "One" campaign spokeswoman.
For Graff, it is well worth the week she'll have to spend away from her own kids.
"I think that this trip will stick with us for the rest of our lives," said Graff.
Amy will have to fly for 18 hours before she lands in Kenya. Once she's there, she'll only have six days on the ground. She says she plans to blog every single one of those days, and for weeks after she returns home.
