At Ronald McDonald House Charities

On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 3:50 PM, Josh Hendrix forwarded a testimonial written by a participant of Mickey's presentation at the Ronald McDonald House Charities:

 

From: deloris reid
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 9:41 AM
To: Josh Hendrix; Chris Muszynski; Cristina O'Connell
Subject: Amazon 5000 with Mickey Grosman

Hello Josh, Chris and Cristina,

I was given the opportunity to sit in, listen and participate in the very interesting "Amazon 5000 Expedition" presentation by Mr Mickey Grosman, a cancer survivor.
Mr Grosman an Israeli national and a veteran of an Airborne Special Operations Combat Unit, who has being exposed to the sunlight fighting war was diagnose in 2010 with melanoma (cancer of the skin which is the largest organ).
Mickey as he is called, reason for doing this adventurous but dangerous expedition is to bring awareness to CANCER:

• To inspire those who are battling cancer

• To reignite the fight against cancer

• To raise funds to benefit local groups helping cancer patients

• To encourage the research and preservation of the Amazon Rain Forest
• To educate
• To make the impossible, possible
• To keep hope alive by never giving up- but to fight for the cure of cancer

Mr Grosman is currently casting people to join him on this adventurous expedition. He currently has 20 participant, from all over the world, but will eliminate it down to 6-7 persons as he can only have that much persons with him at the beginning of the voyage. There are 10 spots and people can join him at different points to do different legs of this mission. Participant will have to be medically checked before they start this venture.
On his voyage in April, he will bring along with him 6-7 people chosen as well as his video and camera men to document his Amazon 5000 Expedition. This expedition is expected to be a 12 month/ 5000 miles epic excursion along the Amazon River. He will be starting is journey in the Pacific Ocean, going across the South American continent crossing Ecuador, Peru, Columbia and then on to Brazil ending in the Atlantic Ocean.

Mr Grosman is very excited about this presentation as he will continuously document it as he ventures through this journey. His only challenge as he expressed is going through Columbia as the area in which he will go through is a dense drug cartel area and there are lots of pirates there. He will also have some Amazonian people join him along the path. He also mentioned that no-one has ever gone over the # 5 spot. He didn't say where that was. You can log on to WWW.amazon500.com to track his continuous journey through the jungle and see how he is doing. He will have a satellite device service where he will have live broadcast every 2-3 weeks. You can ask questions, and he will blog and update his site with photos.

Did I tell you guys he is one very funny presenter. I stayed through the entire presentation as it was very, very informative. Survival is the key and being a veteran, he really knows how to be a survivor and shows you how to survive as well. My heart and eyes were not strong enough to look at all of the video presentation (showing snakes which I am so afraid of etc) and other animals that they kill to survive on . They only kill to survive, not for hunting or fun. He also stated that doing some research helps him to identify what animals are dangerous. He said however, that "man" is their worst enemy in the jungle and not the reptile and animals. If the animal think that they are in danger, they will defend themselves by hurting you.

I also learnt how to make fire using bamboo. This was awesome and really a survival adventure. I know "Bamboo" is used to make furniture and jewellery, but not fire. This is done by rubbing two pieces of bamboos together continuously causing a friction which will ignite the smoke and then you blow on it using the shaving from the bamboo to get the blaze. "Fire" he said is very important in the jungle/Amazon as it provides light, signal, food, warmth when needed and for general survival. They also eat lots of fish that they catch in the river. Some species that was shown, still doesn't have a name, but they eat it for survival. The "Bamboo" also serves as a cooking tool for boiling water, yes, even although you are in the Amazon, you MUST boil your water as there could be dead animals, people, feces or other element that makes the water contaminated and you cannot afford to get sick in the jungle.

In his presentation, he also showed us how to make a "raft" means of transportation across the river using Balsa,(in Spanish it means raft) light strong wood (used to build models, rafts, etc.); raft; ferryboat; pond, pool. small body of water; (Mexico) swamp, low-lying area of land that is saturated with water and unfit for agricultural purposes ). 50% of the Balsa total weight is from the bark. They have to peel the bark off the balsa in order for it to float. The bark is then carve out to be used as a paddle. They also use twigs from the jungle to tie the raft together and to make bridge to cross over from one point to the next. It is really about survival...very interesting. He also showed us other tit-bits how to avoid mosquito bites by using the termite nest as a repellant. When properly lit, it can last from 4 -51/2 hours, or you can crumble the nest rapidly with the live termites and rub it on your skin. The very foul sent /smell will turn off the mosquito and other bugs. If you should get lost in the Amazon, go towards the river or spring, that will take take you to the next event.

The Amazon is one of the most challenging environment to survive in, and it is believed that ultimate diversity in medicinal plants and compound believed to hold secrets for cure of cancer. The rain-forest produces 70% of the plants known to have cancer fighting properties. He also will have the Kids Adventures Club where he will interact with them telling them about the cause.

Again, Mr Mickey Grosman's mission is to bring awareness, to inspire, to raise funds, to make the impossible possible and to find a cure for cancer without going through chemo and radiation.
You can become an AMAZON 5000 Trekker Inspector by following Mickey and Amazon expedition team as they go into the wild:

• Inspect Amazon 5000 expedition virtual map daily to see where Trekker Mickey is? Share with friends your finding!
• Zoom in the latest pings on the map to view the terrain the expedition is at.
• Visit Amazon 5000 face-book to read the expedition updates and add in your own words
• Join Mickey when he broadcast LIVE from the jungle via satellite. Log into your computer and type in your questions while watching Mickey as he responds to your questions.
• WWW.amazon500.com

Thank you guys for giving me such a wonderful privilege to learn something new and I just thought of sharing this with you all.

Your volunteer,

Deloris Reid

PS: I have photos as usual to share the moment.