How can I join the challenge?
Register at Daily Mile (http://www.dailymile.com/challenges/2611-run-from-canada-to-kenya) or email onedropofhope@gmail.com with your name and contact information. If you register through dailymile.com, then just log into the site and record your runs. If you choose not to sign up at dailymile.com, then keep track of your runs and email the summary including the day you ran and the distance to onedropofhope@gmail.com. Mileage collected through email and daily mile will be tallied together for the collective journey to Kenya.
I am not a runner, can I still participate?
Runners, walkers and shufflers are all welcome to take part in our journey from Canada to Kenya! Simply register and track your workout (as if it were a run... so, it may be a really short, really slow run). Every step, no matter how fast, or what style, counts!
No, I mean I am NOT a runner... can I still participate?
Of course you can! Those not into running, or tracking their mileage can participate by sending a donation to show your support. Donations can be mailed to Tembo-Kenya, c/o Tanya Harmon, 2952 Lupton Road, Courtenay, BC V9N 3V3. You can also participate as a cheerleader by spreading the word about the challenge and sharing the link to this blog with your friends.
How does the fundraising work?
The goal of the Canada to Kenya challenge is to raise $1 for every kilometre on the journey from Canada to Kenya -- approximately 15,000km or $15,000. There is no entry fee to join the challenge and no obligation to collect pledges. For those who do wish to support the cause and fundraise, print our pledge sheet and ask you friends to help bring opportunity to the women and youth in Kenya by sponsoring one of your runs, one week of your mileage, or even your total challenge kilometres! All donations of $25 or more will automatically receive a tax receipt from Tembo-Kenya, so be sure to print clearly and include the full name and mailing adress of the donor. I have received my first pledge -- $0.01/kilometre for the entire team's totals!
Where do I send the donations?
Make cheques payable to Tembo-Kenya and mail to 2952 Lupton Road, Courtenay, BC V9N 3V3 at any time throughout the challenge. All pledges are due BEFORE July 1, 2011.
Can I donate by credit card?
At this point we are not set up for credit card donations. We hope to be before the end of the challenge and will notify you at that time.
I still have more questions
Please feel free to email onedropofhope@gmail.com with all of your questions, comments, and suggestions.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Let's Run to Kenya!
Running to Kenya may seem an absurd and impossible goal at first glance, but together we can go the distance -- 15,000 kilometres! And raise $15,000 for Teaching, Empowering, Mentoring and Building Opportunity to benefit the women, children and youth in rural Kenya.
It's about 15,000 kilometres between here and Kenya. If we raise $1 for each kilometre, we will be able to do so much good. My trip to Kenya in 2009 (read our blog here) inspired me to create One Drop of Hope, a fundraising initiative to help address the overwhelming needs of the people we met there. One Drop of Hope was founded on the principle that we can't do everything, but we can do something.
Last year One Drop of Hope raised $5,000. This $5,000 was enough to provide: ongoing costs for an orphanage housing 60 disabled children and orphans; scholarship fees and uniform for a grade 9 (Form 1) student; literacy and business training for 40 women; and to build a protected water spring which is the only source for clean, fresh water to the 1,500 people who visit it every day in rural Western Kenya.
This year, with the goal of $15,000 in sight, One Drop of Hope is partnering with Tembo-Kenya to raise money for business training for women and youth. Since high school education is fee based in Kenya, many, actually most families can't afford the costs. Thanks to organizations like KEEF (Kenya Education Endowment Fund) and CHES (Canadian Harambee Education Society), there are some scholarships available. What I noticed most when I was living in Kakamega, however, was a huge population of under-educated, under-employed youth with very few to no opportunities to support themselves and break the cycle of poverty.
One day on my boda-boda ride (bicycle taxi) into town, my driver Fredrick said to me, "I won't be able to do this work when I am an old man." From that day I have assisted Fredrick and his wife Josephine by sponsoring Fredrick in Carpentry school and providing seed money for Josephine to have a small business in the market selling clothing. They dream of one day opening their own carpentry shop, with Josephine as the business manager so that they can send their little girl, Brenda, to school.
We have an opportunity to help someone be more than a sustenance farmer or labourer earning a mere dollar or two a day. It's a chance to give someone the prospect of earning enough money to be able to support their family and then send their children to high school or beyond. All money raised through the Canada to Kenya challenge will be directed to entrepreneurship programs, vocational training, seed money for business start up and mentoring support through the first year of business as they become self sustaining.
I know how important it is to have a goal when you are training. Having run 5 marathons, I know how difficult it can be to just get out the door sometimes. Whether you are part of an official team or running group or a fellow runner/jogger/shuffler, I hope people will see this as a chance to put your movement into action with a higher purpose. Sometimes we need more than the promise of losing a few pounds to get us out the door. When I am running and it's wet and cold and I'm tired, I think of my friends in Kenya. And I smile at the possibilities.
Runners and walkers can register at Daily Mile (http://www.dailymile.com/challenges/2611-run-from-canada-to-kenya) or email onedropofhope@gmail.com with your name, contact information and weekly mileage. I will be blogging about the run from the first kilometre on January 24th to the last and even beyond if we surpass our goal. The challenge runs from January 24th through to June 12th at the Edge to Edge Marathon in Tofino, BC.
Follow our blog here to see the progress. Please leave a comment or email me with any questions at all or if you know of a group that would like to be involved. As the challenge develops, we will have prizes for most distance run, most pledges raised and other goodies.
I see the Canada to Kenya Challenge as an opportunity that will benefit all concerned -- you'll get in shape, be part of a community working together towards a meaningful goal and know that every kilometre, every step, will count for someone else's future!
Donations can be sent to:
Tembo-Kenya
c/o 2952 Lupton Road
Courtenay, BC V9N 3V3
For media inquiries, please contact Tanya Harmon 250-898-7728 or email onedropofhope@gmail.com
It's about 15,000 kilometres between here and Kenya. If we raise $1 for each kilometre, we will be able to do so much good. My trip to Kenya in 2009 (read our blog here) inspired me to create One Drop of Hope, a fundraising initiative to help address the overwhelming needs of the people we met there. One Drop of Hope was founded on the principle that we can't do everything, but we can do something.
Last year One Drop of Hope raised $5,000. This $5,000 was enough to provide: ongoing costs for an orphanage housing 60 disabled children and orphans; scholarship fees and uniform for a grade 9 (Form 1) student; literacy and business training for 40 women; and to build a protected water spring which is the only source for clean, fresh water to the 1,500 people who visit it every day in rural Western Kenya.
This year, with the goal of $15,000 in sight, One Drop of Hope is partnering with Tembo-Kenya to raise money for business training for women and youth. Since high school education is fee based in Kenya, many, actually most families can't afford the costs. Thanks to organizations like KEEF (Kenya Education Endowment Fund) and CHES (Canadian Harambee Education Society), there are some scholarships available. What I noticed most when I was living in Kakamega, however, was a huge population of under-educated, under-employed youth with very few to no opportunities to support themselves and break the cycle of poverty.
One day on my boda-boda ride (bicycle taxi) into town, my driver Fredrick said to me, "I won't be able to do this work when I am an old man." From that day I have assisted Fredrick and his wife Josephine by sponsoring Fredrick in Carpentry school and providing seed money for Josephine to have a small business in the market selling clothing. They dream of one day opening their own carpentry shop, with Josephine as the business manager so that they can send their little girl, Brenda, to school.
We have an opportunity to help someone be more than a sustenance farmer or labourer earning a mere dollar or two a day. It's a chance to give someone the prospect of earning enough money to be able to support their family and then send their children to high school or beyond. All money raised through the Canada to Kenya challenge will be directed to entrepreneurship programs, vocational training, seed money for business start up and mentoring support through the first year of business as they become self sustaining.
I know how important it is to have a goal when you are training. Having run 5 marathons, I know how difficult it can be to just get out the door sometimes. Whether you are part of an official team or running group or a fellow runner/jogger/shuffler, I hope people will see this as a chance to put your movement into action with a higher purpose. Sometimes we need more than the promise of losing a few pounds to get us out the door. When I am running and it's wet and cold and I'm tired, I think of my friends in Kenya. And I smile at the possibilities.
Runners and walkers can register at Daily Mile (http://www.dailymile.com/challenges/2611-run-from-canada-to-kenya) or email onedropofhope@gmail.com with your name, contact information and weekly mileage. I will be blogging about the run from the first kilometre on January 24th to the last and even beyond if we surpass our goal. The challenge runs from January 24th through to June 12th at the Edge to Edge Marathon in Tofino, BC.
Follow our blog here to see the progress. Please leave a comment or email me with any questions at all or if you know of a group that would like to be involved. As the challenge develops, we will have prizes for most distance run, most pledges raised and other goodies.
I see the Canada to Kenya Challenge as an opportunity that will benefit all concerned -- you'll get in shape, be part of a community working together towards a meaningful goal and know that every kilometre, every step, will count for someone else's future!
Donations can be sent to:
Tembo-Kenya
c/o 2952 Lupton Road
Courtenay, BC V9N 3V3
For media inquiries, please contact Tanya Harmon 250-898-7728 or email onedropofhope@gmail.com
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