Join the Canada to Kenya Challenge from
January 24, 2011 to June 12, 2011
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
2952 Lupton Road
Courtenay, BC V9N 3V3
For media inquiries, please contact Tanya Harmon 250-898-7728 or email onedropofhope@gmail.com
