Story
Dear Friends, Family Members, Colleagues or Strangers,
I will be taking part to the Starwood Road to Awareness EAME Bike Ride 2010 which will take place in the Dolomites region in Italy from the 26th to the 28th of August 2010. I aim to proudly finish after a 3-month long hard training. This ride is part of Road to Awareness, Starwood’s Annual Associates Fundraising campaign raising funds for UNICEF’s Schools for Africa project.
This journey will take me on the most legendary roads and moutain passes of northern Italy including the very famous Passo dello Stelvio which culminates at a stunning 2575m. It is the highest paved moutain pass of the Eastern Alps. It is known for its difficulty, even the Giro d'Italia is not passing by this pass every year due to its difficulty. Another 8 moutain passes are also on the list.
Over the three days of the Ride about 100 kms of climbing are on the menu and in total a gradient of 6000 meters will be covered. The total distance biked during these 3 days is of about 370km.
This year, Starwood's fundraising campaign supports the project Schools for Africa from UNICEF.
Thanks to your support, next year 1,500 children in South Africa will receive a better education and improve their prospects for the future. Starwood’s funding will help UNICEF to improve conditions in schools and help guarantee that schools are safe and protective environments where children can realise their full potential.
This year, the donations raised by Starwood associates in EAME will enable UNICEF to provide the following:
· Support for 1,500 orphans and vulnerable children in 5 rural schools to stay in school and complete primary education
· Sport for development activities in 18 schools across South Africa
· Training for 70 teachers in child-friendly teaching methodologies (creating a safer and more caring school environment)
Every donation will make a massive difference!
Education transforms lives and breaks the cycle of poverty that so many children are caught in. When we ensure that children have quality basic education, we create a ripple effect of opportunity for generations to come. However, there are currently more than 100 million children worldwide out of school. Children are often denied the right to be educated because they are poor, orphaned or simply because they are girls or live in a remote rural area.
South Africa: background
South Africa is the economic powerhouse of the African continent, yet 26 per cent of the population lives on less than US $1.25 a day. Poverty and inequality, HIV and AIDS, and violence continue to undermine children’s well-being.
Today, there are over 3.5 million orphans living in South Africa; one third of these children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. UNICEF has come up with simple and effective interventions to make education accessible to every child, particularly orphans and disadvantaged children.
“Education enables individuals to make genuine choices about the kind of lives they wish to lead”
The overall target that Starwood would like to raise is US $200,000 by November so anything you can give to help me contribute to that target would be greatly appreciated!!
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Thanks you very much for your help and support.
Antoine