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I am running the Comrades Ultra in South Africa on Sunday 30 May 2010 - a 56 mile road race between Piietermaritzburg and Durban with a 12 hour “cut off” i.e. if I fail to reach the finish line in 12 hours I am removed from the race. I am running for the Zambia Society AIDS Orphan education projects. I spent two years working in Zambia, our first child Tom was born there. It is my attempt in a very small way to give something back to a country and people who gave me so much. Zambia is the ninth poorest nation in the world where 7.4 million (68% of the population) live below the UN Poverty Line existing on less than 1US$ a day with no welfare state to provide any form of assistance. Zambia also has 1.3 million AIDS orphans. Many children are accepted by related families and neighbours or are cared for by grandparents or an elder sibling only. Some families take up to 20 children. Most of the parents have died from HIV/AIDS but the majority of the surviving children are not HIV infected. Life expectancy is 35 years, 25% of children die before the age of 5.The Trust gives priority to orphans living in the community to attend government primary schools. AIDS orphans have no means of funding their education which is seen as a route out of poverty and this is why your support of the Trust is so welcome. As little as £24 can keep a child at a Government school for a year financing the cost of school uniforms (the cheapest and usually their only adequate clothing), ballpoint pens, exercise books, soap (every 3 months) for washing themselves and their clothes and PTA charges at primary school. A blanket, hoe blade and fertiliser are provided when children join the scheme so they can contribute to the host family. No shoes are provided as they are not regarded as essential. Without the Trust's support these children would receive no education.
In Zambia schools provide “basic” education covering years 1 to 9, as year 9 is considered to be a decent level of education for the majority of children. Tuition is only free to year 7, the youngest children may be 12 years old but the majority will be 2 or 3 years older. UNESCO estimate than only 80% of children of primary school age are enrolled. Most children drop out after year 7 when fees must be paid. Although Grades 1 to 7 are" free" pupils need to be able to afford uniforms,stationery, PTA fees etc. At St Francis Hospital Katete in the Eastern Province the Trust enables 158 orphans (out of 2,000 orphans living with families in the community) to remain at school and at the Mpunde Mission Centre 43 km west of Kabwe in the Central Province the Trust has begun an education support programme supporting 6 children (out of 62 orphans) to attend a government primary school. The Zambia Society Trust is a small charity with an annual budget of around £25,000. The Trust is staffed by volunteers who do not charge expenses so every £1 raised is a £1 spent directly on projects is Zambia. I am funding this trip in its entirety. Links to the Zambia Society Trust and the Comrades Ultra are below http://www.zambiasocietytrust.org.uk/ http://www.comrades.com/ "The Comrades is arguably the greatest ultra marathon in the world run to commemorate the South African fallen of World War I. Athletes come from all over the world to combine muscle, sinew and mental strength to conquer the approx 56 miles between the cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The event owes its beginnings to the vision of one man, World War I veteran Vic Clapham. The pain, agonies, death and hardships of his comrades which he witnessed during the awful days of World War I left a lasting impression on the battle-hardened soldier. When peace was declared in 1918, Clapham felt that all those who had fallen in this catastrophic war should be remembered and honoured in a unique way, where an individual’s physical frailties could be put to the test and overcome. Remembering the searing heat and thirst of the parched veld through which he had campaigned, he settled on the idea of a marathon. The first Comrades Marathon took place on 24th May 1921, Empire Day, starting outside the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg with 34 runners. It has continued since then every year with the exception of the war years 1941-1945, with the direction alternating each year between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the so called up & down runs."
Many thanks for your generous support