My name is Gemma Starkins, and I’m one of 40 people participating in “March to Malawi 2012” to collectively walk 8474 miles, which is the distance from the charity RIPPLE Africa’s base in the UK, to their base in Malawi.  The event runs for a period of 7 months, between March-September 2012.  My personal commitment is to walk 210 miles towards the group’s effort.

RIPPLE Africa is a UK registered charity working in education, healthcare, and the environment in Malawi, Africa.  Their projects include running and/or assisting eight nursery schools, five primary schools, a secondary school and a secondary school bursary scheme, a community library, two community health clinics, a disabilities and rehabilitation project, tree-planting and fruit tree projects, fuel-efficient cookstoves, forest conservation, and more.  RIPPLE Africa does all this on a very small budget and has very little administration costs, so almost your entire donation goes directly to the cause.  The charity is making a huge difference to people living in Malawi.  To learn more about the work that RIPPLE Africa is doing, visit their website at www.rippleafrica.org.

I volunteered in Malawi for 4 months in 2010 working in the Nursery schools. It was an incredible experience in which I met some amazing people. The money we raise will truely make a difference to the people and they are so grateful for the support they recieve. I have chosen to participate in the walk as it will be an eye opener to see the distances people in Malawi have to walk to get water or even for the children to get to school on a daily basis.

Thank you so much for all your support.

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