Story
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Hey everyone,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This August, with your support, I plan to travel to Cochabamba, Bolivia's third largest city, to spend roughly three weeks volunteering with NGO Mano a Mano (<a href="http://manoamano.org/"><span style="color: #0000f5;">#mce_temp_url#</span></a>). Organised by Oxford Development Abroad, the plan is for me and three other students to work on a variety of construction and conservation projects, including building an <em>atajado</em> (water reservoir) in an impoverished community. With more than <span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>60% of the population living below the poverty line and 43% living on less that $3 a day</strong><span style="color: #000000;">,</span></span> Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in South America. The scope for sustainable development, the objective of which is to provide improvements to the quality of life in the long-term, is huge. By providing farmers with safe and secure access to water, and so facilitating the growth of new fruit and vegetable crops, we hope that the planned project will continue to improve the quality of life for the local people long after we have left. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>Just £20 will provide a family with a year's supply of water</strong><span style="color: #000000;">,</span></span> and so double their income with a higher quality and quanitity of crops. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a worthwhile cause!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In order to meet the costs entailed in the project, such as materials and the training of local workers, we have each been set the sizeable but achievable target of <span style="color: #339966;"><strong>£750</strong></span>. This is in addition to the estimated £1600 that is self-contributed and covers necessary travel costs such as flights and vaccinations. Pounds or pennies, I would appreciate any donation that you can offer to help us meet our goal by the <span style="color: #339966;"><strong>end of April</strong></span>. I’ll be sending regular updates home when I’m out there to keep you informed about our progress, and upon returning I’ll be writing up the whole experience, hopefully with a few photos. If you don’t feel able to donate, but would still like to hear about how I get on, then please do drop me an e-mail.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Thanks for your generosity and support,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Henry</span></p>