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I have been a FOCUS Europe Board Member for the past 4 years and have admired those individuals that have spared their time and effort to raise funds for FOCUS so this year I have decided to join FOCUS fundraising challenge event in Uganda.I grew up in London and met many Asians who had been displaced from Uganda in 1973. One of these refugees was my uncle, Jaffer Ali Haji, who left British India (now Pakistan) as a young man in 1933 to seek a better life in East Africa. He became a teacher and over the years I have met many of his students, who remember him as “Haji Master”. Uncle Jeff used to tell stories of life in Uganda and the beauty of the countryside. Sadly he passed away in 1994 and I have always wanted to visit his country. I am planning to attend a fundraising challenge in Uganda between 25th December 2009 and 3rd January 2010 in order to raise funds for FOCUS.
This is a challenging climbing expedition to summit two remarkable mountains in Eastern Uganda. Each of the mountains is spectacularly beautiful but they differ substantially in terms of geology, culture and history. Mt. Elgon (4,321m) is volcanic in nature and is widely regarded as the largest extinct volcano on the planet. A massive crater area constitutes its summit and our goal is to reach the highest peak (Wagagi) on the remnants of the crater rim. Mt. Kaddam (3,068m), though much smaller in size, is much more arid, very dramatic, and consists largely of spectacular rock buttresses rising from the plains of Karamoja. I am under no illusions on how difficult this challenge will be.
Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) was formed in 1994 and has helped displaced people in Afghanistan, Jordan, Kenya, Pakistan, Syria and Tajikistan. FOCUS is an international group of agencies established in Europe, North America and South Asia to complement the provision of emergency relief, principally in the developing world. It responds to disasters and crisis and helps people in need reduce their dependence on humanitarian aid and facilitates their transition to sustainable self-reliant, long-term development. Underlying the establishment of FOCUS by the Ismaili Muslim community is a history of successful initiatives to assist people struck by natural and man-made disasters in South and Central Asia, and Africa.
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Thanks once again for taking time to visit my JustGiving page.
Take care
Irfan
For further information on FOCUS please visit www.akdn.org/focus
For more information on the challenge please visit www.focuschallenge.org
