Hello everyone,

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page!  As most of you already know, I've been actively involved for the last 3 years with Chain of Hope, a charity which provides lifesaving heart surgery to children in developing countries born with congenital heart defects.  I have taken part in several missions to Ethiopia, Mozambique, Kenya and Egypt as a member of the surgical team.  Thanks to our efforts and those of countless other volunteers, these children go from a life of suffering and hopelessness to a normal and active life.  After corrective surgery, they start going to school, running around, playing with their friends and making their parents proud.  Their courage and determination in the face of adversity continues to be a true inspiration to all of us involved in their care!

Unfortunately, these children were born in poor countries with no access to specialized care.  Whereas in the West, they would've been promptly managed, their geographic location condemns them to a life of suffering ending in a slow death.  I believe that no child should be left to this fate.  Together, we can make a difference! By donating to Chain of Hope, you are helping us organize missions around the world and save as many lives as possible.  More importantly, over the course of these missions, we are able to train local surgeons, cardiologists and nurses to screen, treat and follow these children independently, which is the long-term goal of Chain of Hope.

On September 20th, 2009, I will run the Berlin marathon to help raise funds for Chain of Hope.  This will contribute towards achieving our dreams of making the lives of these children better and offer them the possibility of having dreams of their own.  Every life saved costs the charity about £4,000.  My aim is to raise enough money to save 5 children, ie, £20,000.  This is a big sum, but collectively we can make it happen.  Every donation, however small, will make a significant difference. 

On behalf of all the children, thank you for your generosity and continued support!

Ismail

ps: For the running afficionados, my target time is 3h15min.  If you have any useful tips, feel free to share.  The training so far is going well.  I'm running about 3-4 days a week, anywhere between 20 and 30 miles per week.

pps: 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.