Thanks for taking the time to visit Mengistu's JustGiving page - Mengi for the Marathon!

Mengistu is an extremely fast runner who has been training for marathons for the past 15 years. Mengi comes from a nation of fast runners (see the photos of him with some of Ethiopia’s international starts) and will be running the London marathon on 17th April 2011, where he will achieve his childhood dream of running a marathon on an international stage. He trains at least once every day in Addis Ababa and also takes friends of his training most mornings. Mengi hopes to complete the marathon in 2 hours 40 minutes, faster than any of us can every imagine!

Not only is Mengi a committed runner, he is committed to making a difference in Ethiopia. He has therefore chosen to run for the Save the Children Every One Campaign (http://everyone.org/) which helps save the lives of children across Ethiopia.

Please give generously and if you are available on 17th April, come along to the Marathon and cheer him on as he sprints past. Mengistu is proud to be running for Save the Children UK who and hopes to visit some of their programmes to see firsthand the great work he knows they do in Ethiopia.

EVERY ONE CAMPAIGN:

One in eight of Ethiopia’s children die before their fifth birthday. What’s even more shocking is that most of these deaths are preventable. Children’s lives could easily be saved by simple, low cost solutions. Ethiopia’s recent progress in reducing child mortality has proven that it can be done. But much more must be done. EVERY ONE, Save the Children’s new campaign, aims to stop children dying needlessly in Ethiopia. Every one of them.

Facts and figures on Ethiopia

- One in eight children dies before their 5th birthday.

- 94% of women give birth at home without any professional care.

- One in 27 women dies during childbirth.

- 6% of babies receive postnatal care.

- Only 10% of children under 5 with malaria receive anti-malarial treatment

- Every year around 8 million people struggle to have enough food to eat.

- 1 All from State of the World’s Children, 2009. UNICEF, par final: Relief Web website – www.reliefweb.int