Thank you for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page!
Our summit attempt was a success! Here's our story of how we made it
Our campaign, however, will not stop until we reach our target......(please read more below)
We aimed ambitiously high with our target so why stop now when we're so close to £5000? Please help The Kanga Project with as little or as much as you can.
***************************************For more updates, charity information and article links to the climb's national coverage, please scroll down to the bottom of this page ***********************************************************************
APRIL 2010:
As many of you know, we were overwhelmingly inspired by our volunteer trip to the Himalayas last year where we worked with Ecosphere to build a solar greenhouse.
Since then we've been looking to volunteer for similar charitable projects around the world that will really make a significant, positive, sustainable difference to local communities. Incidentally, our next project also involves high altitude, solar energy, sustainable development and a positive impact on people’s lives.
This year, we are aiming to raise £5000 for The Kanga Project. This will fund a solar powered chicken incubator and training centre for women in Tanzania. It’s an ambitious target, but so is reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!
Please support Tanzanian women, The Kanga Project, Ismat and Razan by donating whatever you can to help us reach our target. I'm sure you have questions on where your money will go and how it will help so we've included plenty of information below.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Ismat and Razan
A chicken incubator?! How will that help?
We are aiming to raise £5000 towards the building of a training centre and in particular the costs of a large chicken incubator to be used for training and by groups of Tanzanian women in a cooperative way. Few projects can transform the lives of women, create wealth for families and inspire the next generations like breeding chickens in a commercial manner can when you live in an arid region with no tourism, little arable soil, unpredictable rains but a constant wind and cold nights (yes, even in Africa).
This project will have a direct impact on, potentially, one thousand lives and most importantly, it’s sustainable. The training centre and chicken incubators project empowers women mentally and financially, providing funds for increases households’ production by 600% in 12 months and can stem the flow of young people to towns where prospects of employment are few. But as the original project, funded by the kanga project has revealed, incubators are essential. It must be heart breaking for a woman, putting all her time and resources into rearing chickens to see a large number of eggs fail because of the cold of nights and the “can’t be bothered” attitude of too many mother hens. Not sure what they can do about that!
What are Razan and Ismat doing for The Kanga Project and how can you help?
In July 2010, we will be trekking for 7 days to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at 19,334 feet. We are using this adventure as a vehicle to raise funds for The Kanga Project.
Once we have completed the 7-day Machame route, we also hope to volunteer a few days of our time to The Kanga Project in Tanzania and see how we can help with participatory development projects that address:
· the education of girls and women
· self-awareness and empowerment
· capacity building
· entrepreneurship
· health, hygiene and HIV/AIDS
· civil rights
The Kanga Project is a member of Together4Africa.
We will keep you updated on our fundraising efforts and how our training and preparation is going, so do check back for updates.
Please help us raise funds for The Kanga Project. It would be fantastic if you could help us reach our target and make a donation, no matter how big or small.
You can pay using PayPal, debit card or credit card from any country. If you prefer to donate offline or in cash, please get in touch with Razan Alzayani, Ismat Abidi or Annie O’Connor and we will make sure your entire donation goes to The Kanga Project.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!
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UPDATE. AUGUST 2010:We made it! It was very hard work but Razan and I reached the summit on Day 6. We left for the summit at 12am, in -20 degrees (!) and both reached the summit (Uhuru Peak, 19,341ft) by noon the next day.
Thanks to the overwhelming support from our wonderful family and friends, you have helped us achieve our aim. All the donations have gone directly to The Kanga Project and the chicken incubator has been purchased (see photos). You have made a tangible and sustainable difference to the community of Ilongero and the education of their future generation(s).
We would like to thank each of you in person but for those who live far away, we will send you a full update and a personal message once our page closes on 31 December 2010.
We are grateful to have such a fantastic network of loved ones who gave us a tremendous amount of encouragement and helped us reach £5000! We cannot thank you enough for making our already amazing journey up Kilimanjaro that much more worthwhile and enjoyable.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Ismat and Razan
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For the full story on Razan and Ismat's journey up Kilimanjaro and their visit to the The Kanga Project site in Tanzania, where all your money went to use, please follow Ismat Abidi's travel column in The National newspaper. 'On The Road' is published every Saturday in print, online and is available on The National iPhone app.
Razan is also busy editing brilliant footage she filmed when visiting the community of Ilongero, as well as footage from Mount Kilimanjaro. Watch this space for updates.
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