London to PARIS!! After the fundraiser and project came into doubt through injuries as well as financial and time constraints its now all systems go. We have been able to alter our original fundraiser so we are now cycling to Paris from London unaided. For two novice cyclists this seems daunting especially without a support team but the cause really is worth it! The journey is taking place between the 1st and 6th of September and will certainly be an exciting one!
It's all to raise money for a biogas and solar power project in Narok, Kenya.
Narok town is located on the edge of the Mau forest, the largest indigenous forest in East Africa. Deforestation has devastated the forest in the last 20 years and has led to lower rainfall and ground water supplies. This rainfall is crucial for drinking water, the growth of tea (one of the country's biggest exports) and to feed the rivers of the ecological wonders that are the Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru game reserves.
Also in Narok is theTasaru Girls Rescue Centre. This centre is a refuge for around 70 girls who have made it their home after running away from female genital mutilation, (a masai right of passage) and from enforced early marriages. Girls younger than10 can be married off to men as old as 50!
The Project and Benefits:
A) Biogas - We plan to construct a biogas generator at theTasaru Girls Rescue Centre on the outskirts of Narok. The biogas generator will turn cow poo into methane gas, to be used for cooking and heating. This will replace countless tonnes of charcoal burnt every year by the centre. This will also aid a reduction in the cutting down of the Mau forest and address some of the resulting environmental impacts.
With lower operating costs due to the use of this renewable fuel source the centre will have extra money to spend, this could be used to pay for extra girls to come through the centre. The cost of housing a girl at the centre is £43 a month, so the saving of around £800 or more annuallywill make a real difference. Effectively this saving could be used to house a further 2 girls every year.
A biproduct of the process is a lot of extra manure! This will be used by a neighbouring agricultural college to grow food.
B) Solar -Should enough cash be raised we will embark on a secondary project to construct solar panels on the roof a primary school in a village called Sakutiek. This lies 55km from Narok and is a simple, remote, rural community with mostly Masai inhabitants. The solar panels will allow the 600 students and their teachers to work on after sunset which is around 6pm all year round.
The Charity:
The project is on behalf of Dig Deep Kenya, which is a new student run charity. With no staff costs or other overheads, 100% of your donation goes directly to the project in Kenya.
The Fundraising
We will commence our epic journey from Westminster in London and pass through Greenwich, Maidstone, Dover, Dunkerque unil we reach Paris. Due to the fact we will carry all our equipment on the bike we expect the ride to take about 5 days.....phhhhhew!
So whilst we get on our bikes please ‘dig deep’ and donate now. Anything you can offer will help us in our quest to raise the cash for this vital project.
For more information on the Charity, log on to www.digdeep.org.uk or for more information regarding the project please feel free to email us at biokenya2010@live.co.uk
Many Thanks for your invaluable support :)
Matt and Teo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
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.
So please dig deep and donate now.
