Sponsor me to ride across arid western Namibia

This September I am riding on a “very, very energetic” few spot Appaloosa horse called Warrior across western Namibia to raise funds for three projects in Zimbabwe: a small Christian primary school for underprivileged children that we support, our conservation agriculture training programme and our free, open-pollinated (OPV) seed pack project for poor rural families.

The challenging 350km/220 miles route will take Warrior and me from historic Okahandja in central Namibia, west to Spitzkoppe, a striking cluster of ancient granite peaks in the Namib Desert, and then to Henties Bay and Cape Cross on the Atlantic Ocean’s Skeleton Coast, famous for the shipwrecks along its treacherous shores and enormous sand dunes.

I have been inspired to take on this approximately 14-day journey by the dedication of our teachers at Tegatega Christian Primary School and the 180 underprivileged children who are so excited to be going to school and receiving an education in a county where school fees are increasingly unaffordable. I am also inspired by the generosity, gratitude and resilience of poor rural families who somehow survive on so very little.

The funds raised for the school will be used to pay our teachers, as well as contributing towards books and free lunches for the children. They will also contribute to our Foundations for Farming conservation agriculture training, which is essential in drought-prone Zimbabwe. We aim to run one free course per month.

The funds raised will also assist with our free seed project. Through our partner organisations we are currently distributing 20,706 x4kg seed packs into poor rural areas in Zimbabwe ahead of the planting season. The resulting crops will feed over 20,000 families for a full year in a country where about 7.6 million people — nearly half the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance.

I will be setting off on 17 September and we will have updates on our Mike Campbell Foundation Facebook page and website:

https://www.facebook.com/MikeCampbellFoundation and www.mikecampbellfoundation.com

Please make this very challenging ride Ben Freeth is making for so many people worthwhile by sponsoring him. Thank you so much.