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Our : Successfully complete the Epic mountain bike race and raise funds to help build a school for orphans in .

Mark and I have been given the rare opportunity to take part in the Epic (www.cape-epic.com), the largest full-service mountain bike stage race in the world, from 21 to 28 March 2010. 

The ABSA Cape Epic is a 722 km, 8-stage mountain bike race, which includes 14,653m of ascent, across the mountains of the in . The race offers only 600 team entries so we feel very privileged to have secured an entry for 2010.

While we have entered the to satisfy a personal goal we also feel that our efforts in training and in partaking in the race itself can be used for the greater good. As such, we approached the ERM Foundation (http://www.erm.com/About-Us/ERM-Foundation/), a charity initiative of the firm Environmental Resources Management (my employer!) with an idea to raise funds for one of their initiatives. With much deliberation, we have decided to support an NGO called Helper in which focuses on education, public health and support for orphans in the Kigoma district.  Helper has a particular project in mind and that is to build a progressive primary school for orphans in Kigoma near the (a Jane Goodall initiative) on the banks of . The school will serve 90 children, aged between 4 and 8, with three classrooms and a large common space. Environmental education and awareness will form a key part of the school curriculum.

Building the school will not be a cheap exercise and we hope to raise as much money as possible to help fund its construction. We would really appreciate your generosity. 

We have set up this Just Giving page to make donations for the school a simple, fast and totally secure process. 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 ERM Foundation and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - We raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.