As you are all well aware, I will be running the London Marathon in just under two weeks time!  I know it’s become a rather personal quest for me as this is now my sixth marathon but, as always, it is a good opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause! 

Ripple Africa is a small charity that helps the small lakeshore community of Mwaya in .  It improves the standard of education and healthcare there, as well as helping to preserve and sustainably develop the environment, through a reforestation project in Nkhata Bay District. 

The plight of people in is shocking, the statistics are stark.  Adult life expectancy is just 36 years, with one in three of the population having HIV/AIDS.  One in five children never see their 5th birthday and 54% of the population live below the poverty line.

Your money will fund:

Trainee Teacher Fund:  To pay for the salaries of 13 trainee primary school teachers who supplement the Government teachers, of which there are only one per 800 children!  £40 pays for one teacher for one month, while £480 pays for one teacher for a whole year! 

Secondary School Sponsorship Programme:  RIPPLE sponsors about 40 students on this programme at any one time. Although primary education is free, secondary education is not, and this programme is vital as many of the students would not be able to continue with their education without this assistance.  The cost is just £44 per student per year. 

Desks, Textbooks and Library Books for Secondary School:  At the new secondary school at Kapanda, they need to pay the running costs of the library (which includes the salaries of the librarian and his two assistants) and supply locally made hardwood desks and textbooks for each student. A complete selection of textbooks for each student costs £80. The desks cost £25 each. 

Toys for Nursery School:  Funds are needed to pay a local wood carver to make and maintain wooden toys for each nursery school.  Ripple currently assisting six nursery schools with about 600 children.

Public Health Education Campaign:  To pay for two Health Surveillance Assistants to visit local churches to talk about a variety of public health issues such as HIV, Malaria, Hygiene costs £10 per training session.

Drug Revolving Fund:  Medicines are purchased from the district pharmacy and sold to patients by trained volunteers. Ripple need money for training and to expand the programme.  £5 pays for two mosquito nets, £6 pays for basic medicines for 50 patients.

Bicycle Ambulances:  To raise money to buy bicycle ambulances, as in rural areas they are an ideal solution to getting patients to the nearest health centre. £230 each.

Community Tree Nurseries:  In , an area of forest the size of a football pitch is cut down every 10 minutes. We want to open another 25 community tree nurseries. RIPPLE supplies seeds, tubes, equipment, and training and awareness activities.  £4 pays for one watering can, £1000 pays for a community tree nursery.

Integrated Vegetable, Fruit and Livestock:  Funds are needed to set up two integrated vegetable gardens — one at the secondary school, and the other in the community. These gardens will be an example to teach the community about improved food security and improved nutrition.  £8 pays for one shovel, £25 pays for one goat.

See Ripple ’s website for further information on these projects. 

www.rippleafrica.org/ripple_funding_all.htm

Virtually all funds raised go directly to these projects, as apart from the couple who foundered the charity in 2003, it only employs two members of staff in the .  In they fund over 120 members of staff and with approximately 2,000 people working on Ripple Africa’s projects.

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 taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you so much for helping to raise money for this really worthy cause!

Loz

PS. My fellow marathon buddy, Liz, and I would really appreciate your support and encouragement on April 25^th!  I’ll look forward to seeing you on the streets of , especially if you come loaded with jelly babies and bananas to help fuel us through those 26 miles!  We will be having a celebratory pint or two in Smollenskys on the , so please join us there too!