Raven Russia is just starting its 10th year.

In celebration of its achievements and in an effort to "give back", we have decided to attempt a challenge for charity.

In early September the six strong executive management team of Raven Russia will be flying to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Standing Voice (www.standingvoice.org) which focuses on improving the lives of people afflicted with albinism in Tanzania.

We are taking the Lemosho Glades route up Kilimanjaro that takes eight days from start to finish: six and a half days of ascent and a day and a half of descent. We will be starting in the low jungle lushlands of Tanzania and building up slowly to the rocky, glacial ice and snow at the peak.

On the last day of the ascent we set off for the summit at midnight for the final 6 hour climb in total darkness to arrive as dawn breaks on the summit of the tallest mountain in Africa: "The Roof of Africa".

Kilimanjaro is no easy feat. Only 66% of those that attempt it actually make it to the summit primarily due to altitude sickness as it peaks at  5,896m (19,340 ft)!

We fully intend to make it and have already begun an intense and gruelling training programme to make ourselves as fit as possible for the climb.

At the toughest moments on the mountain and particularly the night climb to the summit we will focus our minds on the suffering of these people afflicted with albinism and try and imagine how hard their daily lives are in struggling with disability, abandonment and ostracisation. I will especially focus on the heartbreaking plight of those children abandoned by their own parents.

We really need your help in sponsorship so that we can raise as much money as possible for Standing Voice and in this respect are writing to you in your corporate capacity and would very much appreciate your corporate support. (We can assure that we will not be taking into account the level of your support in any future fee negotiation!) Please note that 100% of whatever you choose to donate goes directly to the charity as we have all personally paid our own costs in association with the climb itself. Raven Russia has also agreed to recognise this team effort and has made  a direct donation under its charitable/CSR remit.

About Albinism:
Albinism is an inherited condition that affects the production of melanin in the body.  People with albinism are extremely vulnerable to skin cancer – shockingly, in Tanzania where the UV index is very high, 98% of the albino population die from skin cancer before the age of 35.

Worse still, those born with albinism in Africa are likely to be ostracised and violently abused by their community. This problem is at its worst in Tanzania, where – since 2007 – 75 people with albinism have been brutally killed for their body parts to be used in witchcraft rituals, widely believed to bestow good fortune and wealth.

Those who have survived have been left mutilated and since the killings began, more and more children with albinism have been abandoned by their parents and left to live in government camps for their protection.

Standing Voice is a force for change, a glimmer of hope for these ostracised people.

 The charity is currently focusing its work on:

 *   Launching a comprehensive camp refurbishment and restructuring program to vastly improve the abhorrent conditions in government compounds established to house abandoned children with albinism.
 See first attached photo - the children of Buhangija Camp. These children have been abandoned by their families. Most cannot recall where they come from and have little understanding of the outside world.
 .
 *   Continuing to grow the network of regular skin cancer screenings and clinics into new districts across Tanzania, reaching 3000 people with albinism. An average of 10% will go on to receive further treatment

 *   Implementing visual impairment screening for 3000 people with albinism across Tanzania,  referring those selected for specialist ophthalmological treatment

 *   Completing building work on the Ukerewe Umoja Training Centre, which will benefit over 480 people with albinism and an estimated 2,000 people without albinism each year

 *   Screening the film ‘In the Shadow of the Sun’ in hundreds of remote towns and villages across Tanzania where the murders have been most prevalent, reaching thousands of community members. The film outreach team, delivering talks alongside the screenings, will include albino rights activist Josephat Torner (Standing Voice Director of Advocacy), leading dermatologists and a well-respected traditional healer /witch-
doctor.

 *   Exploring new areas of research in collaboration with our partners (primarily dermatologists and other medical professionals) to promote informed and effective advocacy in Tanzania

 *   Delivering a life changing  education to 200 more children with albinism

These are the issues, the cause and the charity we will climb Kilimanjaro for.

Hopefully you will choose to sponsor our climb and thus we can help to make a difference.

Together we can save the lives and change the futures of these people.

Please support our charity climb for this worthy cause and make a real, tangible impact on these people's lives.