Lovely, lovely people.
On May 2nd, I will be running my very first half-marathon (21,097.5 meters, or 13.1 miles, apparently) in Hawassa, Ethiopia, to raise money for Kembatti Mentti Gezzima-tope, (“women of Kembatta working together”) a partner of the British-based organisation WOMANKIND Worldwide. This is the first time I have ever run such a distance, and I'll be doing it at an altitude of 1400m - higher than the highest peak in Britain, Ben Nevis!
KMG (for short) is an Ethiopia-resident non-governmental organisation (i.e. a local charity, for those of us who don't like jargon) based in Kembatta zone, in the south of Ethiopia. KMG enables girls who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it, to attend school. Last year, they enabled 1,812 orphans and girls from destitute families to return to school by covering all their expenses and helping with their basic skills. In addition, 50 girls were provided with money so that they could attend university. As a direct result, the girls have raised their own level of education and so increased their choices and their confidence to resist genital mutilation (FGM / FGE) and other harmful traditional practices.
Your donation will help KMG in this vital work. Your money will help to provide tutorial classes, school materials and transport and living expenses so that disadvantaged girls can attend school and university to strive for a good education, freedom of choice and control over their own bodies.
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.