James Baldock
James's Challenge 113
Fundraising for Middle East Media UK
Story
If you know me at all - I'm not what you would describe as a great dancer. But, this year, on the World Refugee Day (June 20th) I will be doing a sponsored dance for Middle East Media's (MEM) Life in the Desert project.
For 113 glorious minutes I will be pulling my best, and worst, dance moves to raise money to help traumatised children find healing and restoration from what they have gone through.
If you're able to give and sponsor me, whether it's a small gift or large, it will go a long way towards bringing hope to these children across the Middle East and it will help me reach my goal. I'm also willing to throw in some extra benefits...
- If you sponsor me for £10 or more, name a song and I will add it to my playlist on the day.*
- If you sponsor me for £30 or more, you can nominate a specific dance move that I will incorporate into my 113 minutes.*
- If you sponsor me for £100 or more, you can nominate a piece of clothing/accessory that I will wear (Note: it has to be child appropriate and I have to be able to get a hold of it in my size).*
- If I reach my goal, I will live-stream the whole 113 minutes on my social media platform(s).**
*Name your songs, dance moves, and clothing choices in your comment when you make your donation.
**If I don't live stream on social media, I'll create a video of the best/worst bits and anyone who sponsors will get a link to where there will be a live stream at the time.
***THANK YOU for sponsoring/supporting me!
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More Information about Life in the Desert:
With the help from a child psychologist, MEM have created this 3D animation series to support traumatised children living in refugee camps and vulnerable communities across the Middle East and North Africa. The series is accompanied by a curriculum with guiding questions, exercises, and homework for the children.
Part of this project is to support and train school teachers and NGO workers in this curriculum and in trauma relief. Many of these teachers and NGO workers have themselves experienced trauma which is why it is vital we equip them with the necessary support and tools to go on and support vulnerable children.
In the last two years MEM have trained 227 teachers and NGO workers in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. They have since used MEMs Life in the Desert programme to support 4,209 children which averages out as 18.5 children per teacher – an incredible achievement!
Over the next 12 months we plan to train a further 113 teachers and NGO workers in Syria, Iraq, Sudan and hopefully Jordan.