The Short Version
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I gave you free entertainment. Now it's your turn. Please go to
http://www.savethechildren.org
or
http://www.cancer.org
and donate money!
THANK YOU!
The Long Version
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Many of you have followed the Moonriders since the first trip across South America. Others of you have joined the adventures during the Africa trip.
When we first started Riding to the Moon we decided we wanted to discover new places, and we wanted something positive to come from it as well.
In our ride across the Americas, we choose Save the Children (STC), and the American Cancer Society(ACS) as designated organizations that we wanted to support.
We choose STC because they had a good reputation for their work -- and they were working in many of the countries we would be visiting. We wanted to do something for the places we were discovering. We were able to visit centers in both Nicaragua and Bolivia and to see first-hand the children whose lives were being positively affected by STC.
We choose ACS for a more personal reason. One of our riders, David Baumgarten, had battled testicular cancer, and after surgeries and chemotherapy, he survived and continues to lead a full, productive life. (David visited cancer patients at several places on that trip as well.)
Cancer touches so many people and the programs funded by the ACS reap benefits for Americans, but also for cancer victims around the world. Even while on this trip, I learned that the wonderful woman in South Africa who handled clearing my bike through customs has just been diagnosed with cancer and has begun chemo treatments.
So we tend to think that the work both the ACS and STC has a global impact.
On our last trip, we closed many of our journal entries by urging people to donate to STC or the ACS. This time I decided to save it until the end. You've been with me on the emotional highs and lows, the dancing in Nairobi, the Nubian train ride, the mosquitoes of Mozambique!
And I've had a great adventure. But along the way, I reminded myself of how lucky I am. That at any time, I could pack it up and head home to a cozy environment surrounded by loving family and friends.
Not so for so many children here.
I have visited Save the Children offices in Xai Xai, Mozambique; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Khartoum, Sudan; and Cairo, Egypt. I continued to be impressed by the people running the offices, and their focus on spending their funds to benefit the most children in the best way possible.
I spent this week in the Cairo office where I was taken on a field trip to the Waraq neighborhood to see how the "micro-finance" program works and who benefits. It was awesome.
To put it mildly, Waraq is a very poor neighborhood. Yet there are people who are eager to be productive, to do business, but do not have the funds to get started. The micro-finance programs basically make very small, 4-month loans to women who want to start/expand a business. Women are targeted because helping women become financially independent directly benefits their children.
The women are organized into groups of 10-15. So that have a team spirit, and some peer pressure about repaying their loans. Loan re-payment begins 2-weeks after the initial loan. After each loan, they may qualify for a bigger loan, eventually up to $750.
This program has made something like 12,000 loans. 4,000 have been repaid -- the other 8,000 are current. They have a 100% repayment rate -- yes, 100%.
This is just one example of the types of work being done by Save the Children. You can learn more on their website, www.savethechildren.org, which has been significantly improved since I left on the Africa trip.
So, now is the time when I ask you to please support Save the Children or the American Cancer Society. I have not talked much about ACS because I think almost everyone has someone close to them who has been touched by cancer--so I don't need to make a big pitch on that front. In addition, David Baumgarten continues to do work to support the ACS.
Because of what I have seen on this ride, the Save the Children organization has taken on special meaning for me. So, I encourage you to visit their website, www.savethechildren.org, learn more about them, and then support them with a donation, or better yet, as a sponsor.
Or if you prefer, support the American Cancer Society, http://www.cancer.org/
Or better yet--donate to both!
Hope that you can all be with us on the next ride!
Sincerely,
Jim Sowers
P.S. When you donate, or if you have already, please send me a short email. Thanks.
