Seeking Pledges for Namibia

This November 19, I will be participating in the event, “Namibia Runs for Charity.”  From 9 am to 4 pm, I will have the opportunity to run as many laps as possible for Namibian charities.  And I could use your help!

Now, it would be good to be able to post here exactly WHICH charity will benefit from your pledges and my running, but this will be decided on the day of the event.  Confused?  Well, I didn’t come up with the scheme, but here’s how it’s supposed to work:  people go to the Namibia Runs for Charity Facebook Page and nominate a charity.  Then other people “like” the best ones.  The top 10 are offered up to the participants on the day of the event.  The one thing I’m not clear on is whether it’s “winner take all” or whether multiple charities can benefit.  The organizers have explained to me that on the day of the event, I can contribute to any or all of the 10 most “liked” charities.  This means if you would like to sponsor me, and have your donation go to a particular charity (of the top 10), you can specify that!

In any case, they are all good charities so far.  Consider this point:  the UN released their annual Human Development Report just the other day.  And although in many areas, Namibia does OK, especially for a sub-Saharan African country, there is one statistic in which it is a clear standout:  income inequality.  When you take the average income of the richest 20% and divide it by the poorest 20%, you come up with the number 52.  So the richest fifth earns, on average, 52 times as much as the poorest fifth.  For perspective, consider that the closest country to that is Honduras, with about 30.  Then there’s a 25 and a whole bunch of “teens.”  The US’s richest fifth earns about 8 times as much as its poorest fifth.

So there are a whole lot of poor Namibians out there that can use some help.  They are the most vulnerable in society – orphans, people with HIV (13.1%), disabled, and don’t forget – Apartheid ended for Namibia in 1990.

So if you want to help, I can definitely use your support in terms of pledges.  They ask for a minimum of 1 Namibian dollar per lap – hat’s 12.5 US cents.  How many laps can I run?  Well, not as many as you might think.  I haven’t run more than about 6 miles in one go since July (24 laps).  And I haven’t worn a traditional running shoe since July 2010.  So I’ll be running either barefoot or in “barefoot shoes”, depending on the condition of the track, located in Katutura, Windhoek’s township.  If you would like to support me on this, send me a note at tom@tazmpictures.com.  We can work out the details after the run.

Don’t want to pledge money?  Well, you can also help “my” charity get chosen by “liking” it on NamibiaRunsforCharity’s Facebook page.  The charity I’d like to support is the International Women’s Association Namibia (IWAN), which my wife, and sometimes my kids and I, volunteer for.  This will help spread support to multiple needy charities, along with “womanpower” provided by the women, which helps stretch the funding further, and also spreads goodwill to some of Namibia’s neediest, usually kids.  Here’s a short writeup:

The International Women’s Association Namibia (IWAN) is an organization which prides itself in the sisterhood of women of all nationalities and ethnicities. IWAN is made up of women from all over the world, including its host country, Namibia. This sisterhood embraces both  its members and the vulnerable women and children in the communities of sunny Namibia. IWAN support a number of charities, but their main focus is on a group of nine Namibian organizations ranging from orphanages, hearing impaired pre-schools, hospital cancer wards, old age homes, after-school resource centres to soup kitchens. IWAN’s ongoing efforts of support and resources is much appreciated by these organizations – all of which provide crucial services for the neediest segments of the Namibian population.

And some photos from a recent event: