GND Triathlon for Palestine, Tigray & Sudan

On Sunday 28th July, the three of us will complete our first Olympic triathlon. In doing this, we feel it is an opportunity to raise some money to help those in need, and thus would like to donate any proceeds to those displaced and affected by campaigns in Palestine, Sudan & Tigray. 

First a little about us;

The three of us are all from London, and have been friends for many years.

Cedric works for an education charity and his previous experience amounted to running a classroom. 

Jack is a tattoo artist whose previous running experience is solely for the bus or train.

Joe is a secondary education practitioner who’s previous experience was mainly running a bath. 

We have chosen three separate non-profit NGO’s to donate to, with the total proceeds to be split equally between them. As well as raising money for Palestine (which is well documented in the media) we feel it is important to also bring awareness to two other organisations who are working to help those persecuted in two other locations in Darfur and Tigray. The three organisations we have chosen are; 

 MAP (Medical Aid for Palestine) - (access to essential health services) offering effective, sustainable and locally led healthcare designed and delivered by Palestinians. 

Darfur Women Action Group - help survivors of sexual violence through empowerment centres and offer education for internally displaced children in Darfur. 

OmnaTigray - a women empowerment project for commercial sex workers (more and more women are turning to poverty-driven commercial sex work), and a feeding programme for chronically ill children and the elderly. 

Any amount you are willing to donate will be greatly appreciated. 100% of your donations will be withdrawn here in the UK, split evenly between the three NGOs, and transferred to each organisation through their websites. You can find the links to each of them below for more information. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for more information or with any questions you may have. Thank you. 

MAP - https://www.map.org.uk/what-we-do/what-we-do

MAP's local team are themselves Palestinians from Gaza. Working in incredibly difficult conditions, they were the first to respond to the current emergency by releasing our pre-positioned stocks of drugs, medical disposables, and other humanitarian supplies held in their warehouses inside Gaza. As needs inside hospitals continue to grow, MAP is now procuring additional supplies locally. Where local stocks are unavailable, they will seek to procure from outside Gaza and are working with UN and NGO partners to advocate for immediate, unimpeded, and safe access for humanitarian supplies and personnel into Gaza.

MAP is able to get essential medicines to hospitals in Gaza when they are at zero stock and have run out

They are able to give a Palestinian woman living in refugee camp in Lebanon the one-to-one attention of a midwife to help her through her difficult pregnancy

They equip people living in remote communities in the Jordan Valley with the expertise to provide basic life-saving skills in the event of a serious injury, to stabilise the injured until they can get medical help.

OmnaTigray - https://omnatigray.org/donations/hdrina/

Hdrina has three essential projects that Omna Tigray can provide financial support for to sustain their efforts:

A feeding program for chronically ill children and elderly;

A kitchen gardening project in sebacare4 IDP site (already providing seedings and assistance to 240 households);

A women empowerment project for commercial sex workers in the host community (more and more women are turning into poverty-driven commercial sex work during these challenging times).

The funds raised will assist Hdrina in sustaining these programs and allow Hdrina to reach more people.

Currently, Tigray is under a complete telecommunications blockade with no access to internet or phone services. There is also a siege, and access to aid in the region is heavily restricted. Bank accounts are frozen, and NGOs on the ground have limited access to funds. Due to these harsh constraints, the people in Tigray face famine, extreme poverty, severe illnesses, and a lack of resources or economic means. Organizations like Hdrina and its work are essential to assist at-risk families.

In the long-term, ill children and the elderly will be able to regain their health and be functioning members of society. Tigrayans will be able to garden and feed themselves and their families, allowing IDPs to have means of survival during famine conditions. The women empowerment program will provide women with a safe space that can change their means of survival. Looking forward, Hdrina will have a lasting impact on the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people – and the funding will be able to help achieve that.

Darfur Women’s Action Group. - https://www.darfurwomenaction.org/about/

DWAG works on empowering survivors of the Darfur genocide, both in Sudan and in the diaspora. It does this by providing them with access to tools that will enable them to combat violence, address massive human rights abuses in their societies, and work with others to prevent future atrocities while promoting global peace.

DWAG is taking a unique approach to fighting and preventing genocide by:

Advocating for protection of civilians, accountability for crimes committed and permanent settlement of the crises in Darfur and Sudan at large.

Maintaining the international community’s attention on the situation in Darfur.

Providing elementary level education for the children living in camps.

Providing skills training, trauma counseling and psychosocial support for women survivors of sexual violence at our Women Empowerment Centers.

Promoting leadership building among women at the grassroots level.

Conducting capacity building trainings for civil society organizations from the affected communities on the ground in Darfur and within the diaspora.

Collaborate and provide support for human rights defenders to ensure proper documentation.