Rickshaw Run India for Sambhali Trust
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Why are we fundraising? We are four blokes from Australia and New Zealand who are teaming up for the adventure of a lifetime and to raise funds for charity - and we would love to have your support for a very worthy cause!!
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About our adventure: over 14 days in April 2025, we will be self-driving two "Indian Rickshaws" (aka "tuk tuks") about 3,000 kms. With no set route, our trek will take us from tropical Fort Kochi, Kerala, in the far south of India, to the Thar Desert in the north-west state of Rajasthan, finishing at a palace in Jaisalmer (also known as the 'Golden City').
Our two teams are “DaGs”, David Hull and Glenn Evans, and “The Rusty Nuts”, Kent Price (the Kiwi) and Steve Hull.
The rickshaws are just slightly more powerful than a lawn mower – this means two weeks of unpredictable adventure while navigating the back roads of India. With no set route, and no back-up support, we'll probably get lost, get stuck or break down - so a dash of madness definitely helps!
About our fundraiser: the team members are covering the costs of participating in Rickshaw Run India - which means that all funds raised from donations made here will go to assisting children and women via our chosen charity: Sambhali Trust.
Our goal is to donate $A8,000 to this marvellous charity based in Rajasthan in India, and we would love to have your support in meeting our target.
During the event we will be visiting Sambhali Trust in Jodhpur, and then afterwards the four of us plan to remain in Jaisalmer for several days - we'll being helping out with work on maintenance and repair on some of the Sambhali Trust buildings.
Our plan is to progressively transmit funds to Sambhali Trust to help with planning their work in the 2025 academic year - so track our progress towards our target here, where we will also keep supporters posted about when funds are being transferred. We anticipate finalising funds transfers shortly after the trek is completed.
Our team now has a Facebook page for ongoing updates on the trip, so visit us to read more of our news.
More about Sambhali Trust: the core work of Sambhali Trust provides women and children with access to formal education and self help groups; training in traditional income-generating skills (such as handicraft production); and modest loans to enable women to create small enterprises of their own.
There are projects based in Jodhpur, Setrawa and Jaisalmer (all in Rajasthan) which help underprivileged women and children by making available things such as tuition in Hindi, Mathematics and English; vocational training in sewing and embroidery to enable income through sewing - first in the local community and then via access to a larger market through the Sambhali Boutique; advice on health, daily hygiene, sanitation and practical nutrition; and workshops on various topics, including women’s rights and prevention of sexual abuse.
Specific programmes include things such as:
- Scholarships to help children from households that cannot afford to pay for their education - in 2024, 292 girls and boys received a scholarship and were able to attend school.
- Three boarding homes to enable girls from small villages to have access to formal education - in 2024, 75 girls are participating in this programme.
- Primary Education Centres which are designed for children aged 5 to 12 - currently these centres enable 350 children, who are either not enrolled in school or have irregular attendance, to receive primary education.
How will your support help? Every contribution - no matter how much - makes a real difference in creating a better future for the women and children of Rajasthan. Of course, we will leave it to Sambhali Trust to carry out their plans with the funds raised, but in discussion with the team at Sambhali Trust we understand that, in Australian dollars, these are good examples of what donations may provide or go towards:
- $6 – covers the cost of books, supplies, and other educational materials for one child for one month in a Sambhali Trust boarding house; OR fabric for one woman for one month at one of Sambhali’s eight empowerment centres, where women learn sewing towards establishing their own business.
- $25 – funds food for one girl for one month in a Sambhali Trust boarding house.
- $110 – buys a sewing machine to enable a woman to start a small business in her village.
- $175 – provides a goat for milk and to be bred for more livestock, generating a small business.
- $350 - funds a child’s educational scholarship for a full academic year; OR buys a cow enabling a woman to establish a small dairy business in her village.
As per the recently released 2023-2024 annual report, scholarships are a particularly impactful part of the Sambhali Trust activities. In 2025, Sambhali Trust is seeking to create 50 more scholarships for children to complete either primary or secondary school.
The event: for those wondering about the event itself, we are participating in the Rickshaw Run India. This is part of a variety of similar events run to support Cool Earth.
And just a reminder about our arrangements: our teams are covering all costs of participating in that event, so funds raised here will go to Sambhali Trust.
Fundraising team: Fundraiser Team (1)
DaGs RustyNuts
Organizer
Coogee, NSW
Glenn Evans
Team member