PROJECT 42
I will run 42 km in the Ottawa Marathon in about 42 days (May 25).
Before the race starts, Gillian and I want 100 people to donate $42 to help AIDS orphans in Malawi.
The organization we have selected is Friends of Mulanje Orphans (FOMO) in Malawi. We'll be travelling through Mulange during our three month African journey this summer. We want to be more than tourists while we are there. We also want to be advocates for Africa's next generation.
In total, we hope to raise $4,200 so this charity can continue to provide food, medication and fresh water to hundreds of children who lost their parents to AIDS.
Gillian and I will also volunteer at least 42 hours of labour each at the orphange when we visit for a week in August.
Please note that this is a British charity, so tax receipts are not available.
FOMO was established in 2000 to aid Orphans in Mulanje, a district of Malawi, Africa. The seeds of the idea for the formation of FOMO stemmed from the many harrowing stories relayed back to Mary Woodworth from her friends and relatives still living in her home village in Mulanje. During a visit early in 2000, Mary and Keith were able to see and hear of the desperate plight of many of the local Children.
Determined to make the idea of FOMO a reality, Mary contacted relatives and friends who over the years had been helping many orphaned children. From this small beginning FOMO became a reality and aims to provide and enhance the health, education, food security, meet the basic human needs and develop the potential of all the needy and orphaned children of Mulanje.
The sad reality is that there are too many children in need of help and too few local families that can afford to help. Though there are many high profile agencies within Malawi they seem unable to address the immediate, local, one to one help, that FOMO is committed to provide.
From small beginnings FOMO has grown and now looks after over 4000 through a network of 10 centres covering about 70 villages in Mulanje district of Malawi.