1st December 2017 is World AIDS Day. The importance of which is apparent from the figures alone: nearly 37 million people are living with HIV/AIDS today, and 26 million of those people are in sub-Saharan Africa. The immense scale of HIV/AIDS in Africa has had a sweeping and devastating impact upon all aspects of life for affected families and communities.
The cycle needs to be broken. And we want to lend a hand...with a cycle of our own.
Equator to Cape is the direct product of adventure seeking and cannot-sit-still mentalities. But is easy to forget the privilege that also allows us to have these escapades. We are healthy. We can train and focus on fitness and not survival. We have jobs. We have the financial ability to fund an adventure. We have a supportive clan of friends and family who will tortoise-sit whilst we are away.
Recognising our privileged position and using it for all things good and worthwhile is incredibly important. And so enter the heroes of the story: The Egmont Trust. Egmont has worked with over 80 partner organisations in sub-Saharan Africa, making grants of more than £6 million to help vulnerable children cope with the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS on families and communities.
The impact of HIV and AIDS reaches all corners of the community, from health, and social well-being, to educational and economic welfare. So Egmont is not proscriptive about the kind of work it supports. Breaking down barriers of stigma and discrimination is just as important as improving nutrition. Preventing new infections is as critical as improving livelihoods. Egmont’s approach thus allows for a refreshing diversity in the types and sizes of organisations supported and the content of their work.
Africa has an obvious bountifulness in respect of beautiful animals and no-filter-necessary vistas. From the icy peaks of Kilimanjaro, to the wandering majesty of the elephants of the Zambezi. From the sensory storm of Victoria Falls to the wild beasts congregating in Etosha National Park. We aim to capture and share the epic nature of Africa from our open topped (and bottomed and sided) two-wheelers.
But, there’s another major and unrivalled African asset which deserves to be showcased just as much as the lions and giraffes – the people. The The AIDS epidemic has illustrated the immense resilience of people across Africa, their ability to find a way forward often led by individuals with integrity, inspiration and unshakeable determination.
The hallmark of The Egmont Trust is that it works with credible, homegrown heroes and local-driven organisations that are best placed to know what works to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS. The Egmont Trust's expertise lie in finding these people, and giving their activities financial and management support. What we love the most is that Egmont is not a hand-out, it’s a hand-up. It’s simply providing more fishing rods to people who have already taught themselves to fish. We will be lucky enough to work alongside Egmont in every sense – fundraising, profile raising and visiting the projects en-route.
The cherry on the top of this charity: Egmont sends 100% of all donations directly to the projects in Africa as Patrons & Trustees cover all operating costs in the UK and Africa. Egmont rigorously selects projects that are run by locally driven organisations, and picks partners that are having real impact in innovative and efficient ways, delivering value for money for donations.
Now that is a cause worth cycling for, and some serious karma-logical bang for your buck too.
www.egmonttrust.org
Donate: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/equatortocape
