Uganda here I come - 26th April 2013

Giving and learning all at once

Over 60% of people living with hunger across the globe are women. In Uganda, 40% of people still lack access to clean water and 25% live below the poverty line. Violence against women continues to be widely tolerated and is also a leading factor of increased infection levels of HIV/AIDS in Ugandan women.

It’s statistics like these that drove me to sign up to raise $10k for women struggling with hunger and poverty. After raising the cash, I'm off to Uganda in November with two fantastic organisations - Business Chicks and The Hunger Project - to see change put into action.  

I am so bloody excited, and terrified!! Mainly terrified - at the prospect of raising $10k before November. So to quell the fear and kick off the fundraising campaign, I’ve decided to run the City2Surf, with a goal of raising the first $5k. I WILL REPEAT THAT. The laziest and most unfit person I know (me) has agreed to run 14km from Sydney City to Bondi. Until now, the furthest I’ve run is across the road to catch a cab. It’s official, I have gone mad!!

I'll track my journey to raise $10k on The Perspective Project, regularly posting pics of me struggling to exercise, updates on the fundraising target, and hilarious annacodates that happen along the way. I am also taking bets on how long it takes me to trip over and go flying off the back of a treadmill.

So, how much will you pay to see me exercise my butt off and do the one thing you thought most unlikely – me running? Is it $30, $50, $100, more? I really need your support to reach the fundraising target. So, please donate here and give as generously as you can: http://thp.org.au/get-involved/events/lazy-patrice-runs-city2surf

For those wanting a little more detail on the work The Hunger Project do just read on or visit www.thp.org: 

The Hunger Project firmly believes that empowering women to be key change agents is an essential element to achieving the end of hunger and poverty. Chronic, persistent hunger is not due merely to lack of food. It occurs when people lack opportunity to earn enough income, to be educated and gain skills, to meet basic health needs and have a voice in the decisions that affect their community.

The Hunger Project addresses these root causes of hunger by mobilizing people to be self-reliant, empowering women, and strengthening local government. They believe that the poor, illiterate women are the key to ending world hunger. When given a voice, these women become powerful and important change-agents in raising their families and their villages out of poverty. It's all about unlocking the creativity, leadership, entrepreneurialism and productivity of the poorest of the poor (detailed taken from www.thp.org).