Running Aid: The Race To Save East Africa

We are privileged to live in a peaceful country with a rising middle class that can afford water, electricity and much more, but not all countries are as equal. In areas of East Africa such as South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, 22 million people are at the mercy of starvation and death as civil war and drought continue to ravage the area.

There are reasons why we haven’t paid that much attention to the situation in parts of East Africa:

1) We have lived under the belief that the whole of Africa is under poverty and devastation that our empathy for the area has turned to apathy

2) We are too busy living our own lives in Singapore that we can become too drained to show a shred of feeling for others

3) Our news cycle is too busy focusing on the antics of politicians and countries that not much of the coverage extends to others places.

These are all valid reasons and do not make us seem like the scum of the earth for not knowing, but neither does this absolve us from all responsibility.

The best way for us to help East African states is to donate money via recommended, reliable charities that have been in the region for a long period of time. These charities are run by people who are on the ground working with the people and understand best what the people need. World Vision is one of those charities.

The Christian humanitarian organisation has dedicated itself to working with children, families and communities, and do their best to tackle the root causes of poverty and injustice. The situation in East Africa has worsened to the point where the organisation has appealed for us $92 million to attend the crisis, but unfortunately not much has been raised and the organisation has searched for ways to raise awareness and money for the event.

Race for Relief hopes to change that.

The event plans to get participants to support one of three teams that represent the things that Eastern African people are facing right now to push the urgency of the crisis to participants and show how the crisis affects lives.

The three categories: Drought Relief, War Relief, and Hunger Relief, are all 5 km categories and runners can choose to either run the route as normal or to carry a relief item weighing up to 5kg that symbolises your team. You can also choose to run and sign up in teams.

Each team will also have a celebrity or influencer captain that will head the teams. At the time of print, team captains have not been announced, but names such as Dr Leslie Tay of ieatishootipost.sg, Mediacorp stars Andie Chen and Kate Pang have been named as people who have pledged their support to the cause and will make a presence in the run. Other ambassadors and influencers will also be present.

Participants can also take part in the race carnival at the end of the event, which will boast a photojournalistic exhibition on the crisis, singing performances by singing group Jack and Rai, a Q and A session with the celebrities as well as many other activities for children.

The deadline for registration is 11^th June 2017, and if you need more information on the run, visit World Vision Organization's  Race For Relief page, or the main page itself  if you want to know more about the organisation.

For more information on East Africa, please refer to:

http://www.worldvision.org.sg/raceforrelief/index.php/why-help/

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=51411