Are you already
bored with that New Year’s resolution? Have you been taken hostage by the
British weather? Or are you a lover of two-wheels? If the answer is 'yes' to any
one of these, Al Madad Foundation wants to hear from you. The London-based
charity launches its first sponsored charity challenge this year in aid of its innovative
educational projects for internally displaced children in Syria.
Cycle4Schooling hopes to raise vital funds for Al Madad’s bespoke outreach
programmes designed to bring infrastructure and stability to Syrian children with a cycle event between London and Oxford - representing capitals of art
and education that form the charity’s primary objectives. On 17th May 2014 the
challenge will start at London’s Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens,
heading westwards through the scenic boroughs of the Home Counties, before reaching
its final destination at the world-famous Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Al Madad
Foundation is looking for participants at any level and experience to sign on,
saddle up and help support this very worthy cause. Funds raised from
Cycle4Schooling will continue to be channelled into projects in Syria’s largest
city, Aleppo where Al Madad has fostered successful relations with local
grassroots organisations over the last year; implementing a unique model of
development that works directly with the local community. Largely unreported, the
ongoing Syrian conflict has resulted in the closure of over 4,000 schools
across the country as well as thousands of trained teachers and professionals who
are out of employment. Al Madad’s mission to re-establish a sustainable and
self-reliant schooling system under the direction of qualified individuals to
teach children for a wage, focuses on the balance of community and rebuilds the
hopes for opportunity of otherwise lost generations. With two existing sites in Aleppo,
Cycel4Schooling aims to respond to the growing demand on the ground for further
long-term educational programmes to be introduced in order to reach more
displaced children and their families.
Al Madad Foundation's schools programme in motion
I had the
pleasure of working with Al Madad on its fundraising art exhibition, Recounting
Palestine’s Stories: An Intervention in 2012 (Show & Tell, June 2012).
Collaborating with a charity whose mandate is to generate serious change in the
Middle East from the very frontline was a personally enriching experience and this
is why I wish to share Cycle4Schooling with you all in the hope you will support this inaugural event aimed at helping the futures of so many.
The challenge is a
full day commitment with several pit stops scheduled en route as well as a four-wheel return to London from Oxford at the end of the day – for a full
information pack including a training programme and guidelines visit
Cycle4Schooling – any further enquiries may be directed to Rasha Barazi at 0207
408 7881 or contact@almadadfoundation.org
Enter Cycle4Schooling
now or if you
would like to sponsor a cyclist or support any other of Al Madad Foundation's projects visit almadadfoundation.org
Images courtesy of Al Madad Foundation
