Pledge my TRI!

Dear family, friends and other random visitors to the blog,

I need your help. A few weeks ago I decided to register for an olypmic distance triathlon with the hopes of being able to use this to raise money for great project that empowers the mamas in Matipwili village to earn a living through sustainable agriculture. Matipwili village borders on Saadani National Park along the coast of Tanzania (bush meets ocean!).

The project aims at increasing the production of vegetables through sustainable and organic farming techinques. By increasing production, the mamas will be in a position to sell their produce to nearby lodges and other villages. Gaining access to these markets is an important economic step, giving the women a opportunity to earn an income and benefiting from the tourism sector in their backyards.

With a successful pilot phase, led by Thomas Wouters, and agromist from Belgium, SANA is now hoping to scale up the project but needs funds to be able to do that. And that's where you can help. By visiting our fundraising page and then clicking on the donate widget, you can pledge my first ever triathlon attempt (remember jump rope for heart, etc, it's like that) and help me support Saving Africa's Nature. It's set-up through paypal so it's a safe way to send money and you can either send money though a paypal account of by debit/credit cards. Anyone who donates $25 or more will get a postcard from the event in August.

I've got plans to go up an visit the community soon and will share photos. In the meantime, you can watch this video put together by my friend Tende. He runs an adventure company, is a volutary board member for SANA. SANA is doing lots of great things with the communities around Saadani to make sure they are benefiting from the tourism sector which runs in their backyards. The video is mostly about Miseni Eco Retreat, but you get to meet some of the mamas involved in the pilot phase of the Bio Agriculture project an introduction to what they're doing.