200mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec, ISO 800
I am doing the 2010 Bike4Life Winter Challenge (itinerary below) in Mali. As a condition of my participation, I had to raise $3000 in sponsorship, and having now broken that amount, I thoroughly hope to shatter that mark and hope that I can count on you to help me out.
I’ll be biking 168 miles over rough terrain in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco over a course of 7 days for Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS, Official Website), an international group of agencies established in Europe, North America and South Asia to complement the provision of emergency relief, principally in the developing world. It helps people in need reduce their dependence on humanitarian aid and facilitates their transition to sustainable self-reliant, long-term development. To me, FOCUS’s objective is essentially the same as the proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for life.”
I think it’s particularly important to say that any contribution, big or small will absolutely make a difference. Of course, all donations are tax deductible and 97% of all online donations and 100% of all check donations will go directly to support FOCUS’s work. I will be covering all travel, accommodations, and food costs myself (approximately $3500) so rest assured your contributions won’t be used to fund a winter vacation to Africa. Additionally, all contributions that you make will be matched 1-to-1 by one of my sponsors (up to $5000).
I will continue you take contributions through the new year until my return to the United States on January 4th.
There are several ways to make a donation:
- Make a donation online using your credit or debit card.
- US residents visit this website and designate your donation to “Bike4Life 2010: A.Dhukka” in the Designation field.
- Canadian residents visit this website and designate your donation to “Bike4Life 2010: A.Dhukka” in the Message box.
- European residents visit this website and designate your donation to “Bike4Life: A.Dhukka” in the Message box.
- Make a donation via check.
- If you would prefer to go this route (and make every penny count), please contact me via the contact page at the top of this website.
As an additional incentive to make a donation, I’m holding a raffle for some photographic prints. Here’s how it’d work: for every $10 you donate, I’ll place your name your name in the raffle. Here’s what you can win at the end of the fundraising period:
(1) A 12×18″ fine art, hand-signed print from San Jose-based photographer Ivan Makarov (complete with certificate of authenticity) of his photo “The Edge of the Day at Natural Bridges” will be awarded to the largest donor.
(2) Three additional winners will be selected at random from the raffle. The biggest donor of the three will receive a 24×15″ print from San Francisco-based photographer Jeremy Brooks of his photograph “It Was a Rainy Day.” The other two raffle winner will receive an 8×10″ print from their choice of any of my photos, which can be viewed on my website or my flickr account.
In order to qualify for the raffle, be sure to forward me the confirmation email you get from JustGive/CanadaHelps/VirginGiving via the contact page at the top of this website. If you decide to donate via check, we can discuss it when you email me.
Lastly, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this and for any and all contributions you make. Also, if you know anyone (friends, family, coworkers, etc.) who may be interested in helping me out, please feel free to forward this message onwards to them. After all, its for a great cause and remember that every dollar donated is really like two dollars donated!
Complete Itinerary:
December 26th: Marrakech – Ghessat – Toundout
Ride distance: 20 mi, mostly paved
Uneven ↑: 820 ft
Uneven ↓: 320 ft
December 27th: Toundout – Ait Youb
Ride distance: 28 mi, sandy
Uneven ↑: 1800 ft
Uneven ↓: 650 ft
December 28th: Ait Youb – Boutghrar
Ride distance: 21 mi, rocky and sandy
Uneven ↑: 1150 ft
Uneven ↓: 1280 ft
December 29th: Dades – Elmerss
Ride distance: 25 mi, sandy
Uneven ↑: 1320 ft
Uneven ↓: 1050 ft (320m)
December 30th: Elmerss – Ighazzoun
Ride distance: 31 mi, rocky and partially paved
Uneven ↑: 1130 ft
Uneven ↓: 1670 ft
December 31st: Ighazzoun – Bab n’Ali
Ride distance: 28 mi, sandy
Uneven ↑: 650 ft
Uneven ↓: 1310 ft
January 1st: Bab n’Ali – Nkob – Marrakech
Ride distance: 15 mi, partially paved
Uneven ↑: 650 ft
Uneven ↓: 1310 ft