Rickshaw run, India 2020:Traversing 3000+ kms raising funds to fight Human trafficking, protecting our rainforest & the Ocean

Hi guys

As some of you are aware, a couple of mates (Clive & Christer) and I, having lost a few chicken feathers, have signed up for the Rickshaw Run in Jan 2020 (🙈🙊🙉 there's no turning back now). For those of you who are not familiar with this event, it involves powering through India over an expanse of 3000+ kms from Jaisalmer (north) to Kochi (south) over two weeks in what some legends who've previously participated, call, "a glorfied lawn mower" or as some of you know as an Auto Rickshaw, which we will be riding, ourselves. Our team's called "Naan Violence" for all good reasons ;) as we're a bunch of foodies on an epic mission!

Full event description can be found here: https://www.theadventurists.com/adventures/rickshaw-run

As part of this almost suicidal (offcourse I'm only joking, Mother), one-of-its-kind, living-on-a-spare adventure, we thought we'd do our best for this beautiful planet we live in, in the wake of a million environmental and social issues. The three organisations we are raising funds for mean something significant and personal to each of us and are as under:

1) Snehalya: Human trafficking is the biggest illegal and heinous revenue generating business with over $150 billion annually exchanged over commercial sexual exploitation. More than 63 million women and children are “missing” statistically across India. Women who are forced into trafficking are at a higher risk for HIV, TB, and other STDs. Snehalaya is one such organisation, working towards rescuing, freeing, rehabilitating and empowering victims of this social evil, to live purpose driven lives. They have since 1989,worked with over 200,000 vulnerable women and children, reduced new cases of HIV in sex workers from 17% to 3.4%, operate as the #1-ranked Childline in India, brought 22 double life prison sentences, to high profile local men operating an illegal sex ring with minors, in a ground breaking legal case, educated over 2,000 children of sex workers, witnessed a 350% rise in A and B grades in their slum schools over three years, and opened the first hospital dedicated to the treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Find more details on the organisation here: https://www.snehalaya.org and https://www.snehalaya.org/history

2) Passion for Ocean is an organisation that works towards strenghtening people’s relations to the ocean. We believe that through increasing peoples knowledge about the oceans, all the wonderful creatures that lives there and the importance of a healthy ocean for our planet, more people will work towards protecting it. They work on a number of different projects, many which involve taking schoolchildren and kindergardeners to the intertidal zone or beach and teach them about the environment and the ocean through beach cleans and interacting with the ocean through hands on experience.

3) We are the first generation to feel the signs of global warming and the last to really be able to do something crucial to actually turn it around. We are fundraising to safeguard the beautiful rainforests in Africa's Congo Basin (find more about it here: https://www.coolearth.org/projects/lubutu

You can follow us on instagram - naanviolence.rickshawrun2020 and track the status of your crazy asks as well as follow us on this rad once in a lifetime road trip! Feel free to recommend places to visit and foods to try as well anything atrocious (but reasonable - lungis, turbans, paan stained shirts, or a thong for Clive - I'm not referring to flipflops) that you like for us to do /wear on this trip. For those of you who know Clive (the other most recent featherless mate), he almost never will turn down a challenge (especially if its food he's winning ;))

The registration cost to enter this one-of-its-kind event is £2000, not including flights, internal travel, accommodation, fuel and other expenses over mechanical breakdowns/issues that will need to be self organised. Hence we appreciate your help in an way you can. We need your help to do this together. We are counting on your generosity and kindness to be able to give back to the earth and reach out to our people to make a difference. Your support in whatever little way is what will help us reach out and support these noble organisations make that much needed difference our world needs. Together we move mountains!!!