Running in Aid of Yemen
- theearthyouthproject
- Jul 16, 2020
- 3 min read
Meet Sophia and Maya, two sisters who, in response to the crisis in Yemen have decided to take action and organise their own fundraiser for the Yemen Emergency Appeal, run by the British Charity Human Relief Foundation. They will be completing 200km by running over the course of two weeks, and have already managed to raise £850 on the second day of the fundraiser. Their story is linked to Sustainable Development Goals number #3 Good Health and Wellbeing, #10 Reduced Inequalities and #16; Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
After learning about the crisis in Yemen through social media, we were shocked at not only the scale of the situation and range of atrocities, but also at the lack of news coverage and government support. It is alarming and harrowing to have heard about the situation and its severity through platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, rather than more formal news highlighting the clear Western bias of the news. We felt compelled to take matters into our own hands and do something worthwhile to raise as much money as we could for such an important cause.
"The Yemeni population is under attack not only from the horrors of war and air strikes, widespread famine, disease and malnutrition but also the current COVID-19 pandemic which has magnified the crisis even more."
The Yemeni people need our help and they need it now. Something that could seem to be just a small gesture to us can be life changing for them; for as little as £12 we can feed a child for a whole month. The Yemeni population is under attack not only from the horrors of war and air strikes, widespread famine, disease and malnutrition but also the current COVID-19 pandemic which has magnified the crisis even more, bringing further sexual and domestic abuse and deterioration of the already plummeting morale. With 80% of the people dependant on humanitarian aid, 60% having nothing to eat, 58% having no access to clean water, and over 100,000 people already dead, this is currently the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.
While we have always been quite sporty, we knew that we would definitely be pushing ourselves with the challenge of running 200km in 14 days. Initially we set ourselves the target of raising £500, however, from the start we had every intention of exceeding this. After sharing information about the crisis, along with the link to our JustGiving page, with our circles on social media, we had already managed to raise £850 by the second day of the challenge.
"The words of motivation and the continuing donations... It is so encouraging to know we are raising awareness about the awful situation [in Yemen] and to see so many people donating is really heartening."
The words of motivation and the continuing donations, often prompted by our updates on social media, have really rallied our spirits to keep going. It is also so encouraging to know we are raising awareness about the awful situation and to see so many people donating is really heartening.
The majority of those in our circles are students and so it is inspiring to know that we are already becoming the generation of change, helping to shape the world we live in to be a better, brighter and more sustainable place. Even though it is still a way off, improvement is being pushed for by those entering the working world, the next generation of parents and the future of the globe.
"The majority of those in our circles are students and so it is inspiring to know that we are already becoming the generation of change, helping to shape the world we live in to be a better, brighter and more sustainable place."
We are really thankful and grateful for all the support we have already received and any donations or shares are really appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read our story and we hope to do you proud.
If you would like to donate to our fundraiser or share our page, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/maya-choudhury1
For more information about the situation in Yemen please visit:
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