Samantha Gash visiting Cairns July 8th

[Tuna]

Hey All,

I wanted to put up a post about a fundraising movie night that's coming up in a couple of weeks on the 8th of July in Cairns at the Centre of Contemporary Arts. The film is called Desert Runners and is going to be presented by one of the stars in it, Samantha Gash. She is an Australian ultra endurance runner from the Victoria, I was so fortunate to get to meet Samantha earlier this year at another event and just found her to be incredible and a remarkable person. I encourage anyone who's in the area that night to head over to see this award winning movie on one of her epic ultra-marathons, but also to get an opportunity to get to meet her, because she's amazing.

http://www.samanthagash.net/bio/

All proceeds of the event will be donated to the Freedom Runners Charity Project which will see Samantha & UK ultramarathon runner Mimi Anderson run 2,350km's across South Africa's Freedom Trail to raise funding for a social enterprise that will provide educational opportunities for school girls & women.

http://www.centre-of-contemporary-arts- ... kUkch.dpuf

[Tuna]

Everybody Samantha Gash our Australian ultra marathon runner is on her run right now crossing South Africa!!!!!!!

Click on the links to follow her progress!!
http://www.freedomrunners.org/
https://www.facebook.com/2Freedomrunners

THE RUN
Mimi Anderson (UK) and Samantha Gash (AUS) will be running approximately 80 km per day for 32 days, that’s 64 back-to-back marathons starting from the Town Hall in Pietermaritzburg and finishing in Diemersfontein, Paarl just outside Cape Town. The route is made up of dirt roads, & tracks featuring impressive geological & scenic diversity, going through the high mountains of Lesotho, to the wide open spaces of the Great Karoo, crossing six mountain ranges and countless valleys, venturing through unspoilt wilderness areas, national parks and some nature reserves.

THE CHARITY PROJECT
The vehicle of “running” for social change in South Africa
Three years ago the seed for running the 2350km along the Freedom Trail in South Africa was planted and since then the plotting and planning has grown into what you know today as the Freedom Runners. Two women, two generations, two pairs of legs running to give girls in South Africa the ability to remain in education and change their lives for the better.
In South Africa 1 in 10 girls between the ages of 11-17 miss out on 4/5 days of school per month due to their periods. WHY?

Commercially produced disposable sanitary pads are too expensive for most African schoolgirls.
A packet of 10 pads costs on average US$1.35, which is significantly more than the daily income of most working parents in Africa.
A girl absent from school due to menstruation for four days per 28 days (or per month) loses the equivalent of eight weeks of school per year.
There ‘s a lack of education about the changes that happen to their bodies during puberty
Cultural issues that can result in many of the girls eventually dropping out of school completely.
60% of girls and women in South Africa don’t have access to normal hygiene products.

THE OBJECTIVE
The aim of the run is to raise funds in order for Save the Children to establish a Social Enterprise Business (SEB) in the Free State. The business will employ a dozen women to make and sell at a vastly reduced price re-usable sanitary pads to help keep girls in school. “The project will also help provide education for schoolgirls and women on health and hygiene, as well as life skills training and workshops for parents and students about the importance of attending school. It’s a very simple way of making a massive difference for girls in South Africa.

THE TARGET
$50,000 (£27,600) this amount is the cost of setting up the Social Enterprise Business for 1 year. After that time the business should be self sustaining.