Curried Away

There’s no point in us ruining our annual leave by ignoring the tropical beaches and palacial hotels in favour of starvation and discomfort…unless of course it is for charity…

We’ll be doing this silly adventure in the name of charity; raising cash funds for local projects, coordinated by Mercy Corps. We’ll be helping needy Indian villagers by donating (what’s left of) our rickshaws to families who can then start a thriving business with the vehicle. A common set up is that people are loaned rickshaws and have to pay back an enormous percentage of their takings to loan companies.

This is a fantastic cause which starts to redress the balance in disparity of wealth and opportunity in the world. For all we joke about how much discomfort there will be on our trip, it is nothing compared to the day-on-day suffering of some of the people we are supporting.

It will be a pleasure to visit the country of India and in turn to offer something back. Please do try to make a donation, to support the good work of the charity. Our Justgiving page has now closed (on a final toal of £4044 plus gift aid of nearly a grand), but we’ll be delighted to take further donations in cash or cheque form (made out to Mercy Corps). 

Mercy Corps is a registered charity, originally set up in the US to help a refugee crisis in Cambodia, and then set up a European HQ to help the plight of Romanian orphans. One of the charity’s key beliefs is in human strength of will and ability, so they support projects that enable people to rise from poverty, rather than to just exist. Clearly what we are doing here supports that, facilitating people to make a go of things with their own auto-rickshaw business.

 We chose Mercy Corps not only because of this commendable ethic, but also because of their excellent efficiency, with in excess of 90% of funds directly reaching projects. It is important for people to realise that their donations will have a genuine impact and not be consumed by administration.

Update - some latest news about the charity:

“We looked around the project that has benefited from this year’s Rickshaw Run. They were fantastic and making a serious difference to whole communities of disadvantaged people in the Darjeeling region. We took the film crew along and will post a film about it on the site asap, and we will have full reports of just how far the money we have raised goes.
 
We met with loads of people to discuss the distribution of the Rickshaws to poor families in the region. On talking extensively to the charities and local authorities we decided it’s just not a sound way to help the community and will cause more problems than it alleviates which is the last thing we want.
 
So we have teamed up with three local NGOs who are taking them as private vehicles. They are going to be use as ambulances for poor families in the tribal regions around Siligury and to drive disabled kids who are stuck in their rural homes to treatment centres and to school. Basically this way they will help far more people in a much more meaningful way. We will have full reports on where they are going and pictures of them in use soon.”

“You must be the change you want to see in the world” - Mahatma Ghandi