High Cloud Foundation - Because Dreams Come True

On Saturday, September 11, at 8:00 AM, High Cloud Foundation hosts the 4th Abebe Bikila Day International Peace Half Marathon, starting at the eastern end of the C&O Canal Towpath, near the Flour Mill building at 1015 33rd Street NW in Washington DC.

Registration is now open at www.highcloud.org/20100911

This race is unlike any other in the world.  When you run, you represent your country or USA state of citizenship.  You are automatically on the team for your nation or state, top 3 count.  We present awards for both individuals (top 3 M/F and top 3 by 10-year age group) and for members of the top 3 nation/state teams.

In past years, teams have spanned the globe, but Virginia has dominated.  In 2006, VA men won, ahead of Ethiopia, Maryland, DC, California, and India; and VA women beat MD, DC, and New York.  In 2007,  Virginia won over DC, MD, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ethiopia, and Pennsylvania.  In 2008, Virginia repeated ahead of MD, DC, PA, and France.

Maybe this will be the year for Ethiopia, or Kenya, or Cameroon, or Ireland!

We also offer a one-mile fun run for young athletes, details TBA.

Pre-race packet pickup is at Georgetown Running Company, 3401 M Street NW, Washington DC (202-337-8626) on Friday, September 10, 3:00 PM to 6 PM.

Race-day packet pickup on Saturday, September 11, 7:00 AM to 7:45 AM, is on site at the plaza east of the C&O Canal Towpath at the end of Potomac Avenue.  Park at Washington Harbor or along Water Street and walk to Potomac Street, between Wisconsin Avenue and 33rd Streets.  Walk up the big hill, and there we are.  You may also park in Georgetown and walk to Potomac Avenue, cross the footbridge over the Canal to the plaza.

In memory of the 184 victims who died at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and the thousands more who died in New York and Pennsylvania on that day, we will ring a memorial bell 184 times before the start of the race at 7:45 AM.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Abebe Bikila's historic victory at the Rom Olympic Marathon on September 10, 1960, and in recognition of Ethiopian New Year's Day on September 11 each year, we host an international cultural exhibition in the area all around the race start / finish line.  Exhibitors and vendors may contact Kuki Balcha Tadesse (kukitadesse@yahoo.com, 703-928-0591).

After the race, we host international music and dance, and we welcome you to demonstrate your native cultural dance.  More info TBA.

Please join us for this unique historic race!

See
www.highcloud.org/20100911
to unite with us.


Homework:
See www.acfcoop.org/thankyous to learn to say "Thank You" in more than 100 languages.

By Megan Zingarelli

Joseph Ole Tipanko and John Kilenyi Ole Parsitau, two Maasai Kenyans and High Cloud partners, recently met with Rachel Herbers, the foundation’s liaison to Africa, in the Washington, D.C. area.  Herbers shared news from the meeting, where she caught up with the two men about the Maasai community’s recovery from deadly droughts and floods of the past year.

Read about the recent drought and floods

Tipanko and his associates at the Maasai Good Salvage Outreach Organization (MAGSA) have kept educational programs going for schoolchildren in Ntashat Village, outside of Nairobi.  In addition, they have been working on new initiatives to help the local economy thrive.  Still, their situation remains precarious.

 Facing economic challenges

The community has suffered from heavy losses of cattle during the drought and ensuing floods.  Parsitau said that 70% of the community’s cattle perished during the drought, thereby depriving many Maasai people of their only source of livelihood.  Now, grass is growing again, and the remaining cattle are eating enough, but the economic repercussions continue.

“For many who have not received education, raising cattle is the only livelihood they have ever known, and the future looks grim,” said Parsitau.  “Many do not know how to move forward and are afraid of taking out loans from the bank because of the high interest rates.”

With High Cloud’s help, plans are in the works to assuage this situation.  Tipanko and his associates at MAGSA soon hope to offer basic business classes for the community.  In this way, the organization can help people to think of creative ways to make money, buy and raise cattle, and boost morale in the community.

Another new program has been focusing on giving business opportunities to Maasai women who create beaded jewelry. MAGSA wants to enroll these women in a micro-credit program that will both give them access to capital and grow their small jewelry-making businesses.

“Joe and John and their organization know that if the mothers in the community can be empowered, then greater health and income will be the result,” said Herbers.

The women can sell their work in Kenya and elsewhere around the world.

You can view and order jewelry HERE.

Education update

For their part, the children of Ntashat Village are plugging away at their studies as they approach exams and summer break.  However, the future of their education remains uncertain after all that the community has suffered in the past year.

 “Because of the loss of livestock, the MAGSA outreach organization is very clear that even more support is needed for the school children now,” said Herbers.  “Having lost their sources of income, many families are even less able to provide the funds for exams, uniforms, shoes and backpacks--not to mention paying the salaries of the teachers.”

Parsitau said that children who do not receive money for school by September will have to sit out the term, and possibly their entire educations. 

Read more about MAGSA and its work.


From left to right, is John Kilenyi Ole Parsitau, Rachel Herbers, John Brady, Joseph Ole Tipanko. 

Herbers said, “It was such a great experience to just hear stories about their lives and to hear them talk about the differences between their experiences in the US and in Kenya, for example talking about how John misses walking because here they would be driven to the store just a half mile away where at home he regularly walks 6 miles a day.  It really was such an eye opener to listen to the causal comments they would make about the differences between our two homes.”