Steve Rivers successfully completed his sponsored Sky Dive for Actionaid on 16th November at Langar Airfield. We would like to thank everyone who sponsored him and helped raise a whopping £1362!
You can still sponsor Steve’s jump and make a difference for some of the poorest communities in the world by going to www.myactionaid.org.uk/steves40thjump/steves-40th-jump or read on to find out more about ActionAid.
About ActionAid
ActionAid is one of the largest UK international development organisations, helping poor people in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Currently over two billion people struggle to feed their families and make life better for their children.
ActionAid is dedicated to helping such poor communities overcome poverty and build a better future. They work long-term with poor communities so that they can help not just one generation, but also future generations of children and their families. If ill health is a problem, they address all the possible causes such as contaminated water, low incomes and improving access to health care. Similarly, if government health policies are not helping poor people, they will strive to influence decisions to ensure the needs of poor families are addressed.
Steve's message - What supporting ActionAid means for me?
Through my career as an African Drumming musician, teacher and music facilitator, I have visited West Africa on several occasions to research the region's incredible rhythms and culture. My inspiration and knowledge owes everything to the musicians I met from one of the poorest areas in the world.
Frequently on my trips, I've visited Naming Ceremonies and Weddings in local communities, where an incredible atmosphere is created through drumming, dancing and singing. The experience has never ceased to make the hairs stand on the back of my neck. At these ceremonies, local people become completely alive in a spirit of cultural celebration and their spirit seems to transcend the reality of their surroundings - open sewers, rubbish tips, millions of mosquitoes, stagnant pools and really basic living conditions. Countless excited children run around in these ceremonies dancing; skipping and laughing. They may be having a fabulous time, but they are also clearly malnourished and hungry.
These are some of the friendliest, gentlest people I have ever met, who have an innate ability to keep smiling and laughing in the face of severe poverty.
The reality of this poverty always kicks in for me when I return to communities I've previously visited to discover someone I knew before has died. Frequently these are people who were in their twenties and thirties and they have usually died for something that could have been treated or prevented easily, if healthcare and basic living conditions had been met. For example, malaria is commonplace in West Africa, and while it can be easily prevented through better sanitation, millions of children die from this disease each year.
We are so used to seeing the tragedy and misfortune in third world countries on television; it is easy to become indifferent to their plight. It is only when one visits these countries first hand that the meaning of poverty really comes home. For me, supporting ActionAid, means making a real difference to the lives of millions of people from thousands of communities just like the ones I visited in West Africa. Today, they need our help more than ever."
Sponsor Steve's skydive jump today and make a difference to someone's life. Go to:
www.myactionaid.org.uk/steves40thjump/steves-40th-jump
Actionaid is a registered UK charity.
Registered Charity No. 274467
All donations will be warmly appreciated!