Beneficiaries for the 2004 Safaricaom Marathon

The beneficiaries for the 2004 Safaricom Marathon
All profits from the event are distributed to a number of worthy local conservation and community projects in Northern Kenya. The Safaricom Marathon gives us an opportunity not only to stage a unique event, but also to raise the profile of the projects and raise much needed funds. In 2003 the event raised KSH 7,360,890

Schools Programme - 20%

The schools programme aims to give the children in North Kenya access to the best possible education and to create an awareness of the importance of conservation.

The programme supports five primary schools, Lewa, Leparua, Mutunyi, Munanda and Ntugi. Each has compiled a five-year development plan to improve the schools infrastructure, the curriculum, teaching and learning methods. The aim is to provide good learning and teaching environments for both the pupils and teachers.

Due to the success of the programme, attendance at the schools has risen in the five years that the programme has existed and consequently the demand on the programme to supply the basics including classrooms, desks/chairs, educational materials, sports facilities and bursaries increases all the time.

The Safaricom Marathon has become an important source of revenue for the schools. The 2003 marathon allowed the schools to achieve the following, which is a considerable boost in their attempt to realising their development plans.

Leparua Primary: Built one classroom
Lewa Primary: Built one classroom. Fixed School Gate
Munanda Primary: Bought 12 teachers desks and chairs
Ntugi Primary: Constructed pupils desks. Painted exterior of school buildings
Mutunyi primary: Constructed teachers toilets

The support for the schools will be expanded in 2004 to include Dol Dol, where funds from the marathon will be used to build a secondary school for girls school.

Healthcare - 10%

Funds raised by the marathon have been used by the Nanyuki Cottage Hospital to set up a fund for people who are injured by wildlife. Although not common some incidences do occur. The 2003 Safaricom marathon money has so far been used to treat one man who was bitten by a snake and another who was bitten by a wild dog.

The intention this year is to widened the scope of the healthcare funds and to make grants to some clinics located in the North Kenya area

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - 25%

Over the last ten years the local Maasai and Samburu communities of northern Kenya have initiated inspiring and innovative policies to protect their tribal lands and the wildlife that exists there. By turning their land, which is of very marginal use for grazing, over to wildlife conservation and tourism they have learnt that the land can generate a more sustainable income for the community and also protect the wildlife and the habitat. Each year 15 teams from the region compete against each other to become the top team in the area.

The funds from the 2003 marathon made a significant contribution to the Il Ngwesi and Namunyak communities and were used in the following way.

• Bursary for secondary and college students
• Road maintenance
• Water project (Roragai springs)
• Money towards purchase of a security vehicle
• Salaries for game guards
• Security Operations

In 2004 the community development funds will be split between a number of additional projects in northern Kenya and thereby broadening the impact of the Safaricom Marathon.

Funds from the Safaricom Marathon are used to further the work of two major wildlife and habitat conservation programmes in Northern Kenya. These are the Mount Kenya Trust, which receives 10% and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the host to the event, which receives 35%.

Mount Kenya Trust
Mount Kenya's forest zone is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest remaining forest in Kenya. Its ecosystem as a whole plays a critical role in water catchment for two main rivers in the country, the Tana and Ewaso Ngiro Rivers. Mount Kenya’s ecosystem also hosts populations of several important threatened wildlife species, including Elephant, Bongo and Colobus monkey. Recognising that the natural resources and associated biodiversity of Mount Kenya are among the most important in Kenya, an initiative was established in 1999 by local Kenyans dedicated to preserving and protecting Mount Kenya.

In 2003 the reserve was able to purchase a new Land Rover with the money from the marathon, which will be of invaluable help in the anti-poaching patrols carried out by the game guards.

Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is home to some of Africa’s most threatened wildlife. It has become renowned world wide for its innovative and highly successful conservation strategies for the wildlife of northern Kenya.

One of the main focuses of the work at LWC is the rhino breeding programme; there are currently 32 white and 36 black rhino at Lewa. The programme has become so successful that white rhino are now being moved from Lewa to help re-stock other reserves in Kenya, in some cases to areas where rhino have not existed for over 50 years.

Funds from the 2003 Safaricom Marathon is used to:
• Equip and train the game guards at Lewa,
• Maintain game guard radio communications
• Support for rhino monitoring programme.

APPLICATION FORMS

The entry forms are available as Word documents or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) documents. There is a zipped pack of all the forms in each format, as well as each form on its own. To get the forms, click on the appropriate document type icon (on the right of the document name and select "Save target as...", then save it somewhere to your computer.

The entry form and the disclaimer has to printed out by the runner and filled in and sent to the following address (with payment attached)
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Att; Sara Spendrup - Marathon
P.O Box 10607
00100 Nairobi

or hand delivered to the Lewa office at Wilson Airport, Titan Hangar, Nairobi.

We will NOT accept any entries where payment or accommodation indication is missing.

The 2001 Safaricom marathon