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Philanthropy at work
The 10 City Bridge Run is philanthropy at work.
Philanthropy doesn’t mean Not-For-Proft. It means doing good in the interests of others.
Please sponsor the book “Above the Line” for $24 and help make a difference to poverty in our world.
This will enable awareness to be raised, a petition to be present to the G20 Summit, and leverage to fund projects that address the two biggest killers of children globally. Diarrhoea (through water and sanitation) and malaria (through mosquito netting).
The 10 City Bridge Run is an initiative of Social Alchemy, a social business established in 2006. It is cause-driven, otherwise defined as for-benefit and for-purpose. No profit made by the organisation is able to be distributed in the form of dividend.
Luke Asked: What is this about?
My good mate Luke asked me a question this morning by email. “What is the 10 City Bridge Run actually about?” It is a good question. Here is an answer.
The central question that the 10 City Bridge Run seeks to address is: “How can you build a bridge to help close the gap on extreme poverty?” A response requires to you think and feel, as much as to act.
This is part of a bigger movement about social impact. In this movement, we are each playing a small part in a bigger change. The 10 City Bridge Run is a small part in a well-established ecosystem of other initiatives.
We all should know that extreme poverty is a problem. There is enough news and branding around the issue. But do we know the extent to the problem, or do we know how we might make a difference – a real difference- aside from donating money to charity?
The 10 City Bridge Run presents a global challenge. There is a physical challenge – the 10 sub-marathons across 10 countries, which is more of a symbolic act through a tough and demanding journey.
The bigger challenge, the real challenge, is asking people to engage intellectually; asking people to engage emotionally and take action. Small actions. Like taking a photograph of others building a bridge.
Is it possible? Does it matter? Can one person on their own make a difference? (I would suggest the answers are Yes. Yes. and No.) And these answers are reflective of the bigger questions facing humanity on the issue of extreme poverty.
It is a complex issue. I think it starts with building a bridge to help close the gap on extreme poverty. You might be doing this already, and if so please show us what that looks like by capturing that in a photograph.
There are larger global forces at work. Is the global financial system broken, at least in part? This is the importance of passing a petition to the G20 Summit leadership. Will the petition make a difference? Will President Lee Myung-bak acknowledge the receipt of the petition? There is only one way to find out, and that first requires the collation of 24,000 photographs online.
Please join us.
Training Log: Six Bridges of Separation
My last training run was on 2 October when I ran a 25 km route around Sydney Harbour. I started with some discomfort on my ankles but was able to pick up some reasonable pace for the first half. Moving onto the goat tracks along Sydney Harbour for the second half I slowed down considerably and left some room for improvement.
Crossing the ANZAC Bridge from Pyrmont to Balmain I passed Senator John Faulkner (Australian Senator) and stopped briefly to say hello. I will email his later today and ask him to sponsor the 10 City Bridge Run and will let you know how I get on.
Finishing the run I had restricted range of movement in my ankles and a tight tension on my left hamstring. I spent the last two days seeing what effect stretching, acupuncture, massage, yoga and fish oil had on my soreness. Massage and fish oil appeared to have the biggest impact, and maintaining more stretching will be important over the coming month.
Training Log: Bringing up to date
Last entry on the training log here was 12 September. Why the delay in a new entry?
Since 12 September the date for departure and commencement of the first run has changed four times. A appreciate this might have created some difficulty for people following how the 10 City Bridge Run is emerging. From my perspective, it heightened my awareness of difficulties encountered when looking to make change. Things rarely go to plan, and a flexible view that embraces disruption is important.
The date changes to the commencement date for the run (initially planned for 24 September, then moved to 1 October then 8 October, now commencing 14 October) occurred for a number of reasons, but the three principle factors were (initially) securing sufficient sponsorship to commence the journey, unexpected delays encountered through PayPal and more recently confirmation of host arrangement in Seoul. Before I commence the running, I must make sure I have optimal confidence in how this initiative will unfold. Running is as much mental as it is physical. Managing these delays give me reason to reflect on the expression “the loneliness of the long distance runner”.
As I finish this post I am listening to Matt Flannery from Kiva on live-stream speaking at SOCAP10 shortly after Jacqueline Novogratz. The bigger challenge this presents is how do I better draw upon all the resources that are available to me…the journey of the long distance runner need not be lonely! Extrapolating from this thought, when it comes to making change, the question we might reflect on is “how do we better draw upon all the resources available to us?”
Back to the training log: training continued during this period of delay. I extended my training program three times which was a welcome bonus to give more time for preparation and conditioning. I think that toward the end of September I had entered a phase of overtraining combined with less than sufficient stretching. This resulted in a reduction of range of movement in my ankles which created some discomfort when running. Pain is almost inevitable with running training- my sports medicine doctor who I consulted a few months earlier for a complaint on my left achilles said that pain management strategy was an integral part of training. During the last period of date changes and delays, I was less enthusiastic about making posts about my training until I knew what date I was committed to running.
Ten days left until I start running.
Cutting the Circle of Violence
Great TED Talk about what one woman did to intervene in war-torn Afghanistan. I think this gives some insights to the complexity involved in understanding poverty. “Inge Missmahl brings peace to the minds of Afghanistan”. The importance of empathy and understanding local cultural needs and norms I don’t think can be overstated.
Highly relevant when looking at the prevalence of poverty and trauma in so many countries and regions where extreme poverty exists.
Seth’s blog: The problem with putting it all on the line…
Seth Godin, someone I admire for his consistent challenge to how we see things through his writing, posted a blog last week that I thought as worth sharing. Please follow this link and subscribe to Seth- he posts a great update daily, and they are short to read.
Here is what he had to say under the heading of The problem with putting it all on the line…
Why have I repeated it here? It was a prompt for me in considering what I was encountering through the 10 City Bridge Run.
Risk, art, reward. Join me on this journey: it is about what we all do together.
The problem with putting it all on the line…
is that it might not work out.
The problem with not putting it all on the line is that it will never (ever) change things for the better.
Not much of a choice, I think. No risk, no art. No art, no reward.
The Three Most Significant Notes on MDG from Obama at UNNY
Put simply, the United States is changing the way we do business… For too long, we’ve measured our efforts by the dollars we spent and the food and medicines we delivered. But aid alone is not development… Instead of just managing poverty, we have to offer nations and peoples a path out of poverty.
Speaking from New York at the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals on 22 September, President Obama gave emphasis to a number of points in relation to the eradication of extreme poverty. Here is one opinion from an observer. For me three points stood out that should grab our attention:
- If we continue to keep on the same trajectory we won’t succeed and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (by 2015)
- To developing countries (read the G20 members): Resolve to put an end to hollow promises that are not kept. Focus not on money but on results.
- No one nation can do everything and do it everywhere. Just as this work cannot be done by one government, division of labor among a wide array of stakeholders is crucial.
What can we expect in 2015? Is this hope we can believe in?
Is the seemingly impossible possible?
The one thought I want you to consider today
Where does the time go?!
Dear reader, thanks for your patience- it has been now about a week since I made my last post. A lot has happened in that time, and many ideas and thoughts to write about. I will endeavour to share some of that with you later today, but not everything at once.
A few updates about the 10 City Bridge Run.
Firstly, I’m pleased to say that enough funding through sponsorship has been received to make this endeavour possible, that is to commence the journey. While the first hurdle is cleared, there is still a fair distance down the track to cover.
Secondly, a quick note about date changes. The date for the commencement of the 10 City bridge Run has now slipped twice. I want to be open about the planning to share with you the challenges and difficulties I am encountering. I think to present the vulnerabilities and uncertainties, for all its lumpiness is important in learning to take the crunchy with the smooth as Billy Bragg might say. Let’s be clear that this is an ambitious and difficult venture with a deliberate tagline of “Is the seemingly impossible possible?” At the same time, for as much of the experiential learning that might come from this to mirror an understanding of the challenges to eradicate extreme poverty, it also should be acknowledged that there is a difference between the two. We all have a choice to some degree of what difficulties that come into our lives: those in extreme poverty do not.
The reasons for the date changes relate to a number of issues. The most significant is the clearance of funding through PayPal. This issue has been resolved, although may still have some impact on successfully initiating the run on 8 October. Make no mistake: the run is going ahead, and the objective to present a pictorial petition to the G20 Summit remains a key outcome.
There are two institutional events framing this initiative- two bridge supports if you like. The United Nations Conference which commenced on 20 September and the G20 Summit in November. The last date to commence the running is 14 October should the time need to slip another few days. This would involve an (already identified) curatorial team in Seoul compiling the petition and presenting it to the G20 Summit on our behalf prior to the last leg of the 10 City Bridge Run coinciding in Seoul with the last day of the G20 Summit.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts about how the 10 City Bridge Run might be better organised, communicated and presented. I am particularly interested to know what your response is to the changing of dates. If it frustrates you or disappoints you, if you feel let down or if it challenges your confidence, or if you see this as an unwanted but inevitable part of attempting something that is difficult. Or maybe you are happy to just watch it unfold without having an opinion- that is fine as well.
Just a thought from me I ask you to consider: if you are disappointed by these date changes which have minor consequences apart from how to organise the delivery of the petition, how did you feel after the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, and how will you react in 2015 when the United Nations is called to report on the Millennium Development Goals?
Small Actions Count
It takes more than one to make a bridge. A quick word of thanks for making this journey possible.
Without the many who have supported this to date especially through sponsorship, it would have remained an idea isolated on the far bank called ‘problem’ looking across the river of opportunity to the destination called ‘possibility’.
Together, we can be part of the difference that makes a difference by making the bridges needed to ‘close the gap’.
If you are in a position to afford it, please support the 10 City Bridge Run to highlight small actions which will make a big difference in showing that the impossible can be possible. Please sponsor me with $24 here.
Goodooga. Postcode 2831
Goodooga, located 200 km from Lightning Ridge in Northern NSW has a population of around 270 people, of which more than 80% are Indigenous. Look it up yourself on googlemaps…it is real.
The town has a strong community spirit and is trying to survive by building grocery and petrol services to be run by a local cooperative.
What has this to do with extreme poverty you might ask?
Much has been written about aid- curse or cure. A lot has been written about the adoption of enterprise and design initiatives to overcome the effects of poverty (for example, child mortality in so-called “Third World Countries”). Some of the health interventions are in the form of aid, and some are made sustainable through enterprise.
These situations are complex, and not just about the grandeur of a large institution or the macro-economics of how statistics might be improved.
What actually happens among real people matters. There is no silver bullet delivered by any rock star or politician to solve these problems.
Please support the 10 City Bridge Run to highlight small actions which will make a big difference in showing that the impossible can be possible. Please sponsor me with $24 here.
Building Bridges 