Trio to raise cash for Cameroon charities

Dubai: An adventure with a cause — such is the experience that Faisal Khan, a 26-year-old Canadian expatriate who was raised in Sharjah, has set out to achieve.

With his comrades Wasib Mohammad and Rubendra Sidhu, he will be participating in the Africa Rally 2009.

Organised by a UK-based group called The Adventurists, the Africa Rally is a car rally from the UK to Cameroon which intends to provide fun and raise money for charity at the same time.

Opportunity

The catch is that teams are only allowed to use a car with a one-litre engine and complete the journey without any guidance from the organisers. They are expected to get out into the real world to have an experience they would only dream of — or see on television.

Currently based in Toronto, Canada, Khan believes that a life without adventure is a life unlived.

His team proudly calls themselves Idiots without Borders (IWB) and are not affected by limits or political turmoil. The adventure is an opportunity for these three young men to visit areas that are often portrayed as the most impoverished in the world.

"We could bring attention to the issues through pictures and video footage," Khan said.

At present, there are 90 teams registered in the rally, but the limit is 120. Each team must pay an entrance fee of £650 (Dh3,961) and is expected to raise at least £1,000 for charity.

This year the funds will be split between three charities in Cameroon. The first is Ape Action Africa, which rescues orphaned or injured apes and provides individual care to each. The second is Send a Cow, which maintains agriculture programmes in nine countries in Africa in order to help small-scale farmers.

Deforestation

The last is The Rainforest Foundation UK, which tackles deforestation in many countries around the world. IWB is approaching corporate donors for sponsorship and utilising their social networks to get people from around the world to support their cause.

"People can also donate through our website, www.idiotswithoutborders.ca," Khan said.

The organisers allow teams to use any means to raise the funds for the trip.

"Teams use all sorts of methods to raise charity. They write letters, organise fundraising events and get local press to publish stories of their adventures," Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent, one of the organisers of the rally, told Gulf News.

There are currently no teams registered from the Middle East.

Kent said: "We have teams from several countries and many of these have heard about the rally by word of mouth. Perhaps word of the rally hasn't reached the Middle East yet."

It is still not too late to participate in the rally. Interested candidates can log on to www.africarally.theadventurists.com to register. The rally kicks off on December 13.