From Steven Funk & Jean-Louis Juchault

Dear friends,

I am extremely proud to announce that our upcoming participation in the 2009 East African Safari Rally will be in an effort to support the JamiiBora Trust and the Microcredit Summit in a fund raising action.

Consequently our racing car, a 504 Peugeot Coupé V6, will be fully decorated on behalf of these two institutions.

For this purpose, we have launched a dedicated website www.race4change.org for online donations.

JamiiBora (www.jamiibora.org)  is a microcredit organisation founded 10 years ago by Ingrid Munro, a Swedish lady living in Kenya, with the purpose of giving access to credit to the very poor. This institution, that was started by lending a few dollars to 50 beggars, has 240,000 members today and enables 1.4 million people to remove themselves from poverty.

The Microcredit Summit (www.microcreditsummit.org) was launched more than 15 years ago by Sam Daley-Harris. He is the advocate for Microcredit around the world, and has been, in particular, one of the first supporters of Muhammad Yunus, the “father” of microcredit and the 2006 Peace Nobel prize winner and Grameen bank founder. Its current objectives are to ensure that 175 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of those families, are receiving credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the end of 2015, and that 100 million families rise above the US$1 a day threshold, between 1990 and 2015.

Every day, these two organizations revolutionize the long-term fight against poverty and against dependency. Thanks to their efforts, not only millions of people move away from poverty, but also regain their dignity, an unavoidable condition of human development.

Their actions and accomplishments give us all renewed and continued faith in humanity.

100% of funds raised will go to them, as Steven and I will finance the total cost of the race.

Help us help them. Please help Ingrid Munro and San Daley Harris by making a donation, whether in our name, or in the name of another favourite driver.  We will be able, if you allow, to track you as an individual (co-driver) and pit crews (assembled groups) who cause the most contributions and will be providing significant REWARDS for the biggest achievers.  We will also be providing regular and live feeds during the race and real time feeds of the car as it is finalized, shipped to Africa and tested every day or two beginning today.

With sincere gratitude,

Steven Funk & Jean-Louis Juchault

PS: As usual, we will compensate our Carbon emissions by donating to the Yan Arthus-Bertrand program at www.actioncarbone.org

Written by :

Dan Lundmark