‘No Pain, No Gain’ - Follow TechSoup Global’s South African Partner in a Footrace to the Pyramids

Imagine you're running, walking, trekking through the Sahara Desert with the Great Pyramid at Giza as your goal.  This is what David Barnard, director of TechSoup Global partner NGO SANGONeT, will do October 2-8 in the “No Pain, No Gain” fundraiser for South African NGOs and the TechSoup Global Network.

The race is a seven-day, six-stage, 155 mile footrace across the hottest desert in the world, with average daily temperatures expected to reach 122°F. It is an extreme human challenge and participants will carry their own food and equipment during the race.

As they trot and trudge across the dunes, they will be accompanied by support/medical staff provided by 4Deserts.com and, in David's case, by his social media team which will blog, tweet, and post to Facebook during the 4 day journey.

The TechSoup Global Network (TSGN) is both a sponsor and a beneficiary of the run which will raise awareness about the work of TechSoup Global in Africa.  Under David's leadership, Techsoup Egypt, TechSoup Kenya and TechSoup South Africa (SANGOTeCH) will promote the network throughout the continent and lay the foundation for future TSGN initiatives there.

"At TechSoup Global we are always inspired by the difficult on-the-ground challenges faced by our partner NGOs,” says TSG co-CEO Daniel Ben-Horin, “but David's run through the Sahara Desert gives new meaning to 'challenge' and 'on-the-ground.'”

There are 100,000 nonprofit organizations in South Africa, and only a small number have ICT capacity. SANGONeT was founded in 1987 (the same year as TechSoup), with SANGOTeCH as its online technology donation portal (a partnership between SANGONeT/NGO Pulse Portal (www.ngopulse.org) and TechSoup Global).

Funds raised by David and his colleagues will also be shared with four other NGOs at the forefront of development and community work in South Africa, including the Endangered Wildlife Trust, Cancer Association of South Africa, Starfish Greathearts Foundation for orphaned children and SCORE sports for community development.

The “No Pain No Gain” campaign began on July 1, exactly 100 days to the last day of the Sahara Race October 8, and will continue until November 3, the last day of SANGONeT's “Rural Realities, Real Solutions” Conference.

David's out to raise R1 million. Follow his progress October 2-8 on Twitter and Facebook. What extraordinary lengths do you go to in support of your social benefit organization?

Photo Credit: APC Communications