This trip to Africa and Europe was much more than a race in the Sahara Desert. It was a tremendous ministry trip for me - meeting so many people in the desert as well as after the Marathon des Sables.

The Marathon des Sables was something else this year.  Much was different and I suppose much went wrong, but also much went right.  Rains, heavy rain would you believe in the Sahara Desert. It rained heavy duty as we (840 runners) were enroute to the southern part of Morocco - riding in 18 buses into the Atlas Mountains, planning to arrive in the Nowhere Sands of the Sahara by late afternoon.  We met up with a raging river crossing the road.  All support vehicles including about 100 jeeps, many army trucks carrying supplies like Berber tents and other crew tents, 44 doctors and medical equipment, tons of water, laptop computers to set up a classroom, big Safari (Dakar-Paris Rally) food trucks, and much more had to go to the first set up camp in the desert.  We waited 3 hours and the 150 meter wide and 40 cm deep river still raged on.   One jeep washed away and who knows where the driver ended up.  Finally after three hours wait, one big truck tried it again. He made, and then the buses tried it. We moved all our luggage up into the passenger area of the bus, and the driver left the luggage doors open, so when he drove through this rushing river, the water could run through the luggage area of the bus as we drove along the water road slowly and in excitement and a little fear.  We made it.

150 runners had made it to the first bivouac Berber tent area, only to find out that it was impossible to sleep there, it was impossible even to walk in this muck. Some tents had washed away and so these runners all had to be rescued out of this area, to be brought to Erfoud, a small city in S. Morocco at the edge of the big Sahara Desert. We all ended up in Erfoud, all 18 buses and all other vehicles.  We were about 1200 people.  Now what?  Where do 1200 people just suddenly check in, in the desert?  We all got booked into various Hotels, lower class Hotels.  It continued to rain, lightning flashing and the thunder was rumbling.   Next day - what now, no one really knew. In the evening we were told the first day was cancelled and we were wondering whether the whole race would be cancelled.   We stayed in this Tafalilet Hotel for three nights, before we could go out to the desert to run.  All things were different than other times of the MdS.  The sad thing was now that many runners got sick from either the salad, food or the water in the rooms. I know I brushed my teeth and that is where I think I got the bacteria.   Some runners got sick before they ever started. For me it was a tough day one due to lack of energy already. The great thing about the first day of running was that it was “dune” day with 20 of the 30 km being huge dunes.

The following night was extremely cold. It was 5 degrees and my sleeping bag was too thin.  I was losing more energy plus I got a terrible case of diarrhea.  I lost more electrolytes and froze. Next morning I was worried and did not know what to do. I had given up mentally already.  I went to see the doctors and they asked if I had a fever - I said no.  Then they said give it a try.  I went out to the start and I was weak. I continued for about 10 -12 km and with every step I got weaker.   I got blurred vision and started to weave out to the left and right and could not stay on the course. I sort of half fell down and then a USA soldier who had fought in Iraq saw me. He asked me how I was doing - “not good” I told him about my vision and so he asked whether he should shoot off my French Military Emergency flare gun.   I said yes - why not.  He seemed enthused to do that until he found out that my flare gun was faulty (had water in it) and so when he pulled the cord, the bottom opened up and about 10-20% shot out at the bottom hitting him in the stomach, injuring and cutting his stomach - burnt a hole in his T-shirt.  The majority of the flare went up and in about 7 minutes two doctors came on a Quad and 2 more doctors came in a jeep from the other direction.  They immediately checked my heart and BP and my blood pressure was very low.   Then they hooked me up to an IV - ran 2 bags into me, transported me to CP 1 where they gave me 2 more bags, and here I began to shake with some “Schuttelfrost”.   Then I was taken to the main camp, where the doctors continued the IV a total of 8 bags, four liters till I could pee again.   They did an ultra sound on my return vein and the computer showed that is was basically flat, indicating serious dehydration.   I was out of the race after 5 hours of treatment in the desert field “hospital”.   Now the initial disappointment hit me.   Feet were repaired as well after this.  I could now go to my Berber tent and rest. My role now changed to one of encouraging my team mates, Walter and Dale. I missed out on the 91 km stretch and the last days run of 42 km.   What a big disappointment.  I wept for 25-20 minutes during the night.  I was recovering now.

The MdS however was not over. Soon I was able to smile again and I became positive.  In fact I had laughed and smiled at the time I was lying in the sand with the IV hooked up, some one told me.

I met some very nice people in the desert. Runners from Australia, Spain and Germany and other countries became friends.  We shared email addresses and the life continued.  Make the best of it.  Continue to promote the good cause of  Water for Life.  How weird that the fund raising project sub title is Turning Sand Into Water - Well, water we had when it rained before we had sand.

The time in Germany was absolutely wonderful. So many new runners’ contacts.  Visiting a runner medical doctor in Wuppertal was so meaningful and wonderful where I stayed two nights.  Then the presentation meetings in Southern Germany were so exciting and well attended.  Over 100 runners and business friends came out to hear my one hour presentation.   Several articles were written in the Germany newspapers about my experiences.  The fund raising project continues.  The friendships continue.

The project is to continue till we raise funds for 3 wells in Benin, Africa.

Albert Martens

In one village where a well had recently been drilled, one woman shared how this water had made a big difference in village life:

“Before we had this well, we had to walk far to get water that was brown and dirty, and sometimes it had dried up completely.  We knew that this water made us sick when we drank it, but we had no choice.  Water from this well is close by, easy to get, and is always clean!  We can be healthy again!”

What a privilege and a joy it was for us to be part of a ceremony in Benin with the Beninese Ambassador to Canada and the Beninese Minister of Water and Energy, celebrating the 100^th well.  One hundred wells means that up to 100 000 people now have close access to fresh, clean water!  On that day, we and the Beninese could say with joy and relief, “Water is Life!”

Water is Life!  Please join us and help bring it to other villages in Benin, Tanzania, and Southern Sudan!

To read more about water wells in Benin, please read the latest report

Albert Martens treks on in blistering heat during a desert marathon

The “Marathon Des Sables” (Marathon of the Sands) is a 7 day, 230 km race through the deep south-Moroccan part of the Sahara desert.  This year, the 24th annual Marathon Des Sables runs from March 26 - April 6, 2009.   In 2008, 801 runners from 32 countries competed.  The physical conditions are extreme and the stress is intense…50 of these amazing athletes dropped out, unable to complete the race.

Marathon Conditions

Ø      Running on sand…no tracks or roads

Ø      Extreme distances, up to 80 km each day

Ø      Huge sand dunes - Day 3 is 15-20 km of dunes, hundreds of metres high, passable only on foot.

Ø      Runners must be self sufficient, carrying food in backpacks during the race.

Ø      9 litres of water per day provided at checkpoints that runners find as they run.

Ø      A compass helps navigate the course, and at day’s end runners sleep in native tents pitched on the sand and stones.

“Mental challenge is crucial & preparation is important-it makes or breaks the race.  Thousands of thoughts go through your mind when you’re in the wilderness, running thru this brutal area.  Sandstorms can be very rough.”

Together, we can help Albert, Dale and Walter turn desert sand into Water for Life!

Water for Life

Today, water-related diseases kill a child every 20 seconds, and are responsible for 80% of all illnesses and deaths in the developing world. (click here to watch the new Water for Life video)

Water…something you and I take for granted, is worth more than money or precious stones. Clean water is health.  Water is Life. And ironically, water can also be a source of death. Diseases, like cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever, and guinea worm parasites plague too many men, women, and children. They spend their days suffering through extreme abdominal cramping, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and headaches.

However, the provision of clean, un-contaminated drinking water through the drilling of deep-capped water wells can end this cycle of suffering and death!  A village elder was asked what a difference the well had made to his African village:

“My people are no longer weakened by sickness and weary from their daily water excursions. Instead of spending 5 hours a day packing water, children are able to spend more time in school and women are able to spend more time tending their crops and performing other income-producing activities.”

Abundant fresh water gushes from a newly-drilled GAiN water well

Goals

One of our main goals is to raise funds to help people in poverty.  Athletes in Action, partnering with GAiN Canada and compassionate donors, can help transform people’s lives by bringing something as simple as fresh clean water.  GAiN’s Water for Life initiative has already drilled 140 water wells in Africa and up to 140,000 people are drinking pure, clean water! This year we runners want to raise funds to provide 3 water wells through GAiN Canada.  Knowing that these wells will provide water for up to 3,000 people for generations will be incredible motivation for us to endure the difficult conditions.

Is the suffering worth it?

“I think about the blistered feet…we’ll have blistered, bloody feet that will be pushed to the limit.  That’s a little bit of suffering, but it’s so temporary, compared to the suffering of children in Africa.  Such sweet children, through no fault of their own, suffer long term.  Our blisters will heal in 2 or 3 days, but that’s nothing compared to the suffering of sickness that African children endure every day from drinking disease-ridden water.”

Clean water brings health, hope and life!

Join the race!

“Please join us to fund water wells by donating to GAiN Canada.  One well will serve up to 1000 people for generations.  A donation of $13.33 will help underwrite our marathon expenses and provide fresh, clean water for one person for life!  We want to raise funds for 3 wells, bringing fresh water, life, and hope to 3000 people.  With the 3 of us running, compassionate people contributing donations, and GAiN drilling water wells, I’m confident that together we will make a difference in bringing pure, clean water, health, hope and life to African children!”

Please click here to join Albert, Dale and Walter in the race to bring fresh water, life, and hope!

Malungo, in the coastal Linde region, is one of the first villages in Tanzania where GAiN drilled a water well. Recently a visiting Canadian drilling team spent a few days in Malungo with our local GAiN drilling team, supplementing their drilling technique training. The visiting team drove to Malungo with Isack, our project manager. Several kilometers from the village, they began to see women with buckets making their way to the village. When Isack told the Canadians that these women were walking to Malungo just to get water from the newly drilled well, they didn’t believe them right away. As the truck came nearer to the village, the numbers of women increased, and once in the village, these numbers formed a lineup to the new water well pump. Now convinced, the Canadian team really took note that this well was a “going concern”, bringing life-giving water to dozens of families. What impacted the team even more, though, was the fact that over the several days that they spent in Malungo, the lineup was always there - a steady stream of women flowed through, counting it worth the walking for hours and the time waiting in line, in order to have pure, fresh water for their families. To get an even larger scope of the difference this is making to this area, Isack confirms that people from 8 surrounding villages are now coming to Malungo to get their water!

1. Persons left homeless - 20,356.
2. Families that have lost everything - 4,212
3. Dead - 66 (including 35 children)
4. Injured - 309
5. Missing - 19
6. Houses destroyed - 410
7. Houses damaged - 1,250

With these tragic needs in only one city, the Haitian government is unable to respond to the needs of the thousands of people throughout the island, including Gonaives, Jacmel, Hinche etc..

With of the compassionate partnership of people like you, GAiN has been able to provide funding to our in-country partners who are cooperating in teams with local churches and are responding to meet people’s needs in Cabaret and in other areas. The emergency response packages being distributed contain rice, beans, pasta, cooking oil, canned fish, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other hygiene items. The food portion of the packages provides a family of 5 with enough for a week.

Last week, a team of 13 distributed 215 packages to needy people in the Cabaret area. Also last week our in-country team was present for the “wake” which is a traditional Haitian way of mourning the dead, preceding the funeral for all those killed by the huricanes.

Village of Adjagbo

Adjagbo is a village at about 25 km from the capital of Benin, Cotonou. GAiN drilled a well there in July 2007.

“We are so happy that we can’t thank Global Aid Network enough. Our village is big and we are numerous in it but we did not have clean water to drink. We use to take water from a hand-dug well. The water is contaminated and makes us sick. This dirty water could not even cover the needs of the whole village. Life was very difficult for us during dry seasons. We are all now very happy for new well. Its water is clean and good to drink. One more time, we thank Global Aid Network.” Village Chief, Adjabgo

Village of Hahame

Hahame is a village at about 100 km from Cotonou, not far from a lake called Aheme. The lake is salt water and any well drilled in the area usually yields salty water, difficult to drink and very bad for washing with. People usually also become sick after drinking this water. When the GAiN drill team went to the village to drill a well, the people knew that the water quality would never be good. But they were surprised! The well was completed in January 2007, yielding abundant, clean and sweet water. It was unbelievable but true, to the happiness of all the villagers.

Village of Matokou

The problem of lack of water was very crucial in the village of Matokou. The people had been drawing water from ponds and became very sick after drinking it. Even when the Government drilled a well for the village, the well water was red and was still undrinkable. The villagers are very happy today because they still have good drinking water from the GAiN drilled well, completed in December 2006.

Village of Govie

(water well completed in December 2005)

“The water well given to us has helped our villagers very much. We used to go as far as 4 km to fetch water at the stream. Now that we have a well here in the village, everybody is happy to have clean water.” Village Chief, Govie

Village of Guede Codji

The village of Guede Codji was in a serious need of clean water when the GAiN drilling team first visited them. At the time, people were drawing water from a hand-dug well and the water was very dirty. Many times government officials came to the village and promised to drill a water well for them, but it would never happen. So when the GAiN team said the same thing the villagers did not believe them. They said, “We’ve been being told this for a long time already. People used to come and promise us this kind of thing so that we would vote for them, but they never come back after election.” Our team said that they were different people, even though they worked in partnership with the government. “We are Christians and want to share the love of God with people.”

The next time the GAiN team visited the village, they brought the drilling rig. The people were surprised, and then they believed that the GAiN team was different. In November 2005 they completed the water well, and the villagers were very happy.

Village of Adjarra Adovie

Adjarra-Adovie is a village about 35 km from Cotonou. The GAiN team completed the water well there in November 2005.

“We thank Global Aid Network for the well donated to our village. In the past we did not have good drinking water. Our people used to draw water from the lake. It was not clean and made people sick. Today our lives are saved in that we have clean drinking water which doesn’t make us sick.” Resident of Adjarra-Adovie

1. To date, $483,154 USD has been donated by compassionate partners like you!
2. Seven 40 ft containers of humanitarian aid have arrived in Myanmar and are in the process of clearing customs and/or being transported to the affected area.
3. Eight 40 ft containers from international GAiN offices are en-route to Myanmar and another 14 containers are being prepared shipping. The content of each container is valued @ $100k - $800k US)
4. GAiN Worldwide was able to send a Natural Disaster Relief Expert to Myanmar and able to train more than 200 volunteers to help effectively distribute aid to victims
5. 15 Relief Teams with more than 100 volunteers have been and are:
   • distributing the humanitarian relief goods (7 truck loads)
   • repairing and rebuilding houses, churches and roads
   • organizing worship and prayer services for the desperate and needy people in disaster areas
   • taking local medical teams into affected areas and treating patients
   • providing financial help to needy people as appropriate
6. GAiN relief teams were able to feed and provide aid to thousands of refugees in the Maubin relief camp.
7. GAiN relief teams were able to provide relief goods and able to feed 10,000 prisoners and prison guards and their families from 3 different locations affected by the cyclone.
8. GAiN Worldwide had the unique privilege of donating 50 new hospital beds to the Insein prison on the 4th of August, home to around 6800 inmates.
9. GAiN Worldwide was able to send a Water Purification System Expert to Myanmar and train 50 volunteers to set up water purification units. That team was able to set up 7 purification units in 7 different villages in the affected Delta Region. Each $2000 unit provides clean water to an entire village without any ongoing cost.
10. GAiN worldwide is rebuilding in 6 adopted villages in Pyapon area. To date, 2 new schools have been completed and students are attending classes there. Another 2 schools are expected to be finished this month with another 2 schools scheduled to start construction soon.
11. GAiN Worldwide was able to distribute 1,500 backpacks to the students from six schools in the six adopted villages. Each backpack contained stationery items, a rain coat and a colorful booklet of 25 Bible stories.
12. GAiN Worldwide was able to distribute 750 rice bags worth USD $10,000 to the students and villagers in six villages.
13. GAiN Worldwide is rebuilding 120 houses in the following villages;
    • Thalate Kyee
    • Thalate Lay
    • Thalate Chaung Pya
    • Thalate Tu Myaung
    • Pho Swar
    • Mae Nyo

New School Built in Village

Aid Helps Break the Cycle of Poverty

The summer months of June and July are the best months to distribute food while encouraging self-sufficiency. During these months there is no other food available, and crops planted earlier still have a couple of months’ growing before harvest in the fall. Without a store of food to distribute to people in this 2 month window, people have no choice but to eat their crops before they have had a chance to ripen. This means that there is no seed left to save to plant for a crop the next year. In this scenario, the cycle of poverty stays entrenched as the same vicious cycle repeats itself. Having GAiN containers of non-perishable food stored and ready to distribute during these needy months means that this cycle can be broken!

Health Returns to Mundri County

Eighteen months ago when a GAiN team visited Mundri county, they saw many people with acute nutritional needs, evidenced by distended bellies, poor skin quality and discolored hair (indicating a protein deficiency). On this trip, however, people have muscle rather than only skin and bone, and the team didn’t see one person in dire need of food. People’s general health in this area seems to be much improved over a year and a half ago. Our in-country partners especially remember the ardent conviction of mothers with young children or pregnant women. They make any effort necessary to be at the front of the distribution line, as they’ve seen the difference in their children’s health. There are women now pregnant who are convinced that the dried soup mix has special properties that make it possible for them to conceive! Science would tell them that prior to the food distributions, their bodies were not healthy enough to nurture a new life. These women and their children are arguably the happiest people in Mundri county.

Life-Giving Pure Water Flows to Many

Another contributor to people’s happiness and health in Mundri county is water! Fresh, pure water now gushes from 22 completed water wells, drilled by our in-country partners. When water is plentiful, social tensions decrease. When water is nearby, time is saved and able to be spent living, growing, working, playing, and learning. These new water wells give plentiful water in places which are convenient to many; up to 22 000 people can now have their water needs met by these wells! These communities are now living in the direction of self-sufficiency and stability, thanks to your compassionate partnership!

A.L.E.R.T. Trauma Counselling Saves Lives

Southern Sudan - GAiN A.L.E.R.T. staff (Acts of Love Emergency Response Team) have conducted 3 trauma counseling training seminars to date in Southern Sudan. These adult students want to be equipped to reach out and demonstrate God’s love, offering hope and emotional help to fellow Sudanese. There is an overwhelming need for this, as the entire population has seen much violence and war over 40 of the last 50 years. A required part of completing this seminar is a practicum, where for several hours students are in their communities, practicing what they’ve been learning. During this trip there were two amazing experiences as a result:

Elinda, one of the trauma counseling students, was in a village and heard several people crying inside a hut. She entered the hut to find out what was wrong and found a mother and two children crying. She began to talk to the mother, who told her that she was having a very difficult time…This was her second marriage, having been divorced before, she had no food to feed her two children, no job or money, and her current husband was not taking steps to help provide for her and the children. And, she was pregnant with a third child. Just before this conversation had started, this mother was grinding glass and putting it into some liquid. She was going to feed it to her children and drink the rest herself, seeing no hope for any of them to continue living. Elinda had walked into the tent in the nick of time. She began to talk to this mother and children, using what she had learned at the A.L.E.R.T. trauma counseling seminar, and they began to see hope again. By the end of their several hours together, Elinda was able to help this mother and her children see that they were not experiencing their pain alone and that there was a good reason to have hope for their future. As she left them, the mother and children were smiling and were looking forward to being visited by other students who could support them further.

Another of the A.L.E.R.T. seminar students was a young pastor who was heavily burdened. He finally poured out his heart to the teaching staff and some fellow students and explained that he had a wife and a little boy, but that his wife was on the verge of leaving him. A couple of the students went home with him that night and listened to and talked with his wife about how she was feeling and about her struggles. After their time together that evening, this young wife and mother decided to stay with the family! She has also made her peace with God she is full of hope!