The charities

Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is delighted to be a beneficiary charity for the seventh consecutive year at the Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon. Mercy Corps is an international development charity that works in over 40 countries worldwide helping people to turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty and conflict into opportunities for progress.

This year ...

The Artemis Charitable Foundation will distribute 80% of the 2011 Quadrathlon funds raised to Mercy Corps. These funds will help prevent starvation and provide income for people in Timor-Leste — the poorest country in Asia.

The Need ...

In 2002, Timor-Leste (formerly known as East Timor) officially became the world’s newest nation after 24 years of Indonesian control. As well as being one of the world's youngest countries, Timor-Leste is also one of the world's poorest. With fertility rate of 6.53 children per woman, adult literacy at less than 50% and 70% of people living on less than $2/day, Timor-Leste ranks 162nd (among 182) on the UNDP Human Development Index and is the poorest country in Asia. 65% of the population is chronically malnourished, particularly children under the age of 5.

The Issues ...

Over 80% of the people in Timor-Leste rely on agriculture for both food and income. Most are subsistence farmers, struggling to survive. They face these issues:

• Families are unable to successfully manage their assets and food needs to provide for the long-term, resulting in post-harvest losses and food insecurity.
• Farmers have insufficient technical skills to increase agricultural production.
• Little or no finance is available to struggling farms
• The market economy is fragmented, making access to it difficult for the local population.
• The country lacks vital irrigation systems.

How will the 2011 Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon help?

The 2011 Quadrathlon will enable 22,500 people in 2 of the most vulnerable districts of the country to break out of the cycle of poverty, grow sustainable crops and generate an income for their families. The programme will work with small-scale farmers, providing technical support and specialised training to make sure families and communities develop sustainable agricultural yields to provide for themselves and for future generations. Increased food production, improved storage practices and sales from surplus crops will help meet immediate food security needs, while sustainable market and community-based support systems will ensure long-term needs are met. This will be achieved through the following activities:

• Using a ‘two & one’ agricultural strategy where at least 2 food crops and 1 cash crop are planted, creating both food and income security.
• Working with farmers to create farming action plans and conduct extensive training.
• Working with local government to plan and fund irrigation schemes.
• Working with local women to provide household management training and support them as they replicate with neighbouring communities.
• Identifying markets and facilitating market linkages to see surplus crops.

Impact ...

This project is of extreme importance in Timor-Leste, a little-known country in tremendous need of substantial development. In some areas, Mercy Corps is the only international NGO present, which makes the Quadrathlon contribution even more vital. Extensive training, the involvement of local government, and the capacity building of local authorities and NGOs will all ensure the sustainability of the project. This means that the effects will continue for generations to come, long after the pain of the Quadrathlon has been forgotten!

The European Commission has already committed £872,000 (80%) of the total budget, conditional on Mercy Corps securing the remaining £217,000. Every penny from the Quadrathlon will therefore leverage 4 times its value in programme worth.

Further information on the 2011 Quadrathlon project can be found at www.mercycorps.org.uk/AGKQ2011

Last year ...

The 2010 Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon raised over £180,000 to help 9,000 indigenous Guatemalan farmers build a life free from poverty. Following the Quadrathlon, Carlos Aquino, Rural Development Programme Manager, Mercy Corps, Guatemala, sent the following message to participants:

Dear Participants of the Quadrathlon,

On July 10th I participated in the Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon. I’m glad that I had the chance to visit your country and meet with all you. I would like to thank you for attending this event. I enjoyed all activities of this fantastic occasion, specifically the hill walk. The Guatemalan indigenous population faces severe difficulties, such as discrimination, land insecurity, lack of access to health and social services and basic infrastructure. Furthermore, as a consequence of the drastic effects of natural disasters, many of the indigenous communities suffer from starvation. Indigenous people need various forms of assistance to overcome these challenges and make positive and sustainable changes in their lives.

The donated money raised by you will help indigenous communities to receive training, technical assistance and support for farming and economic activities, improving their housing conditions, taking part in basic education and will start to believe in themselves as important, capable actors of change. Thank you very much.

Best wishes,
Carlos Aquino, Rural Development, Programme Manager, Coban, Guatemala.

For further information about Mercy Corps please visit www.mercycorps.org.uk

Mary's Meals

Mary’s Meals is delighted to be a beneficiary of the 2011 Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon. Mary’s Meals is an international movement, setting up and supporting school feeding projects in communities where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education. Scottish International Relief (SIR), the charity which runs Mary’s Meals, grew out of an appeal for food and blankets for refugees in Bosnia in 1992. It was initiated by two brothers from Argyll in Scotland, Magnus and Fergus McFarlane-Barrow. The overwhelming response to their appeal quickly led to the establishment of a registered overseas aid charity.

The Artemis Charitable Foundation will distribute 20% of the 2011 Quadrathlon funds raised to Mary’s Meals. The funds will go towards Mary’s Meals feeding programme in Malawi.

The Mary’s Meals story started in Malawi during the chronic famine of 2001/2002. Magnus visited a poor family where the father had died of Aids and the mother was in the final stages of the disease. In talking to the eldest of her 6 children, a boy called Edward, Magnus was told his greatest hope was to have enough food to eat and a chance to go to school. We believe this is the basic right of every child. It’s not charity, but justice.

Mary’s Meals has fulfilled Edward’s wish by providing a daily meal in a place of education to hundreds of thousands of hungry children. This looks after their today AND their tomorrow by offering them a route out of poverty. The UN states that: “Educated children are more likely to be able to feed themselves and their families in adulthood” and Mary’s Meals is therefore an investment in children and their country’s future.

Mary’s Meals works in 16 countries across the world and feed 460,000 children each school day. Malawi remains our priority country. Through your contribution you will help us with our project there. Here we feed over 390,000 children, that’s just below 14% of the primary school population. Everywhere we introduce Mary’s Meals we see enrolment shoot up by an average 10-12%, attendance levels improve and children start to pass exams for the first time. Their general health improves and hunger is no longer a barrier to learning. There are many other reasons why our project in Malawi is so successful. We are not a crisis feeding organization so the local community knows that we are there to stay until they no longer need us. We respect the children’s culture by offering them a meal made out of locally produced maize called Likhuni Phala. It’s a fortified porridge type mix. Buying locally supports local farmers. We insist on community involvement in the school feeding. Volunteers come to cook and serve the food to the children, keeping costs low and giving a strong sense of community ownership.

The Malawian Government adopted a policy of Universal School Feeding in 2009, which shows their commitment to the benefits of school feeding to the children of Malawi. However they are currently reliant on Mary’s Meals to fund and deliver the programme in many of its schools. We currently feed in 270 schools. With your help we will get to many,many more.

Mary’s Meals is committed to keeping running costs at an absolute minimum so that the majority of donations can go to our projects overseas and reach those in need. Mary’s Meals is committed to spending no more than 6p on Fundraising and 1p on Governance of every £1 donated, leaving 93p to spend on its charitable causes. Here is the most incredible fact of all. It costs us just £6.15 to feed a child in Malawi for a whole school year. You can see exactly where the money you raise will go and how many children in Malawi you will have helped us feed. On their behalf, allow us to thank you for what you are about to do.

For further information about the work of Mary’s Meals please contact Julie Gelson, Mary’s Meals, 97a Hawthorn Street, Glasgow, G226HY, tel: 0141 336 7094. If you would like promotional materials to assist you in your fundraising, contact info@marysmeals.org