Ride for Compassion - RodneyOlsen.net

Have you got a few minutes for me to ask you a slightly odd question?

Have you ever stared evil in the face and thought, “this is unacceptable, this can’t go on”?

I have. I’ve been face to face with extreme poverty and its shocking human consequences in several countries, and while it’s been my job at Compassion Australia for over seven years to speak up for the people I’ve met and share what I’ve experienced, it’s not always easy.

I’ve seen horrors that will haunt me for the rest of my life; things I’ve never shared, even with those closest to me.

How can I stop those things becoming a burden too great to bear? I have resolved to be an agent of change and healing and you can too. If I can make even a small difference, I’ll know that I’ve spent my life well.

That’s why I’m taking part in Ride for Compassion Coast to Coast in September and October this year. I’ll be cycling 4,200 kilometres across Australia from Perth to Newcastle to provide desperately needed assistance for children and their families who live in extreme poverty.

Of course, I can train hard, and I’ll certainly have to do that, and I can ride all those kilometres, but it won’t bring worthwhile change without your help.

You are the key to my success.

It’s when you join me in saying no to the evil of poverty and stand with me to say that it’s unacceptable that together we can start transforming lives.

While we all face the very real effects of the current pandemic, the World Bank has estimated that COVID-19 will push 150 million people into extreme poverty this year. It’s the first rise in global extreme poverty in over 20 years. That’s unacceptable.

Your generous donation will touch the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our world through Compassion’s work around the world, including those ravaged by the pandemic.

I am personally seeking to raise $25,000. I really need your help to make that a reality.

I don’t know if you can manage to give $50, $500 or $5,000 but I do know that your contribution, of any amount, will put me closer to my target of $25,000.

Please don’t delay. While the ride is still some months away, your donation today will go straight to work against the unacceptable.

To donate securely go to my fundraising page now.

Another way you can help me reach my target is by sponsoring a child through Compassion. Every child that is sponsored via my fundraising page will be counted as $1,000 towards my $25,000 target. There is a button on my fundraising page that will allow you to meet your new sponsored child today.

Sponsorship gives kids safe places to play, the chance to see a doctor when they’re sick, education, and the opportunity to be known, loved and protected.

If you want to know more about donating to Compassion, or about Compassion Child Sponsorship, please get in touch. You can leave me a message in the comments section of this post or head to my contact page.

Thank you for joining me in telling poverty that we won’t let it win.

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The rain is coming. Storms too. It might get pretty wild over the next week in Perth but I’ll just stay inside.

Warm. Dry. Safe.

I wonder what it might be like for people who don’t have that option.

Sometimes when I’m drifting off to sleep I think about some of the people I’ve met who don’t have the luxury of a comfortable bed and the security of a locked door. The anxieties of the day might sometimes keep me awake but at least for those nighttime hours, I am relatively safe.

I’m not kept awake by rain falling through holes in a grass roof or localised flooding surging through my home. I’m not wondering if this is the night that someone will toss aside the iron sheet that serves as the only barrier between my family and the rest of the world, intent on stealing, destroying and causing personal harm.

This October I’m doing more than thinking about the terrible situations that many are helpless in changing. I’ll be taking on a 500 kilometre Ride for Compassion from Albany to Perth to raise funds to provide new homes for children living in dilapidated shelters in Uganda.

These children are currently living in deplorable conditions that are unsafe, unprotected from the weather, and at risk of collapse.

Staff at Ochegen Child Development Centre regularly visit the homes of Compassion assisted children to provide support. From these visits, staff have identified an urgent need to improve living conditions for 14 Compassion assisted children and their families.

I know that you and I don’t have the capacity to provide a shelter for every child living in extreme poverty around the world, but together, we can make a massive difference for the 14 families who will benefit from the funds we will raise through the ride.

The need is real and urgent.

You have the opportunity to make a tangible change for families who need your help now. Follow this link to donate now. Gifts are tax deductible in Australia and with the current financial year rapidly drawing to a close, now is the time to take action.

Projects are always based on children’s most critical needs, as determined by the local church who knows each child and their situation individually. This project was identified as essential to children’s healthy development for the following reasons:

• Most of these families earn less than US$4 per month; two families are led by single mothers who are struggling to make ends meet, relying on casual labour like gardening.

• Currently, children live in grass-thatched shelters that cannot protect them from varying weather conditions, increasing their risk of pneumonia, flu and other airborne diseases. One child describes how food often rots in their family’s house because of its damp conditions.

• Most of the families have seven members who sometimes share a shelter with their livestock. Children often share sleeping mats with their siblings. Without privacy or adequate resting space, the current living conditions have affected the children’s psychological wellbeing, emotional development and academic performance.

• In its current state, these shelters are unsafe and susceptible to collapse. The homes are constructed with grass roofs, causing poor ventilation and a daily reliance on firewood for cooking, which exacerbates the risk of fire.

Ride for Compassion 2019 will take place from the 19th to the 26th of October with around 22 cyclists and a dedicated support team travelling from Albany in the south west of Australia to Perth.

I hope that by helping to provide more suitable shelters, both you and the families who will benefit will sleep easier at night.

Please follow this link to donate now.

If you’d like more details about Ride for Compassion, just drop me a message or visit the Ride for Compassion website.

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