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Lend me thine ears, oh yee friends and philanthropists! The problem with exercises in largesse today, as we see it, is the total lack of any risk to life and limb. No longer satisfied with checkbook activism, R. Montague Whiting III, J. Peter Gabriel, and Ms. Michelle Medina are setting out to dominate the Rickshaw Run, charity's answer to how we can make a truly grand, pointless gesture on behalf of the less fortunate. Three feckless wanderers tearing across the Sub-Continent in September 2011, with naught but their moxie and seven horsepower's worth of India's finest in transportation luxury. From Shillong to Jaisalmer, we'll be racing against some 90 other teams, the inevitable breakdown of our autorickshaw, and our own seemingly preternatural ability to get into trouble. All for the benefit of FRANK Water Projects, the only decent piece of this entire equation. FRANK Water funds sustainable clean water projects in developing countries around the world. The organization was founded by Katie Alcott in 2005, after she visited India and contracted dysentery. Coming back to the UK she realised that by selling ethical bottled water she could use the profits to fund new clean water facilities for villages in need. Today, FRANK Water funds projects throughout India and the world, and is helping to bring clean drinking water to the people who need it most every day. You can visit their website here: www.frankwater.com We're asking for help to reach our charitable goal - 1,000 British pounds, which translates to roughly $3.6 Billion in U.S. currency. All donations will go directly to FRANK water. Look, we'd be going on the trip anyways. Someone, anyone, anywhere should benefit from this completely reckless endeavor. In a world where 4,000 children die every day from not having adequate water, the solution seems obvious. We're risking our lives for the children. To donate, please click the donations bar on the left side of this page. So please, visit our donation page and help us in our quest to risk death and dismemberment for something other than our own sense of adventure. Think of all that delicious tap water you enjoy every day. Think of all the people who don't have that same, simple resource. Think of three idiots on three wheels, trying like hell to do something about it. Think of the tax deduction. Think of the children.
, Raja Talab, Raipur, ChhattisgarhRecieved by SMS at 18th September 2011 at 10:07
Log in to leave a comment. , Raja Talab, Raipur, ChhattisgarhRecieved by SMS at 18th September 2011 at 06:35
Log in to leave a comment. Uttar Pradesh, IndiaRecieved by SMS at 18th September 2011 at 05:52
Log in to leave a comment. Uttar Pradesh, IndiaRecieved by SMS at 17th September 2011 at 19:37
Log in to leave a comment. Uttar Pradesh, IndiaRecieved by SMS at 17th September 2011 at 10:06
Log in to leave a comment. Uttar Pradesh, IndiaRecieved by SMS at 16th September 2011 at 20:59
Log in to leave a comment. Kochas, IndiaRecieved by SMS at 16th September 2011 at 12:36
Log in to leave a comment. Bihar, IndiaRecieved by SMS at 16th September 2011 at 04:28
Log in to leave a comment. The Late Edition: On Our Late AdditionsPosted by Robert at 26th August 2011 at 16:44
As is wont to happen, our team has experienced a little funny math. Subtractions and additions, as it were. No longer will J. Peter Gabriel be along for the ride - a dropout as tragic as it is disappointing. But an 11th-hour substitution has been found! One that we may be thanking our lucky stars for, should we decide to contract some obscure malady from the far reaches of the Deccan Plateau or the gutters of Mumbai. Please welcome....
Our new Co-Pilot and Chief Officer of Sugary Mischief, Ms. K. L. Hetherington. Would you rather date someone you met off the internet, or pilot a three-wheeled death trap across India with them? We'll take the latter option, please. So will she, apparently. A dark horse in the truest sense of the word, Ms. Hetherington brings a wealth of international experience to our little endeavor. Scandinavian university? Check. Southeast Asian adventures? Check. Consulting for the UN? Check. A U.S. native with some extremely itchy travel feet, Kristina Louise has taken this comedy of errors from Two Men and a Lady to Three's Company in one fell swoop. She promises to be an absolutely perfect piece of the puzzle. Really, the only concern here is her overwhelming competence. We certainly didn't sign up for this with comfort in mind. Fortuately, I have been assured that should I manage to pilot our tuk tuk into a snake pit, she will provide me only with sarcastic remarks about objects in the mirror being closer than they appear. How accommodating.
Log in to leave a comment. Stand Up and Be CountedPosted by Robert at 5th May 2011 at 19:05
The team is assembled. It seems appropriate to introduce you, our loyal readers and potential donors, to the perfectly intelligent people who, come September, will abandon common sense, ignore the pleas of their mothers, and pile into a vehicle with all the cojones of your average riding lawnmower. All three dead set on... something. Fortune and glory? Too Spielburg. Serenity? Too EatPrayLove. Personal growth and expansion? Please. Let's go with Raw, Unadulterated Visceral Experience. Our trio of intrepid intruders first met in Morocco. It was the magical spring of 2004: "Toxic" had returned Britney Spears to the top of the Billboard charts, and everywhere college students were starting to sign on to a little-thought-of website called Facebook. Morocco has a way of making one comfortable in chaos, and our three drank deep the minty Kool-Aid of the Middle East's Far West. They kept in touch lo these many years, and when the opportunity was presented to reunite for an even more reckless adventure, they jumped on board.
Ms. Michelle Medina fell so hard for Morocco, she decided to stick around. So after graduating from Smith in 2005, she made her way back. She lives in Casablanca to this day, with a beautiful kid, a high rise, and a budding film career, telling stories from the Land where the Sun sets. Her latest project is an award-winning documentary chronicling a father-son pair of hip hop prodigies from the Moroccan streets, and their struggle to break into the music industry. "All I Wanna Do" is nominated for Best Documentary in a feature film and Michelle Medina for Best Director at the 2011 World Music and Independent Film Festival this August in Washington, DC. Check the teaser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy2B2Qq9_l0 Michelle is not one to dampen spirits. Halfway between a fly on the wall and an agent provocatuer, there is no better historian for this adventure. As beautiful inside as she is out, Ms. Medina is the cherry on top of this ice cream and insanity sundae.
A passion for surprising one's self and ever-increasing world weariness make for a dangerous cocktail. Especially for a stubborn bastard such as R. Montague Whiting, III. Stubborn enough to finish a law degree, and restless enough to waste it teaching people how to ski in Colorado's front range. Mr. Whiting's dissatisfaction with this state of affairs made it only too easy a decision to traipse across the globe this September, hop on a souped up lawnmower, and pray for the best. His biggest challenge was making sure the folks will look after his dog while he's away. Robert pictures himself as the voice of reason. This is due to a complete lack of personal perspective. Any sensible voice of reason would have nixed this entire idea, right from the start. It's certainly not a resume builder. Really, he just excels at rationalizing things, so he has latched onto the charitable aspect of the Rickshaw Run and is riding it all the way to India. And back, hopefully. But you never know. How's the skiing over there? Wish him as much luck as you do the others in this sordid bevy of Tuk Tuk pilots. They might not make it out alive, but they'll definitely make it interesting. Log in to leave a comment.
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