August
in 2013 seems such a long time ago. Three half marathons in three weeks seems
like an eternity ago and given my recent physical escapades it is an eternity
away. I’d struggle to punch out 5kms right now and that’s not because I’ve been
lazy.
Here’s
an update on what’s been happening.
Soon
after the half marathons I headed to Sri Lanka for a month long holiday,
visiting amazing National Parks and stunning World Heritage Listed areas (eight
on one small island!!) Given every day was 80% humidity and in the mid 30’s
(about mid 90’s Fahrenheit), there was no running involved. As soon as I got
back I was off to central Australia on secondment. Yep, I’ve been in the arid
desert region for the last six months working for the Ngaanyatjarra
Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council. An Indigenous Not-For-Profit
organisation that is run by twelve indigenous women from the NPY Region (where
Northern Territory, West Australia and South Australia meet). Needless to say
temperatures in the 40’s (over 100 Fahrenheit) every day and close to no
humidity (so dry, dry, dry) is not the environment to be training for
marathons. I have managed a few small runs up here and can tell you it takes a
lot out of you, even at 6.30am before the sun has real bite.
.JPG) |
| Alice Springs Australia Day Fun Run |
The
work I have been doing up here for the Women’s Council covers the people who
live in a 375,000 square kilometre region, with 6,000 inhabitants in 26
communities. To call these places “remote” is probably an understatement, some
people travel for 12 hours to get to a meeting in Alice Springs. As one remote
worker explained – to go to “town” and buy supplies is like driving from the
North to the South of France (just to go to the shop!!!).
My
time here is nearly done and I return to Melbourne for the long Labour Day
weekend, where training for another run will begin again in earnest. I am
returning to the indigenous lands for a Festival in late March but this time it
is a fleeting visit.
 |
| Some famous rock at sunset |
Since
my last update the funds from my various affiliations have been donated to
Neuroscience Research Australia and $218.41 has been donated to them from all
my income from my various blogs.
I
am now moving to a new charity and from 1 March 2014 until at least the end of
the year I will donate all income to the NPY Women’s Council, so keep buying
books, vouchers, gear etc. by using the ads on my blogs.
This
leads me to a brand new affiliation I have managed to secure. Later this week
you will begin to see ads from Litbreaker in my templates. They are
specifically an ad network linking brands, publishers, magazines and other
literary advertisers to content publishers. Again, all income this new
affiliation brings will be donated straight to charity (the NPYWC for the
remainder of 2014). So if you see an interesting article or product on my
blogs, click through, it won’t cost you anything but it will generate
advertising income that will help others.
 |
| Mt Gillen in Alice Springs - that was a climb! |
I’m
hoping to put in place another fund raising activity for the NPYWC before the
year is out, it’s just a case of working out the best event, best way to raise
funds, greatest coverage I can get etc. before I announce anything.
If
you’re interested in the work that this wonderful organisation does in remote
central Australia, you can read more at the website http://www.npywc.org.au/
