Who

CHRIS JACKSON

My name is Chris Jackson.

Every year, i set myself the goal of completing a challenge and raising money for charity.

2010  is slightly different. I’ve set myself the ambitious target of running twelve marathons in twelve months, to raise awareness of the current crisis in the Congo.

Whilst at university i spent every available opportunity studying African politics and specifically the Great Lakes Region. My interest began in Rwanda, but as i began reading more and more, i took an interest in the DRC. What struck me was that a prominent feature of the conflict was the use of sexual violence to degrade, destroy and crush the spirits and lives of those trapped in the conflict.

I think to make an informed view on a subject you have to witness it firsthand,  so last summer I headed over to Goma in DRC and I was enormously struck by what I saw and heard – it’s one thing reading about it, it’s a whole different ball game when you speak to someone face to face.

I left the DRC keen to do something, even if it was just to inform friends and family about what’s occurring out there.

DOMINIC GOGGINS

My name is Dom Goggins and, like Chris, I’ve set myself the goal of running a marathon in the Congo and making people aware of the conflict and crisis in the DRC.

My studies and general interest in development have grounded me in African politics, but through Chris’ endeavours this year I have come to learn about the horror and injustice visited on the Congolese people by two decades of forgotten, violent conflict.

I can’t live with this.

It may be thousands of miles away, deep in another continent, but we have to try and make people aware.  So I’m going with him, to run the first ever marathon in the Congo.  To see for myself what is going on out there and, I hope, to be part of something that creates enough awareness of what is happening out there that something can be done.