Africa: maratona per non dimenticare

["Kariobangi Catholic Church" <combonikario at clubinternetk.com> (by way of Alessandro Marescotti <a.marescotti at peacelink.it>)]

ST. JOHN SPORTS SOCIETY, KOROGOCHO (SSS)
ST. JOHN CATHOLIC CHURCH, KOROGOCHO
P.O BOX 47714  00100 G.P.O NAIROBI
MOBILE: 0733702972

22ND
 JULY 2005

PRESS RELEASE

‘A MARATHON FOR NOT FORGETTING’
1000 km of solidarity
(Dar Es Salaam-Nairobi from 31.07 to 07.08.2005)

A group of 13 athletes from the St. John Sports Society, Korogocho will
be leaving the country for Tanzania on
31st
 July 2005 for a marathon. The
marathon dubbed  ‘a marathon for not forgetting’ has been
organized by the SSS athletics department to mark this year’s 1998
Bomb blast memorial. The marathon will start on
1st
 August at the Dar Es Salaam Bomb
blast site and end on
7th
 August at the Nairobi Bomb blast
site at 10 a.m.. Each of the athletes will run for 15minutes in turn. The
athletics will be accompanied by father Daniel Moschetti, the SSS
patron and the Priest in-charge of St. John Catholic Church Korogocho,
along side other SSS officials.

One may wonder the connections between the Bomb blasts which the world
has experienced over the last few years and the slums where Korogocho
belongs. However, terrorism is increasingly becoming an issue of global
communal concern. In any case, the victims are our brothers and sisters.
All of us are direct victims. The marathon will also seek to address the
question of different kinds of socio-economic terrorism that Africa is
subjected to due to inequities in global humanitarian and trade
practices.

 The marathon is an intervention of the slums, normally despised and
ignored as non-actors in addressing the problems of the world. The slums
are therefore in solidarity with the globe in addressing the tragedy of
terrorism. The SSS realized that the victims of the 1998 bomb
blasts in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam alongside other victims were
increasingly being forgotten. The previous anniversaries have been
lukewarm and only attracted a few people. As a global family, each one us
must participate in addressing this problem.

The SSS brings together ten different sports to tap the tremendous
sporting talents present in the slums of korogocho. These include:
football, volleyball, netball, basketball, tae-kwondo, karate, weight
lifting, darts and athletics. It uses sports as a tool of development and
peace building. It focuses on community work, spiritual and human
formation programmes.

ST. JOHN SPORTS SOCIETY, KOROGOCHO (SSS)
ST. JOHN CATHOLIC CHURCH,
KOROGOCHO / KARIOBANGI
P.O BOX 47714  00100 G.P.O NAIROBI
KENYA
MOBILE: 0733702972

‘A marathon for not forgetting’
1000km of solidarity

Dar Es Salaam - Nairobi

31^st July to 7^th august 2005

Tentative  Programme

31.07: Departure from St.John Catholic Church Korogocho

at 11.00 a.m.

01.08: Marathon begins at Dar Es Salaam bomb blast site at 10.00 am

01.08: Dar Es Salaam-Chalinze………………….110 km

02.08: Chalinze-Korogwe……………………….        200 km

03.08: Korogwe-Same……………………………  160 km

04.08: Same-Arusha……………………………...         180 km

05.08: Arusha-Namanga………………………… 120 km

06.08: Namanga-Kajiado………………………..        90 km

07.08: Kajiado-Nairobi…………………………..       90 km


Arrival at Nairobi bomb blast site: 10.00 a.m.