Charity banner image
Running for the Kamusi Project - Nakimbia kwa Kamusi Hai
Page Creator: Martin Benjamin
Event: Hartford Marathon 2005
Fundraising Page Image
The Road Ahead (photo: Iringa, Tanzania)
About my nonprofit:
Kamusi Project at Yale University
The Kamusi Project is an undertaking of the Yale Program in African Languages and the Council on African Studies at Yale, under the auspices of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies.
Fundraising target: $14,550
So far I have raised: $3,363.35
Fundraising progress
25% 50% 75% 100%
Share this page
My personal message:
Thank you for visiting my Kamusi Marathon fundraising page for the Kamusi Project Internet Living Swahili Dictionary. I have now run the marathon, but have not yet met the fundraising target, so please click below to support this effort!

The Kamusi Project (www.yale.edu/swahili) is the premier resource for African Languages on the Internet. Swahili, the most widely spoken African language, is spoken by many of the world's greatest marathoners. The project will run out of funds on December 30 - so I trained for the Hartford Marathon to help keep it going.

RACE UPDATE: Tropical Storm Tammy drenched Connecticut on the original race day, and another deluge soaked the state during my rescheduled race. In order to fulfill my committment to the many people who have sponsored my marathon run, I therefore ran 26.2 miles by myself in the Yale gym, starting on the treadmill and ending on the track. I ran on October 22 and finished in a little over 4 hours. While running indoors was much more tedious and lonely than a regular road race, I am happy to report that I did finish first in my age group :-) I even added an extra lap around the track for good luck. I was able to walk up stairs when it was over, but just barely.
I ran the full marathon, which is 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometers). This was my third marathon, though the first time I've run for charity. Next time you're in a car, pay attention to how far 26.2 miles is, and then imagine running it. Then imagine the work that goes into preparing your body to be able to run that far. The Kamusi Project is in many ways a lot like a marathon. The project is building resources for African Languages, step by step, over the course of many years. If we can raise the funds, the project will keep getting better and serving more people. The project is available free to anyone, and is used every day by people around the world. Please support the project by sponsoring my run - you can sponsor me even though the run has already occurred. Consider a per-mile or a per-kilometer donation. A dollar a mile, two euros per kilometer, five pounds sterling per nautical mile, a flat pledge of $50 or $1000 - whatever you can afford will be a big help to the project. Donate what feels good, or, in the spirit of running a marathon, donate until it hurts... You make a few clicks, I run until my legs fall off, and students around the world get a free educational resource that keeps getting better. Pretty cool how that works, isn't it? When I reached those last miles, with salty sweat in my eyes, my legs screaming in pain, and 50 laps still to ahead of me, knowing I was supported by people around the world helped push me toward the finish line. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to make a contribution to my fundraising efforts. As a bonus, every dollar you contribute toward the $14,550 goal has the potential to free up an equal amount in matching funds, if the project is awarded a matching grant for which we recently applied. Two for the price of one (knock on wood) - and if enough people jump in to sponsor me after November 1, I'll run the distance again this winter! Many thanks for your support -- and please forward this to 26.2 people who you think might want to donate too!

Online Sponsors to date:
Display Name Date Amount  Comment
LJ 2/27/2006 $25.00 bahati njema 
Anke Wellnitz 2/26/2006 $25.00 Keep on running!!! 
Tom Simpson 2/19/2006 $100.00 Uendelee, mwalimu, dunia la kiswahili lakuhitaji 
Luca Refatti 2/5/2006 $25.00  
Tim Jackson 1/31/2006 $100.00 Great project, Martin. I especially like the Firefox plug-in that translates words into Swahili. 
Nick Schlaepfer 1/30/2006 $25.00  
Aaron 1/20/2006 $25.00 Asante sana! 
Sarah 1/18/2006 $25.00 Umefanya kazi kibao mpaka sa hivi, nakutakia kila la kheri!!! 
John Magoha 1/17/2006 $25.00  
JohnH 12/16/2005 $5.00 Sorry I couldn't give more (unemployed). It's a great resource. 
Torbjorn Andersson 12/9/2005 $12.00 You're right Kenneth! 
Maria Whittaker 12/6/2005 $25.00 please keep this project alive. It is important. 
J. Brass 12/5/2005 $25.00 Excellent Idea - THANKS! 
John Hall 11/28/2005 $100.00  
maryb 11/24/2005 $50.00 Good luck! 
Lauren Anderson 11/19/2005 $100.00 Hongera! 
John Ho 11/19/2005 $50.00  
Linda Harrison 11/19/2005 $100.00 Thank you for helping me learn Swahili for my trip to Arusha. 
Eric G 11/16/2005 $26.35 mazel tov! 
Aleksandra Ciric 11/5/2005 $20.00 Asante sana! 
Patrick Hughes 11/3/2005 $50.00  
Reiner 10/13/2005 $100.00 Kimbia! 
Majji 10/12/2005 $50.00 Heri and Fanaka! 
Irving Adler 10/7/2005 $100.00  
S. Walshaw 10/7/2005 $30.00 Bahati njema 
kombamwiko 10/6/2005 $100.00 Heko! Heko! Bwana Benjamin 
Kabiri 10/6/2005 $50.00 Kazi ni Kazi, hongera bw.!  
Ndegwa 10/6/2005 $25.00 keep up the good work 
shakur 10/6/2005 $20.00 endelea na kazi nzuri 
Sean O'Rourke 10/6/2005 $25.00 Best wishes with the marathon! 
Anonymous 10/6/2005 $15.00  
Jodi Lea Richardson 10/5/2005 $100.00 bahati njema! 
bob 10/4/2005 $50.00 good luck 
Anonymous 10/4/2005 $25.00  
Breandan de Roiste 10/4/2005 $50.00 I wish you all the best and thank you for your support of the Kamusi Project. 
Justin Bell 10/4/2005 $50.00  
Mbaki 10/4/2005 $20.00 Endelea na kazi yako nzuri. 
Anonymous 10/4/2005 $50.00  
Karolina Hagegard 10/1/2005 $10.00 Go Swahili! 
Sera Young 9/26/2005 $15.00 Ahsante kwa kazi yako, bwana. 
T. Venturini 9/26/2005 $27.00 Good Luck in all of your endeavors 
P. Zierman 9/23/2005 $100.00  
Kaveti 9/23/2005 $104.80  
Catherine Macdonald 9/22/2005 $100.00  
awika 9/22/2005 $30.00 bahati njema! 
nyczman 9/22/2005 $75.00 Good Luck and thanks for your work on The Kamusi project 
Odhiambo 9/21/2005 $10.00 Hongera kwa kuthibiti kiswahili.....ijapokua mchango wangu duni, natumai itainua mradi. 
Crystal L. Patil 9/21/2005 $10.00  
Carl Cervone 9/21/2005 $25.00 Kimbia basi!!! 
milkah 9/21/2005 $50.00 nakutakia heri na baraka kwa mradi huu  
David Schwartz 9/21/2005 $26.00 Whether you run the marathon or not, I hope the project will continue to run 
Donald Parkes 9/21/2005 $25.00 Best wishes from the "Mafaili Ya Basenji" website. 
Anonymous 9/21/2005 $25.00  
Anonymous 9/20/2005 $26.20  
Dana 9/20/2005 $5.00  
jbnz 9/20/2005 $30.00 That's a loooong way to run. Good Luck! 
Jay Boss Rubin 9/20/2005 $5.00 I teach free Swahili lessons at Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Oregon.  
Michael Moncrief 9/20/2005 $25.00  
Roser 9/20/2005 $25.00 Keep on running, it's worth it! 
Anne Taylor 9/20/2005 $50.00 I run with SIAC. 
Anonymous 9/20/2005 $15.00  
Roberta Glaser 9/20/2005 $80.00 Dola mbili kwa kila kilometa. Kwa heri!! 
Mikaylah Simone 9/20/2005 $50.00 Kamusi Project has helped me with my book and I am glad to make this "flat rate" pledge amount 
Christian Siebott 9/19/2005 $250.00 Good luck and good work. 
Christiaan 9/16/2005 $25.00 Wishing you success with marathon and project 
Rachel 9/6/2005 $5.00  
IT+46 Glocal Consultancy http://www.it46.se 8/29/2005 $50.00 Next time, a marathon together! 
Caitlin S 8/27/2005 $10.00 good luck!! 
Anonymous 8/25/2005 $25.00  
Chris Dickenson 8/20/2005 $100.00  
Dr. Katrina Thompson 8/19/2005 $25.00 Kazi njema, Martin! 
Chad Gillis 8/18/2005 $30.00 A great project worthy of support.  
Pamela Ray 8/17/2005 $25.00 Each one teach one 
mchongamawe 8/17/2005 $26.00 mpendwa martin. najinaki kukusaidia kidogo tu. kila siku umeninafisi sana. asante mwalimu! 
Jacob Knight 8/11/2005 $25.00  
* Total raised online: $3,338.35
Amount raised offline: $25.00
Grand Total: $3,363.35
Edit your page
Add images, your story, videos, tags, and more.
  rss logo  | more about RSS  

  

 add to Del.icio.us   
If you find anything on this page offensive, please report it to us in confidence by clicking here

* - Transaction fees apply to this amount.