Happy New Year to everyone in the Free to Run community - runners, adventurers, and dreamers alike!
Since 2014, Free to Run has been charging full steam ahead, working tirelessly to support women and girls in areas of conflict through outdoor sports and leadership activities. We are so proud of how far we've come in the last five years to help build this fearless community of runners across Afghanistan and Iraq.
Of course, an essential part of that community is YOU! As we cross the finish line of 2019, I wanted to take a moment to share some of the highlights from this past year.
In 2019, we deepened our impact in exciting new ways. We created our first ever sports program for women and girls with disabilities in Afghanistan, providing 30 participants across three provinces with wheelchair racing opportunities, life skills and nutrition lessons. They came together for the first ever Paralympic Race and our own Disability & Women’s Rights Symposium.
In response to requests from the women and girls in our program, the majority of whom (90%) have experienced trauma, we created a mental health toolkit in partnership with Edgework Consulting, which will be implemented alongside a 4-month marathon training plan. Moving forward, this will be a critical component of our holistic approach to supporting women and girls in areas of conflict. It’s a uniquely-designed discussion guide for participants so that they can apply coping mechanisms into their training, and in their daily lives.
This year, we broke new boundaries by expanding programs to southern Afghanistan and Mosul, Iraq - two areas that are well known for their culture of conservatism around women’s rights. Running our program in these areas has been challenging, but we’re inspired by the doors that are opening and look forward to continued progress in 2020.
Continuing the list of ‘firsts’, we brought women from around the country on an expedition to the remote Wakhan Corridor in northeastern Afghanistan, we saw a record levels of female participation for the Marathon of Afghanistan, and we organized a camping expedition to Bradost Mountain in Iraq. These were just a few achievements that helped us get shortlisted for a prestigious Beyond Sports Gender Equality Award.
We are heading into 2020 ready for the challenges and adventures that lay ahead. We've set some ambitious goals, but we'll need your help to get us there!
As you consider your year-end charitable donations, or your New Year’s resolutions, we hope you’ll think of Free to Run. I see each and every donation that comes in and they make me proud to be a part of this generous global community. And as a reminder, your donation is tax-deductible in the US. To all those who have supported us, I thank you… and so do all of the women and girls you are supporting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Happy trails from the entire team at Free to Run!
Stephanie Case
President and Founder
Thank you to all of our supporters in 2019, especially our runners and adventurers around the world who laced up their shoes to raise funds and awareness for our programmes! A special thank you to our major donors this year, which include: U.S. Embassy of Afghanistan, U.S. Embassy of Iraq, Australian Embassy of Afghanistan, Dutch Embassy of Afghanistan, Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS), VDA Trailers, MCC, MADRE, and Cultures of Resistance!
