Toronto, ON (August 12, 2015) – Obakki Foundation founder, Treana Peake, and her husband, Nickelback guitarist Ryan Peake, are hoping to raise awareness of the challenging living conditions in South Sudan, Africa. The Obakki Foundation is active in South Sudan and, to date has built and/or rehabilitated 703 water wells in the country. Treana and Ryan will lead the foundation’s South Sudan Basic Needs Challenge by undertaking a series of three events – focused on the necessities of food, water and shelter – over a five-day period that began Monday (8/10).
The pair will post live to their social media sites during the challenge using the hashtags #SouthSudan and #ObakkiFoundation.
“Ryan and I are so grateful for the life that we have,” says Treana Peake. “Our children don’t go to bed hungry, they don’t have to walk six kilometres a day to get water, and they are safe and warm at night in our home. Just by spending a few days in the shoes of someone from South Sudan, I believe we can show how difficult it is for the people there. And – as much as I want to show how different their existence is from the one that many of us in first world countries know – I also want people to see that we really are the same. The need in South Sudan for basics like food, water and shelter is so great. I know that through this challenge and with the support of our Obakki Foundation community and Nickelback fans, we can help raise awareness of the urgent need in South Sudan.”
While both Treana and Ryan (along with Nickelback) support and have supported a number of local charities their entire lives, this particular campaign is focused on South Sudan because the people there are also in urgent need of help right now. They are desperate. A famine caused by draught and war is threatening to become a reality – one that will devastate nearly 5 million people.
“If someone needs help, we want to help. Period,” says Treana. “When it comes to supporting charities, whether it’s in your backyard or the other side of the world, the point is to pick an area where you want to see change and do your best to make a difference. The smallest efforts on our part can have the biggest impact.”
THE SOUTH SUDAN BASIC NEEDS CHALLENGE EVENTS
August 10, 11 & 12 – Food
For three full days, Treana and Ryan will consume only a limited number of calories, eating what a typical South Sudanese person would eat: three cups of rice per day (an estimated 600 calories a day) – no fresh fruit, vegetables or protein of any kind. (The average North American consumes over 2,000 calories per day.*)
August 13 – Water
Treana and Ryan will hike six kilometres (3.73 miles) carrying a jerry can filled with water – weighing approximately 18 kilograms (40 pounds). This will reflect the long, arduous (and average length) walk that a South Sudanese must make daily in order to access (often unclean) water. The task of retrieving water is often given to women or children, putting them at risk of wildlife or other attacks. It also means that children do not attend school because retrieving the water takes up most of the day. Without water, the villagers are not able to grow a garden, which creates serious nutritional and health challenges because of a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in their diet.
August 14 – Shelter
The pair will recreate (as best as possible) a typical camp for internally displaced persons in South Sudan. They will spend 24 hours in a field with only one personal item. Treana and Ryan will only use their smartphones to provide live updates via social media. Currently, there are approximately 1.4 million people in South Sudan living in internal displacement camps. Here, they live in fields with only a few tarps for thousands of people and receive occasional food drops from non-government organizations working in the country.
To view a short video of Treana and Ryan explaining the South Sudan Basic Needs Challenge, please visit: https://obakkifoundation.org/
To follow Treana and Ryan as they take on the challenge, please visit:
Obakki Foundation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Obakki Foundation Twitter: https://twitter.com/obakkifdn
Nickelback Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Nickelback Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nickelback
ABOUT THE OBAKKI FOUNDATION
Treana Peake, founder of Obakki Designs (www.obakki.com) and the Obakki Foundation (www.obakkifoundation.org), has been involved in humanitarian ventures that make positive change in the world for more than two decades. Obakki Designs is the creative arm that makes the products used to fundraise for the Obakki Foundation.
To date, the Obakki Foundation has provided medical, educational and nutritional support to thousands of children living around the world, built numerous schools in remote regions of Africa where children don’t have access to education, provided emergency relief to hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons being relocated due to war and other circumstances, and drilled or rehabilitated 703 water wells in South Sudan – ensuring that an estimated one million people have access to clean water.
Obakki Designs absorbs all of the administrative fees, from business cards to travel expenses, so that 100 per cent of all public donations go directly to the Obakki Foundation’s humanitarian projects. Whether you buy Obakki style designs, scarves or other products, or make a donation to the Foundation, you know your money is going directly to help people in urgent need.
