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Nicholas Kerr, a 26-year-old deckhand/carpenter aboard M/Y Talitha, is raising money to take partin the Mongol Rally this July. The rally — an overland adventure that stretches10,000 miles across the mountains, desert, and steppes traversing Asia andEurope — concludes on the steppes of Mongolia.
Accompanied by his teammate Yvette Shaw, the participants —dubbed the “Far East” team — will be traveling in a vehicle with a one-literengine completely on their own (“no backup, no support, and no set route”according to the MongolRally website) and will have to raise at least £1,000 for charity.
Contestants will donate half the required minimum to MongolRally’s charity of choice, Cool Earth,a nonprofit organization that works with rainforest communities to haltdeforestation and climate change. The rally also requires contestants to raise moneyfor another charity of their choice. “I have chosen Surf Aid as our second charity because itwas started by two New Zealand surfers who saw suffering and poverty as theyexplored the Indonesian coastline and had a desire to help this area they hadfallen in love with,” says Kerr, who adds that this is a key area of rainforestdegradation. “As a Kiwi and a surfer, I felt a connection with this charity.”
Surf Aid’s aim is to help improve health, wellbeing, and theself-reliance of people living in isolated regions. According to their website,they do this by providing practical tools like materials to build water tanks,water taps and toilets for clean water and sanitation, and mosquito nets toprevent malaria.
Kerr says the crew aboard M/Y Talitha have been “extremely accommodating in letting me have thetime off” to compete in the rally. “The thing I’m excited for most is thefeeling of getting in the car as we set off for the first [time], knowing thereis an open road in front of us and two continents to cross,” he adds.
Far East is in the midst of fundraising for their twocharities and welcomes both donations and corporate sponsorship. You can donateto them via their GoFundMepage. Follow Kerr for updates @NicholasKerr on Instagram, wherehe will be creating a vlog series.