Thousands of kilometers may separate Squamish and Zambia, but they'll be brought a little closer together this month through the combined efforts of several volunteer groups and a family who turned their loss into opportunity and hope. On Saturday, Aug. 9, African Storm, an outdoor festival, is being held in Squamish to raise awareness and funds for The SAM Project. Launched by Squamish's Colin and Sandra Eves in 2007 after their 16-year-old son, Alistair Samuel, was tragically killed, the SAM Project's goal is to enable local enterprise in communities in Southern Zambia that have been affected by HIV/AIDS.The African Storm festival was the brainchild of the Squamish Titans, a triathlon club that counts Colin and Sandra Eves as members. "The Titans were looking to put their efforts towards a charity, and The SAM Project seemed like a great beneficiary," explained Rich Rawling, Titans board member and one of the event organizers. African Storm is being held at Brennan Park, the same site as the finish line to the ultra-marathon race STORMY on Aug. 9. The highlight of the festival will be Vancouver-based musician Mike Weterings, who has lived in Zambia and will be playing African music with his four-piece band. There will also be games and contests geared towards raising awareness of the daily challenges encountered by Zambians. One such game is "Name the African Countries," a water-carrying race demonstrating the distances loads of water must be hauled in the villages. Runners will also have an opportunity to weigh themselves before and after the race to highlight dehydration and malnutrition issues faced by Zambian villagers who rely on hard physical labour to survive. There will also be a large silent auction with items donated by local businesses. "This is really a community event, and we are asking the community to come out, have some fun and help The SAM Project -a very worth cause," said Rawling.The SAM Project was born from a trip the Eves family took to Zambia to help at a Christian outreach mission run by friends. "We were asked to formulate a plan to distribute some containers of food In a very short time, it became clear that the enormity of the problem would be scarcely assisted by the provision of two containers of rice rations," said Colin. The Eves family then started to develop their own initiative, which became The SAM Project. SAM stands for both their son's name and for Sustainability through Agriculture ndMicro-enterprises. "We set about to devise a model that would assist rural communities in Zambia to generate sufficient cash to fund their own school feeding programs that wouldn't be reliant on external aid," said Colin. Working in three villages in Zambia, the project has established a tree seedling nursery and a small woodlot, a local growers' cooperative, as well as model gardens with an efficient and sustainable irrigation system. The Eves's goal is to have 50 communities participating in the program by the end of this year.African Storm will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. at Brennan Park in Squamish.
