By Ruth Stewart | Director
On September 27, 2025, Nell Pollak, a Journey Specialist with Africa Adventure Consultants in Colorado, USA, did something truly amazing. Here she describes it in her own words.
"I had the extraordinary opportunity to take part in the Salt Pans 50K Ultra Marathon across the Makgadikgadi Pans in northern Botswana. I didn’t run it just for the adventure, but to help raise awareness and funds for women in northern Botswana who are working to lift their families out of poverty while also protecting their environment.
The race itself was humbling, meditative, and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced: no markers, extreme heat, relentless headwinds, mud, and miles upon miles of vast, empty solitude. To my surprise, I finished in first place in the women’s category and second overall out of 88 runners.
I ran in support of two remarkable community groups: 1) The Shorobe Basketry Cooperative, where women weave beautiful, high-quality baskets from sustainably harvested palm leaves to support their families; and 2) Pabalelo Trust, which trains women to harvest mongongo nuts and produce high-value oil for food and skincare.
When the Shorobe Basketry Cooperative received its very first disbursement through Nell’s efforts, the women chose to invest in a computer. For them, it is a tool to manage their finances, track their growing inventory, and showcase their artistry to new markets.
Meanwhile, the Pabalelo Trust is using its disbursement to breathe new life into its oil press and to host a training that brought women together around the ancient practice of extracting oil from mongongo nuts. This small start-up can be a model for sustainable business in Botswana.
On behalf of Neil and Impact Fund, we thank you and appreciate any help you can give to complete the funding campaign.
“Every single dollar makes a real, tangible difference in helping women and communities thrive across northern Botswana. Even if you may never see the results firsthand, your contribution is making a lasting impact in someone’s life — and that is something to be profoundly proud of." -- Nell Pollak, November 2025
Today, December 2nd, is GivingTuesday, and GlobalGiving is providing matching funds for any donation made between midnight EST on December 2nd to 12:00 EST on December 3rd. If you'd like to help meet Nell's goal for this campaign, please donate during these hours so that your gift goes even further.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
