Sukkot
Sukkot, commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert without shelter and safety of permanent homes on their way to the Promised Land, and celebrates the way in which God took special care of them under impossible conditions.
Each year Project Muso- a community based malaria program which provides life-saving tools for preventing and treating malaria and builds accessible, primary health care systems in Mali organises an innovative multi-faith fundraising event around Sukkot- Sukkathon.
It is traditional for Jews to sleep in a sukkah, a temporary outdoor shelter during Sukkot. Jewish communities taking part in "Sukkathon" in the United States, Israel, and Mali ask their friends and family to pledge money to buy bed nets for Malians - 90% of whom are Muslim- for every night they spend in Sukkot.
Participants also educate their donors about malaria and the effectiveness of prevention and treatment and highlight the connections between Sukkot and the current global malaria crisis.
Sukkathon is a great example of how faith communities can engage in multi-faith activity whilst retaining or even strengthening their knowledge of their own faith tradition.
The Tony Blair Faith Foundaiton
