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Hello Everyone!!! As you may be aware Kat and I have been working for GVI Phoenix now for many years on the education & construction projects and at the moment we are the Project Managers for the Peru program. These projects rely on donations which enable us to continue providing hot meals, fruit, scholarships etc... to all the kids in our schools and we have found quite sadistic way to try and raise these funds this year.  THE ROUTE OF THE CONDOR!!!!!!!   5 days in the Colca Region ( deeper then the Grand Canyon ), where we will climb to as high as 5200 metres. It's going to be tough, cold, hard and hopefully a lot fun. If you enjoy the thought of me suffering on the freezing mountain passes, than please donate what you can. Wish me luck........  I'm going to need it.   The Challenge   Day 1 We begin on day 1 in the town of Chivay to watch the fabulous flight of the Condors and then start 5 hours of hiking -1 hour downhill and 4 hours uphill. This may sound hard but this is the easy day to get us acclimatised!    Day 2, 3 and 4 We will tackle around 8 hours of hiking each day, reaching the highest point of the challenge "The Cerani Pass" on day 3. By this point we will have climbed from an altitude of 1904m to 5200m (6247ft to 17060ft) And for those of you who don't have a good perception of altitude... I'll just say it's a lot of climbing at very high altitude! On Day 4 we will trek through "The valley of the Volcanoes", home to hundreds of small volcanoes.   Day 5 After breakfast we will head off to meet our bus back to Arequipa, stopping to visit "Toro Muerto", a petroglyph field consisting of over 3000 volcanic rock carvings! We will later arrive back in Arequipa for some well-earned rest. Throughout the trip we will be facing  long days of difficult hiking and camping with temperatures as low as -15·C However, the main issue that we will face is the altitude. Even the lowest point of the challenge is almost 600m higher than the highest point in the whole of the UK! At the highest altitude of 5200m there is just over 50% of the oxygen available in comparison to being at sea level, making hiking much more challenging and tiring!    What can be done with your money?  The money raised will go towards the running of the schools: local teachers, cooks, hot meals each day, fruit, transportation, school stationery and celebrations e.g. birthday days. Volunteers, through their contributions provide £32,130 of the costs each year, but this is not enough to cover all the costs of running the project. Each year we need to fundraise at least another £16,085 in order to keep the project going. Here are some examples of exactly what can be done with your money.   ·         £10 - this is almost enough to sponsor a child to attend secondary school for an entire year (£11.29) Although the government claim that secondary education is free, no stationery is included, which these families simply cannot afford, making it impossible for these children to attend without our help.  ·         £15 - this can give a piece of fruit to a child every day in school for the whole year, providing them with vitamins and minerals which they otherwise do not get in their diet.  ·         £50 - this is enough to provide a child with a hot lunch every day at school for the year, ensuring that they are getting at least one good meal each day.    These examples of how money raised can be spent proves that even a little money, over here, can go such a long way. Every penny really does count!   Thank you in advance, your support makes such a huge difference to the kids lives here in Peru.  Patrick

Patrick's Route of the Condor Challenge

Patrick's Route of the Condor Challenge

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