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During the summer of 2010, I visited a small project on a farm in the Western Cape, 87km North of Cape Town beneath the Kasteelberg Mountains. This is the home of the Goedgedacht Trust and the location of the Path out of Poverty (POP) Project. My first visit to the project was a truly incredible experience and so I am very excited to be visiting again in May this year to do some more volunteer work and also to see many of the friends I made during my last visit. The Path out of Poverty Project aims to help children of farm workers escape the cycle of appalling poverty they would otherwise be trapped in. It runs 17 different schemes, including a youth project, an after-school club, 8 safe houses for children and orphans to stay in over weekends when their parents may be drinking and become abusive and a specialized crèche for children affected by Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. The goal is to put an additional 10,000 rural children onto the Project in the next 10 years by building and opening new POP centres throughout South Africa. During July I am going to be climbing Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro within a day or so of each other and I hope to raise £1200 for the project through sponsorship. By climbing Mt Meru before Kilimanjaro I will acclimatise to the altitude better and therefore have a better chance of reaching Kilimanjaro’s summit. However climbing Meru first will only be beneficial if I climb Kilimanjaro straight after it. This means I will be trekking 130km and climbing about 10,000m over just 11 days. This is a bit more than I ever undertook doing DofE so I have been fitting training for it around working full-time in A+E in Southampton (which is paying for my climb). Goedgadacht made a lasting, positive impression on me and I can think of no other charity I would rather raise money for in this manner. Even if you do not wish to sponsor my endeavour, please still donate to the cause. It is very easy to say ‘all donations will make a difference’ however I have seen firsthand how they will be used to support the project and so will have a massive, positive impact on the children’s lives. I will try and keep this page updated with photos of my adventures up the mountains though I fear internet coverage may be patchy at 4000m. If you want to find out more about the project the web addresses are at the bottom. Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page and thank you for all your support. Phil <a href="http://www.goedgedacht.org.za/index.php">http://www.goedgedacht.org.za/index.php</a> <a href="http://www.pathoutofpoverty.org">http://www.pathoutofpoverty.org</a>

Mt Meru and Kilimanjaro Climb

Mt Meru and Kilimanjaro Climb

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