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South Africans face Chinese torture

Having climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania during February 2008, Jenny Reid and Desiree Friend will once again be taking up a charity challenge on 3 April 2009. They are part of a group of South Africans travelling to Beijing for the event 'China Challenge 2009'. This means they will walk 85 km along the Great Wall of China.

While most people think this would be a leisurely ramble between watchtowers and towns along the Great Wall, the wall is actually a huge challenge as many areas of the path are extremely steep, narrow, ungraded and unpaved. The fundraising trek will involve hiking for six days for up to eight hours a day. In order to take part in this 85 km Challenge they have committed to raise R50 000 in total for Clouddog and the School of Achievement.

www.desandjenny.co.za will carry full details of the progress of the hike.

To raise the money they have also arranged a golf day at Modderfontein Golf Club on 20 March (there is a fun evening for non golfers in the evening) and a ladies’ lunch on 28 March.

Who is Clouddog?

Clouddog believes that the right to care about the planet is a universal one, regardless of background or upbringing. So in 2006, it was launched to open up the broader world of conservation and the environment to disadvantaged urban students who might not otherwise have the opportunity. One of the biggest challenges for underprivileged young people is poverty of aspiration. What greater aspiration could you give someone than a belief that they can positively change the future of the World?

The programme brings disadvantaged inner city students from London and Johannesburg together to live and work as one in the South African bush for three weeks, helping them experience the interdependency of man and planet at first hand. Clouddog builds their self-confidence, self-esteem and develops their self beliefs through a structured twelve12 month programme that assists them in finding meaningful ways of contributing not only to their local community, but to communities in other parts of the world, whilst learning about themselves.

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