Plans are in full swing as three friends prepare to embark on a cycling journey to raise funds for education.
The three cyclists – Patrick Andries, Lorne Farquharson and Warren Wilkinson – are expected to gather at the V&A Waterfront tomorrow morning, Friday April 5, before heading off for Komani in the Eastern Cape, as part of the Etafeni Day Care Centre Trust’s uHambo Campaign.
The trust, a community-basedorganisation in Nyanga,launched the uHambo Campaign (the Journey) on Friday March 29 to raise funds for underprivileged orphans and vulnerable children in Nyanga and surrounding areas, that receive support from Etafeni Trust.
The organisers of the programme believe that good quality education is the only viable solution to the predicament of these vulnerable children.
Mr Andries, who is the chief executive of Etafeni, Mr Farquharson and Mr Wilkinson aim to ride from Cape Town to Queenstown (Komani) as an initial launch of the campaign to raise the funds to give orphaned and vulnerable children from Nyanga a chance to access quality education away from the crippling poverty, violence, crime and abuse that these orphaned and vulnerable children are exposed to in their community.
Mr Farquharson said the riders aimed to raise enough funds to support children to pursue an education at Queen’s College, a well-established and resourced boarding school in Queenstown. “There are good four boarding schools in Komani. I know because I went there.
“I do this campaign to give Nyanga children an opportunity to learn and have a good education,” he said.
But he knows the ride won’t be an easy one. They expect to be on the road for seven days, covering 150km to 200km a day.
“It is going to be tough but we have support cars and friends. But the aim is to send children to school. We also plan to do it annually,” he said.
Mr Andries pleaded with people to support the initiative.
“It is children who stand to benefit a lot from the initiative.
“The purpose is to show love and care to our children. There are thousands of children who want education out there.
“Let us rally together to support the initiative. Overall we are excited about this project,” he said.
Etafeni’s Erica Raolane said the centre runs numerous successful programmes, including pre-school care, after-school care for orphaned and vulnerable children, a women’s wellness micro-enterprise programme, psycho-social and therapeutic support, mobile HIV, TB and STI testing and counselling, a nutrition programme that includes food gardens, and a breastfeeding peer counselling programme, and a greening Nyanga initiative.
“This new initiative is adding to the good that the centre is doing. We are so excited that we have people who care for us this way. Our children will gain more good education,” she said.
For more information about the campaign or to support it, contact Erica Raolane on 021 386 1516, 074 211 7078 or erica@etafeni.org.za/lungi@etafeni.org.za or call Patrick Andries on 083 784 7399.