The Oliver Foundation | News

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Gail Hawes, our Project Director, was recognised by the Business Women's Association (BWA) in Port Elizabeth, as Social Entrepreneur of the Year at a gala dinner this month. Gail's achievements in less than 3 years are quite remarkable.

We were delighted to sponsor three young men from Masakhane Gym to attend the IFBB SA Novice Championships in Pretoria. Unathi (seated) was placed 2nd and Zukile (standing) was placed 5th in his category.

We are very proud that Gail has reached the final three in a shortlist for the BWA (Business Women's Association) Port Elizabeth Social Entrepreneur of the Year, to be held in June.

Fourteen young men and their coaches from Umzingisi SSE arrived in the UK to play Under 13's rugby. They were hosted by Saffron Walden RFC and the High School. As Nick Mould from Umzingisi said,

"These boys that are coming to you on a cultural and sporting exchange will become more equipped than many of their peers to change their situation. I cannot even describe it as a dream come true, because for most of them it would have been far too unrealistic to even dream of visiting a foreign country let alone one as far away as Europe".

The boys were hosted by families in Saffron Walden, attended the High school, visited Twickenham to watch the Guinness Cup final, saw Buckingham palace and went boating in Cambridge. A big thanks you to everyone involved in making this happen.

A young Zama chess player has been selected at the recent Eastern Province trials to join the EP training team. If successful, he may be selected to represent the province at the Nationals at the end of the year.

Thanduxolo has been offered a months work experience at Plant Fitness in conjunction with his AGSA Sports Administration training course. He is excelling in this new environment

Themba Mpanza has joined us as a volunteer singing teacher, working with a group of talented youngsters, She is a fantastic role model and already inspiring the best of our youth.

Mimi Makapula has also joined Zama as a volunteer. She is taking 'Teen Talk', a discussion group enabling pre-teens and teenagers to discuss what is on their mind.

Robert continues to work tirelessly behind the scenes for us negotiating, fixing, driving and supporting our ground staff wherever he is needed.

Welcome to Chris Lovemore who has joined our board of trustees in South Africa and will contribute with business and mentoring expertise.

Our Zama After School Classes go from strength to strength. We now have girls playing netball on a weekly basis and participating in local competitions. We are planning to start tennis lessons with recently donated tennis rackets.

Zama dancers entertained the audience with the high kicking and drumming routine at the Port Elizabeth Splash Festival, the girls loved the special attention they had and were treated to snacks and goodies.

A big thank-you to Investec whose donation will enable us to run a breakfast club at Jarvis school and support much needed programmes.

We would like to welcome Nomzamo Matodlana to our team as a community development worker. Thanks to all who supported the Surrey Hills Three Peaks Challenge your efforts will support Nomzamo and her involvement with our community based programmes.

On 15th March over 140 people joined us for the first Surrey Hills Three Peaks Challenge. The weather was absolutely glorious for the walkers who ranged from aged 3 to 77 years old. A big thank you to Jill and Caroline who made the whole event run so smoothly, and for your donations which will fund a community development worker.

Thanduxolo has been sponsored by the Oliver Foundation to study sports, recreation and fitness leadership and administration at the Africa Global Skills academy, his fist report has been very promising and we wish him continued success with his studies.

Local company Born Wild, gave away 700 jumpers to all the children at Jarvis Gqamlana. The teachers lined up their classes - from the Grade R children upwards - and between us, we fitted each child with a jumper of their size. They looked incredible and were so pleased that on one of the first cooler days of the year, they all had a new jumper to wear. The children were all so proud of them. The headmaster and the staff were troopers - and it was suggested that because they matched the school uniform, they become optional school uniform jumpers for the children. We were also assisted by three lovely ladies from Khaya - on placement with Jarvis from Holland. Without all these helpers we would have been there for days! We now only have another 2,000 or so to go, so will be visiting schools over the next week to give them all out.

Here are some pictures from Mam Mgadi's soup kitchen. She feeds at least 50 kids per day, they have their own small veggie garden and are provided soup donated to us by a local business once a week. Whenever we have extra food donated we pass it on to as may organisations as we can.

With the outstanding support we have had this year, we have raised funds in the UK and SA to pay school fees for over 160 orphaned and vulnerable children to attend schools in Port Elizabeth. Many of these children have never had a new uniform before and many would have missed out on the chance of vital education.

Children at the Duke of Kent School raised funds to support children more needy than themselves. Funds will support education and much needed Art and Life skills classes. Pictured here is the School committee handing a cheque to Director Sharon Oliver.

Normawethu Mangentloko will be recommencing her early childhood education training at level 5. She is actively using what she learns daily caring for around 60 children at Jongilanga Creche. The New Year sees new training opportunities provide by PE based training providers. Fifteen unemployed have been selected by The Oliver Foundation to undertake a learnership in Construction Carpentry and Woodwork. Academic assessments are taking place with the two year training commencing by the end of January.

Father Christmas came to Zama, the Oliver Foundation art and life skills programme. Over 200 children attended the Christmas party with games, food, drinks and each child received an individually wrapped present, all funded by Adrian Kinsey Quick, George Knight, two youngsters living in the UK, Paule Royale and local businesses on PE who donated presents.

Africa Scholars Fund has awarded 19 scholarships through the Oliver Foundation for High School Students attending local schools.

Through The Oliver Foundation Alcan supported a number of events in Port Elizabeth. The Youth Explosion Bash was a concert initiated by young entrepreneurs who had participated in one of our business development courses. With thanks to funding from Rio Tinto, they were able to put their business skills into practice and held the first open air concert in Embizweni Square. The concert showcased over 6 hours of music, theatre and social messages, and was attended by a crowd of over a thousand.

Stanley House at Wellington College held a sporting dinner in support of Umzingisi School of Sporting Excellence. With special guest speakers Michael Lynagh and Andy Kay, they raised funds to support twenty Gold Scholars for 2009 and 2010

The Feisty Ladies continue to support The Oliver Foundation - hosting various events which raise funds and awareness. A big thank you to Helen, Cathy and Geraldine for your fund raising efforts this month.

Lucy Magwaca passed her Robin Trust nursing training course with the support of a Small Grant from the Oliver Foundation, she will now work as a volunteer and hopes to secure a full time position in January.

Felicity Nkuntsu has also been sponsored by the Oliver Foundation Small Grant Scheme and was top of the class achieving 90% in her exams. She is now actively job hunting and expects to secure work soon.

We are delighted to announce that our Trustee, Andrew Muir, was awarded a Rolex award for Enterprise for implementing the Umzi Wethu Programme. You can watch a short video of the programme here.

On 26th October Chris Oliver, Callum Oliver and six colleagues reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at 19,340 ft.. Congratulations to you all!

Eleven Feisty Ladies from Surrey and London visited the Oliver Foundation in Port Elizabeth, all bringing their own skills to share with the local community and experience first hand the struggle that disadvantaged communities face.

"I am still trying to get my head round everything I saw in the township - so much to think about. It made me realise that a lot of people here have views about South Africa but you really need to visit to try to start to understand the complexity of the problems."

"I have to say I found the work that the Oliver Foundation and associated organisations are doing in SA are absolutely inspirational."

"You have such an energetic and capable team on the ground - Just amazing!"

"You have opened the door to show the need of the people in Red Location and I hope I can spread the message and do justice to the cause."

Khayalethu Oliver House (K2) - The new home for former street youths was opened in Port Elizabeth following a three month renovation programme. Currently seven young men have made it their home as well as classroom space for the younger boys living at Khayalethu (K1).

The Foundation is supporting a student to study Food and Beverage at AGSA (Africa Global Skills Academy).

In partnership with JAG we have identified an athlete to coordinate the JAG Mightly Metres Programme which will encourage fitness in schools.

Zama after schools classes continue to grow. Now run in three different locations on a daily basis, delivering activities such as art, sewing, craft, chess, dance, netball, movie nights and singing.

Fund raising has enabled us to increase the number of "Kids to School" that we support. Fees, shoes and uniforms cost £75 per child. Last year we supported eighty-two children. Let's try to double it by January 2009!

Although we are unable to fund soup kitchens, we support local organisations by collecting and delivering and by seeking financial support from local organisations such as Pick and Pay. Through our efforts an estimated 1,000 children are receiving a meal each week and school attendance has improved.

Two hundred and twenty people danced to Sera and Rachel Golding and MIB with delicious Thai food provided by Phanee. The evening was brilliantly organised by Geraldine, Jill, Domi and Cathy and funds raised will support ongoing projects.

Sixty-eight ladies took part in the third Surrey Hills Tennis Tournament - Thanks girls!

Helen David and Sharan Braham ran a 10K challenge - Thanks ladies, your contribution means so much to us.

This month the fourth group of students graduated from Umzi Wethu, the Wilderness Foundation's training academy for orphaned and vulnerable youths, designed to improve lives and protect the environment.

Our chess group continues to take part in competitions and are continually improving and winning games. Pictured here with teacher Thobeka, who is responsible for the boys when they play away games.

Adrian, Ellie and Georgie made biscuits and sold them in Shere (UK). The £15 they raised will provide breakfast for 600 needy children.

This month we have worked with a number of individuals to help them secure education training and employment.

Koleka is a 43 year old mother of five, struggling to find a way to support her family she used to sell fruit on the street. We helped her write a CV and secure a scholarship to start a year long course in hospitality with the Africa Global skills Academy (AGSA).

Sweetness started a course in professional cookery. This is a great opportunity and has been jointly sponsored with the Africa Global skills Academy (AGSA).

This is Nombelela. She makes stunning bead covered tins which are sold by a retailer in Surrey (UK).

The Oliver Foundation vehicles are a familiar sight around Red Location. Pictured here are Sheilah and Robert making a delivery of donated food to one of the local soup kitchens, which provides meals for hundreds of children each week.

Eight young men competed in the IFBB Eastern Province Bodybuilding championship competition on Sunday 24th August. Two achieved second places and one a third place. All remarkable results considering the conditions under which they train, their lack of proper nutrition and supplements. The Oliver Foundation funded their entry, transport and meals.

We are working with a designer to create work which is marketable, including bead work, knitting and sewing.

A delivery from the UK of books and puzzles created great excitement. The crocheting class is progressing particularly well with the arrival of new wool (supplied by Keith in the UK)! 18 children have attended the KTV craft days held at the Ron Belling Art Gallery in Central.

The chess lads competed in mid August with great success. After the first competition where they rarely won a game, this time, some won nearly all the games they played.

The renovations are going to plan! The lads will move into the house by the end of September with the press launch proposed for 8th October with the Surrey Ambassadors attending.

The young researchers are progressing well with their work and Dr Graham Kerley (NMMU) is happy with their progress.

Two new loans have been given out to ladies wanting to train at Robin Trust to be carers. Agreements have been signed with them. They start their three month course on 1st September.

A consignment of goods arrived from the UK - Many thanks to Forward Logistics for their assistance in enabling this delivery.

We are assisting yet more groups to set up as Non Profit Organisations to enable them to provide services to the community. We keep in touch and advise where we can.

Five young men from Khaylalethu achieved their black belts. There are many hidden values to Karate, the sport teaches courtesy, self discipline, and self control. It is a sport that is not only focussed on self defense alone, but also heightens reaction, co-ordination, reflexes and concentration. The aim of the sport is to develop a balanced character through the hard discipline involved in the stretching of both mind and body.

The Oliver Foundation is becoming a focal point in the community for education, skills training and a support network for adults and children. We are looking to secure a more permanent base so that we can improve the facilities available.

Help! We're running out of wool, if you can donate £10 Zama will crochet a blanket for a needy person - it's winter in Africa.

Girls at Wycombe Abbey School in the UK had a sponsored walk and raised over £400 to send kids to school.

We are delighted to announce that The Oliver Foundation has bought a property which will become the new Oliver House, a half way home for street boys. The boys will move in as soon as renovation work is completed.

Fuel prices are hitting us all, but when a soup kitchen cannot afford to get the raw ingredients delivered it puts life in to perspective. The Oliver Foundation is delivering vegetables 3 times a week.

Six boys from Khayalethu will be travelling to East London to undertake their karate black belt grading.

A big thank you to Lisa Paterson and Vivat Baccus who hosted a wine tasting at the Smithfield Gallery in London. They raised almost £2,000 for Umzi Wethu.

The Smithfield Gallery was they venue for the Art from The Heart exhibition. Funds raised from the exhibition will support Zama life skills programmes in 2009.

Masakhana Gym is in the news again, 10 young men entered the IFBB development competition. They came away with three 3rd places and one 4th place.

With thanks to Sharlene in California - we are now running a weekly crochet class, making blankets for the needy.

Zama kids had a treat this month as we arranged a film showing of Madagascar and Harry Potter at the local museum. Zama chess club is going well with lessons twice a week - this is the only chess club based in the township and they have entered their first competition.

Eighteen unemployed people from the community visited General Motors to learn more about the manufacturing industry, and find out about the employment opportunities available.

Stanley House, at Wellington College in the UK have nominated Umzingisi as their charity for 2008/2009.

Vukuzenzele Leather
The project has gone from strength to strength and Peter is now fully employed and looking to recruit a trainee to join him.

Zama After School Classes
Two of our teachers attended a grief counselling course training to help children deal with the loss of immediate family members through the Aids pandemic.

Membership of Masakhana Gym has doubled in two months and the Oliver Foundation has assisted in registering the organisation as an NPO (Charity). Members have been taking part in local competitions and have been recognised on the provincial circuit. Improvements are being made to the existing facilities to accommodate the growing membership.

We are strengthening the community by working with other sporting organisation at nurturing their talent.

ABET - The Foundation continues to work with adults from the local community providing skills training, advice on employment opportunities, writing CVs, work placement, communication skills and providing inspirational guest speakers.

Vukuzenzele Crafts is now in production, fulfilling a large jewellery order and creating employment for 10 ladies in a location which suffers from 80% unemployment

Norma Wethu from Jongilanga Crèche has been sponsored to study Early Learning this month.

Zanele has just completed her cashiers training, and with her CV completed is heading for the working world.

Art from the Heart
We have been inundated with talented art work, 2500 entries have been received and our judges selected 200 winning entries which will be exhibited at the Smithfield gallery in June.

The Red Location museum was the venue for a private view evening, exhibiting some of the talented work produced by children at the Zama Junior Life Skills Centre. We were entertained by dances and actors as well as the art exhibition.

Chess classes have been introduced to our Community Centre in Red Location, New Brighton by a Xhosa speaking chess champion.

Umzi Wethu
The Wilderness Foundation opened it's 2nd training centre for orphaned and vulnerable youths. Located in Somerset East, we are proud to continue to offer support to this ground breaking programme, giving young people a skill and guaranteed employment in the conservation industry.

James Hislop from Cranleigh school in the UK proudly presented Masakhane Gym with a cross trainer and Multi-gym. His donation was made possible by rowing from Devises to Westminster, a gruelling 125 miles in blizzard conditions. Masakhane gym was established to motivate unemployed young men who could be easily swayed by a life of crime, alcohol and drug abuse.

6 youth from Masakhane Body Building Club participated in their first body building championships. Without proper equipment or diets they achieved 3rd place and 4th place in their respective weight categories.

James Hislop made a donation to Khayalethu Youth Centre, home for street boys, which will enable them to service their bicycles.

The Board of The Oliver Foundation presented bursaries to two successful applicants at a ceremony at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. These two year scholarships were awarded to students studying their masters thru ACE - the African Centre for Ecology.

The Art from the Heart competition was launched, causing great excitement throughout schools in Port Elizabeth and as far afield as Grahamstown. Over 5000 postcards with art packs including coloured pencils, coloured pens and crayons were distributed to needy schools.

The Oliver Foundation provided a micro loan to enable Zenele to learn cashiers skills.

During the March school holidays, ninety of our Zama students attended an outing at Bushy Park Farm where they learned about dairy farming and the manufacture of dairy products. The best part of the day was sampling the ice-cream, juice and yoghurt manufactured by Bushy Park.

The nine youths in Khayalethu celebrated their 1st anniversary in Oliver House by taking themselves out to dinner with money that they had saved through working.

Leah the Clown visited the Zama after school programme teaching classes on drawing faces, collage and painting.

The Oliver foundation has joined forces with ABET (Adult Basic Educational Training) giving training to our volunteers which will enable them to progress to further educational training and employment opportunities.

Puzzles and games are proving very popular with those attending the Zama After School programme. New games and jigsaw puzzles are being introduced to broaden their logic skills.

Noncedo, a young lady from the township 'found us' and had done her nursing training but was sitting at home not knowing what to do next, not knowing how to go and get a job. After a small amount of mentoring, and fixing her CV we sent her out to try to get herself a placement as a volunteer care worker.

She succeeded, and as promised we loaned her the taxi fare to get to the placement for the first month. After only 2 weeks in the placement she has been offered a full time job. She was so excited when she came in today that it is hard to explain. Full of thanks at how if we had not helped, she would still be at home wondering how to get her job. Noncedo will be working nights - 7 nights on then 7 nights off looking after extremely disabled children.

Thank you to everyone who generously supported our 'Kidz to School' appeal. We were able to pay for 84 children to go to school this January. Gail has been busy buying shoes, uniform, rucksacks and paying for school fees. These kids have an opportunity that they would have otherwise missed out on.

Umzingisi launches its sports training academy. The Oliver Foundation are proud to support this inspiring project which will enable talented sportsmen and women to achieve there full potential.

A hectic run up to Christmas saw staff and volunteers at the Oliver Foundation wrapping 180 Christmas presents generously donated for children at Jongilanga crèche and Cornerstone community project.

A big THANK-YOU to Simon Judy and Jack who kindly donated a Television to The Boys at Khayalethu Oliver House.

Thank you to supporters of Esher RFC - your bucket collection and mini golf tournament generously raised funds to send 3 children to school in January.

Much appreciation goes to Pat Fox for supporting The Oliver Foundation. Your donation will be used to support the Umzingisi programme - Giving township kids a chance to excel in sport.

Melvil and Moon, a luxury leather goods business in Port Elizabeth, has agreed to partner Vukuzenzele craft project to provide skills training in New Brighton. Supported by the Oliver Foundation the community will be able to produce leather goods to be sold to Melvil and Moon, creating skills and employment opportunities in an area which currently has unemployment levels at around 80%.

The Business Women's Association arranged for Father Christmas to deliver 80 presents to Jongilanga creche in New Brighton. This area of New Brighton is particularly impoverished with very high levels of HIV/Aids, orphans, abuse and poverty. Many of the children who attend the crèche free of charge have been identified by the voluntary community workers of Jongilanga as particularly at risk, so a Christmas gift with bright wrapping means even more to them. Big thanks go out to all the BWA ladies who very generously bought gifts to their Christmas event for these children.

Vukuzenzele crafts - Opens for Business - Having secured a room at the Old Liquor Store the Oliver Foundation has provided a venue for the craft items to be made and sold.

After four months of outstanding achievement, 70 students were awarded merit certificates for completing courses through the After School Craft and Skills Training Programme. Of these, 20 students were awarded special certificates for outstanding work in one or several of the modules they completed. Great applause was given to each of the students at the ceremony.

Thanks to the sponsorship of The Oliver Foundation over 130 children from Jongilanga crèche and the After School Life Skills Programme went on an outing to Homeleigh Farm. During their visit they had the opportunity to discover what baby animals looked like and many were able to pat the animals. A scrummy lunch was served and all the children went for a ride on a tractor. A great time was had by all.

Zama - means try it! The Oliver Foundation is currently running 19 art classes a week for kids growing up in the poor communities of New Brighton - many of these kids have lost family member through HIV/Aids and activity classes are providing them with something to look forward to each week.

The Oliver Foundation secured sponsorship for Jongilanga Crèche from the Business Women's Association of Port Elizabeth. BWA have agreed to provide each of the 80 children with an educational Christmas gift.

Vukuzenzele Ladies opened their small shop at the Old Liquor Store in Red Location this month. Open only for a few days each week, it is hoped to open this 5 days a week in November.

With thanks to Business Connexions, a local PE-based computer specialist company, Cornerstone Outreach now have 10 newly reconditioned computers for their computer training project. Now up to 13 people can be trained in each session.

The first students graduated from Cornerstone Computers at a ceremony held on 1st November. In total 65 students from the ages of 15 to 45 received certificates.

Cornerstone Computers have now begun teaching classes not only to adults but also to children at local secondary schools who do not have access to computers at their school.

Many of the children who come to our classes come from very difficult backgrounds. For this reason a puppet show lecture was given by Childline on how to recognise abuse and how to say no.

After-school classes have grown to 19 classes per week, serving over 250 children in the community.

Congratulations to Andrew Muir. Our trustee was awarded South African Breweries Environmentalist of the Year, his 20 years experience in conservation and social programmes in South Africa has impacted on over 100,000 South Africans. Read more about Andrew Muir, trustee.

Launch of After school classes for children at two locations - Masangwanaville Community and The Old Liquor Store in Red Location, New Brighton with 5 teachers and 7 classes.

As in excess of 40 children were turning up each day, the after School classes increased to two lessons per day at The Old Liquor Store taking the total number of classes to 11 per week.

Teachers for After school classes undergo initial Childline training on how to deal with children who may be suffering or have suffered physical or sexual abuse.

Our nursing student completes her theory training with excellent results. October sees her training continue in a local hospital where she will be caring for 'special needs children'.

September sees the launch of the 'Kidz School Promise' with sponsorship for the first six children obtained. Our target is to send 50 children to school with school uniforms in January 2008.

Four boys from Khayalethu have been selected to be members of the Eastern Province Karate Team. They will now be included in the training squad who meet each Saturday with the possibility of representing their country overseas.

One boy from Port Alfred who has been at Khayalethu for only a few months is loving his new apprenticeship to train in diving.

Umzi Wethu students were spotted at their new jobs at Shamwari by overseas guests. They were loving their new jobs and appreciate the training received as part of the programme.

On a glorious day in Surrey, sixty ladies turned out to play tennis, raising almost £1,150 to support Oliver Foundation projects.

Congratulations to Alastair Lowe, who came 72nd out of 800 competitors in the London Triathon 2007. A big thank you for supporting The Oliver Foundation (www.justgiving.com/alastairstriathlon).

Dr Marietjie van der Merwe, Head of Khayalethu Youth Centre, is named The Pick'n'Pay Algoa FM Woman of Distinction in Port Elizabeth on 15th August. The awards judges were looking for someone with a business mind who is also community driven.
- View article
- Go to the Khayalethu Youth Centre page

Lungelwa Makhina - who has been working with The Oliver Foundation for nearly a year, starts her nursing carers course with Robin Trust. This three month course includes a month of theory, and two months practical, and will enable her to gain employment in a hospital or care home for children or the elderly.

Khayalethu youth secures initial three month contract with Atlas Security to undertake their training course. On completion, he may be offered full time employment.

Thanks to the kind donation of a PE resident who was moving home, The three HIV positive young mothers living in New Brighton now have a sofa, crockery, glassware and many utensils for their kitchen. Thanks also to the Kenton household who donated their old sofa, beds and mattresses and linen to be distributed to those in desperate need.

Freddie Van Ryner, who has recently graduated from the Umzi Wethu programme, commences his FAGASA (Field Guide Assistant) with The Wilderness Foundation. This course will take 3 months and will include earning his drivers license.

Cornerstone Outreach Computer Project begins to prepare for increased training schedule. Additional security bars have been installed to protect the new computers, township made desks and chairs have been delivered and a new electricity system installed.

The first 13 Umzi Wethu students graduated from their training academy. "This was a proud day for everyone who has made it possible for these students to receive contracts of employment, against all odds." A film made by the Oliver Foundation of the Umzi Wethu project was well received at the Graduation day

Christmas comes early for Khayalethu boys - generous local company, Business Connexions treated the boys to a party and presents this month. Who said Christmas only comes once a year!

Umzi Wethu Graduate Freddie Van Ryner gains valuable work experience at Hopewell, "gaining hands on experience has given me an opportunity to understand what a career as a game guide would entail", he said.

UK veterinary student Tom experience the wilder side of the business at Hopewell Reserve

Wellington College student Callum gains 6 weeks work experience as a game ranger during his school holidays.

Khayalethu students grab 12 medals at the SA Karate championships - including a double springbok gold, "this is an outstanding achievement, marred by having our vehicle stolen in Johannesburg" said Marietjie van der Merwe.

Construction work is well underway of an indigenous plant nursery at Hopewell, this project will empower the local community by teaching business skills and creating employment opportunities.

Georgie generously gave her birthday money to the Oliver Foundation which went towards supporting HIV mothers and babies, Lungelwa said that she was "overwhelmed that a 12-year-old could be caring about people on the other side of the world, suffering from Aids/HIV."

Khayalethu Opens 'Oliver House' - a half-way house for 7 youth, giving them a period to make the transition from living in a children's home towards full independence

Kilimanjaro challenge - Sharon Oliver and Jill Golding raised over £17,000 in support of the Umzi Wethu project for the Wilderness Foundation.

Climbing to the summit of the highest mountain in Africa was one of the most challenging experiences any of us have ever had. There were a total of 11 people walking to support the Wilderness Foundation. The scenery was spectacular, walking from rain forest to moorland, volcanic plateau to craggy mountain.

"The challenge was enormous, walking long distances, sleeping in freezing conditions, encrusted with volcanic dust, topped off with the symptoms of altitude sickness. The Final ascent was a grueling 17 hour walk, stating at 11.30pm, the climb seemed to be never-ending - no visiability, gale force winds, which nearly took us off our feet and caking snow. It was -20 degrees, plus wind chill at the summit, making tears turn to beads of ice. It was an almost impossible challenge in the conditions we experienced, yet only 2 of us had to drop out due to Mountain sickness. It was an experience that none of us will be in a hurry to repeat too soon, but worth it for the support we have received and will make a huge difference to the lives of three orphaned students who will now be joining the Umzi Wethu Academy, in Port Elizabeth, in April 2007."