Scaling the heights for girls’ education

TWO Cape Town friends are gearing up to scale Africa’s two highest mountains – Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya – to raise funds for education for girls.

Khayelitsha entrepreneur Mandisi Peter and writer Miriam Mannak will tackle the mountains to give girls from the township access to safe, quality and affordable education at Molo Mhlaba.

The township’s first private bilingual girls’ Innovation/Science/Tech/Engineering/Arts/ Maths (iSTEAM) school opened its doors last year.

The funds will be used to pay for the tuition of at least 10 schoolgirls. The school was founded by Dr Rethabile Sonibare, one of this year’s Inspiring Fifty.

Sonibare said they wanted to debunk the myth that quality education in South Africa’s townships did not exist.

“Our curriculum in English and isiXhosa includes Lego robotics, an introduction to computers, the internet and coding, as well as yoga and mindfulness,” Sonibare said.

Peter and Mannak’s journey started a few months ago when Peter decided to put his passion for hiking to good use by climbing Kilimanjaro between September28 and October 5.

“Every South African child, particularly girls, deserves the same opportunities, regardless of their socio-economic status,” Peter said.

Hikers Network Search and Rescue member Mannak joined Peter when she heard his trek coincided with her own climb.

“When I heard Mandisi was climbing Kili to raise funds for girls’ education, right around the same time of my Mount Kenya hike, it was a no-brainer to join hands. Schoolgirls shouldn’t be climbing mountains to get ahead. Let us adults do that for them,” Mannak said.

So far they have raised R28000 of their R50000 target. To donate, visit BackaBuddy: www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/ scaling-kili.