Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘Kilimanjaro girls’ raise funds for orphanage
HISTORICAL maps are full of gaps, for obvious reasons.
There’s a glaring gap in a 1719 impression of Africa, hanging in the reception area at Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High: it shows no sign of Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro.
Five intrepid pupils plan to not only point out where it should be on the map but also to tell their peers what it looks like, after they scale “Kili” during their December “hols” – to raise money for the LIV Village orphanage at Cottonlands, near Verulam.
One of the five, Julie Moreno, was introduced to the mountain while flying over Africa, on her way to start a new life in South Africa from her native Mexico. Her father, a forestry researcher, came to work at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“On the plane, I was looking through documentaries and I saw one on Kilimanjaro, which I chose to watch,” said the 16 year old. “I saw how pretty it was.”
Fuelling the girls’ motivation are their Christian religious convictions and their memories of meeting the beneficiaries, the orphans of LIV Village.
“I met one who said she wants to
I saw that it is possible to have many different girls in one place where they are happy
be president,” said Julie.
Another one of the five, Rutendo Gora, 17, who is from Zimbabwe and hopes to study psychology, neuroscience and theology, said she would like to run an orphanage one day.
“I saw that it’s possible to have many different girls in one place where they are happy,” she said.
Meanwhile, she is thinking of “the stones, the trees, the forest, the struggle, the falling, the mountain top”. “And I’ve never seen snow falling.” Maria Diedrick, from Pietermaritzburg, 17, has walked in snow.
Like the two others, she was introduced to hiking through school expeditions to the Drakensberg.
She recalled a particularly chilly trip in the Sani Pass area.
“It started sleeting and snowing. It was quite nice to experience that, as well as drinking fresh water from rivers.”
Training for their epic hike has seen the girls, all sporty characters, pushing themselves in the sports they participate in: soccer, water polo, swimming, gym, squash, cross country and tennis.
The three, and Joelle Botha and Masibongwe Ngcobo, aim to raise R200 000 for the orphanage. Anyone wishing to help LIV Village by sponsoring the “Kili” girls can contact Craig Botha on Craig@reignite.co.za.
Rutendo Gora
Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School pupil