5 women to climb against crime
2008-10-04 09:27
Pietermaritzburg - If you mix together five women on either side of 50, and five Drakensberg peaks in five days, you'll get the 555 Drakensberg Climb Against Crime.
That is what Vivien Laverge, Michelle Holiday, Lorraine Dalton, Belinda van der Riet and Lee Hollington have decided to do.
Each has committed to taking time from their busy schedules, families and businesses in order to draw attention, raise funds and ultimately do their small part in the fight against crime.
They will do this by taking on Cathedral Peak, the Outer Horn, the Mitre, the Cockade and the Cleft Peak, all in five days.
The group believe you don't need an Everest expedition to tackle a worthwhile challenge nor need to travel to far corners of the planet to experience the magnificence of mountains, as the Drakensberg is geographically and financially accessible to most.
Biggest challenge facing the country
The women said the biggest challenge facing the country, especially pre-2010, is crime.
And since the breeding ground for a criminal has been clearly identified as a place where there is a lack of education, opportunity and recreation, the women will be climbing in an attempt to start filling these voids.
That is why they hope the challenge will assist in funding the 2Simple Trust Fund, set up by the educational software company 2Simple to fund underdeveloped schools, with a special focus on development and maintenance.
They also plan to support the Fitness for Africa sport clinic project, which has identified a need for sporting facilities in a number of underdeveloped areas in and around Gauteng.
Pietermaritzburg resident Van der Riet will be going into the challenge having never met the other four, who are all from Gauteng, but said she was drawn to the challenge as it is a combined effort to fight crime.
"The only interaction I have had with the ladies has been telephonic and via e-mail. It will be very interesting because challenges like these bring out different personalities, but I'm very excited about the challenge and looking forward to it. I hope to establish good relations with an effort to continue to do something similar in the future," she said.
Van der Riet is drawn to long endurance challenges, while the other four described themselves as not being "very high on the Richter scale of the fitness index monitor".
Fitness boot camp
They are currently undertaking a two-month fitness and health boot camp sponsored by Fitness From Africa to prepare for the challenge starting next Monday.
The group have already been featured in the "Crime Watch" section of the Star and were interviewed on e-News.
They hope to sustain the project and intend to attract various celebrities and prominent business people in the country to take on the challenge and contribute to the cause.
To help sponsor the effort, visit www.climbagainstcrime.co.za.