The group are climbing for Trek4Mandela, an initiative that involves 37 climbers, made up of executives, media personalities and prominent people who will climb the Kenyan mountain in a bid to raise funds to purchase sanitary towels to keep girls from rural and poor areas in school.
Singh, who is an anaesthesiologist at the Far East Rand Hospital, is passionate about the cause and is climbing as a member of the Caring4Girls initiative.
According to the Trek4Mandela website (trek4mandela.com), research shows that, as a result of lack of education and resources, disadvantaged girls miss up to 50 days of school annually and end up using unhygienic materials such as cloths, newspapers, grass and plastic as alternatives, which has proven to be harmful to their health.
Singh hopes to extend this initiative to primary schools on the East Rand, by entering into a joint venture with other female doctors and nurses with whom she works, and to target different primary schools each month, to educate girls about healthcare from a medical perspective.
Singh not only wants to be a helping hand, she wants to instil her personal motto: ”If you can imagine it. you can achieve it”, into the girls in the primary schools.
She said menstruation should not be something of which young women are embarrassed or ashamed, it is part of life and part of growing up.
The doctor has taken part in many races, all in the name of charity, such as The World Discovery series in Cape Town, the Two Oceans Marathon and the Cape Argus.
Charity is something that Singh holds close to her heart.
“If there is something to do, rather do it for charity, because it’s for a good cause,” she said.
Due to the support of her family and her husband, Kamal Singh, who is taking part in the climb with her, she is very excited about the outing, although she is not looking forward to the cold on the last night.
The climb is not another charity inititiative for her; it is also a personal goal that Singh has always wanted to achieve.
Ekurhuleni mayoral spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said that the mayor has a passion for the cause and feels strongly about the education of women.
Gungebele has started his own campaign with the municipality to encourage municipal workers to contribute towards this cause.
Dlamini said: “The mayor is super fit and very excited, he took part in the Comrades Marathon as preparation for the trek.”
The group of 37 will start climbing Kilimanjaro on July 14, and will summit on Mandela Day.
The public is free to pledge R30 towards the cause by sending an SMS with the word “Khamini” to 42513.
