Capper’s ready to climb again
FOURWAYS – Nicole Capper is looking for 67 volunteers to join her in climbing Cathedral Peak this Mandela Day to raise funds for girls who cannot afford sanitary pads. Do you have what it takes?
Mrs South Africa and Fourways resident Nicole Capper is ready to get climbing again this Mandela Day.
Capper, who made the news earlier this year when she climbed to Everest base camp in support of Rare Diseases South Africa, is ready to summit another mountain in the Drakensberg. At the same time, the Trek4Mandela campaign, which will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, will be led by Sibusiso Vilane, the first black African to conquer the three poles challenge.
Capper’s climb will be supporting the same cause, which aims to raise funds to buy sanitary towels for girls unable to afford them.
“I became involved in this initiative when I started climbing this year,” Capper told the Fourways Review. “I learned a lot from Sibusiso Vilane, and decided to do a celebration of what he’s doing [on Mandela Day] by summiting Cathedral Peak locally here in South Africa at the same time, where people who can’t climb Kilimanjaro can still participate.”
On the day Capper will lead 67 climbers up the largest free-standing peak in the Drakensberg, and about 30 spaces are still open if people would like to volunteer. Those who wish to participate should be moderately active and do exercise at least three times a week for one hour in order to complete the challenge successfully.
“I would say to someone thinking of joining: Challenge yourself, because that’s what makes us proudly South African, and the day will not only be Mandela Day, but also the centenary of Madiba’s birth, so it’s an epic one and it’s time for South Africans to do something epic in celebration.”
It is hoped in the next six months the initiative will donate one million sanitary pads to those in need.
“I am very excited about this,” she said. “I want to create a message of ordinary people doing extraordinary things within their communities because I’m no one special, I’m just an ordinary South African that decided to do something brave.”
To find out more or to get involved visit www.cathedralpeak.co.za/challenge or email challenge@cathedralpeak.co.za
