A huge climb can make a huge difference
Mankweng-based schools recently benefitted from Kilimanjaro conqueror, Walter Rachidi's ascent, when he donated sanitary towels to five schools last Wednesday.
POLOKWANE – Needy learners at Klaas Mothapo Secondary School, Mphetsebe High School, Mmalesa Primary School, Badimong Primary School and Molamo Primary School received sanitary towels as part of the #Trek4Mandela and #CaringforGirls initiative.
Walter and 60 fellow South Africans from different organisations summitted Mount Kilimanjaro as part of an awareness campaign to make people aware of the plight faced by many impoverished girls who miss school, sometimes even dropping out altogether, due to their menstruation cycle.
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Walter is the owner of Hwibidu Group and a member of the biggest motorcycle club in the Sadec region, Sapa Yopa MC.
The learners received enough sanitary towels to last them 10 months and Walter said their plight encouraged and inspired him and he was motivated to do so by his friend and mentor, Sarel Nong.
Sarel summitted Kilimanjaro last year also as part of the awareness campaign, he also took on Mount Everest this year.
“Sarel didn’t summit these mountains simply because he could, he did it for the people of Limpopo and South Africa as a whole. We are doing this for a girl child, to help them stay in school. This donation forms part of our Women’s Month celebration and through this initiative we inspire young future leaders to do some introspection,” Walter said.
“Summitting Kilimanjaro was a first for me as I have never done anything like this. “I was inspired and encouraged by Sarel and the experience was both empowering and slightly overwhelming.”
Klaas Mothapo Secondary School Principal, Joseph Mphekgoana, thanked Walter on this initiative, adding this donation will go a long way to inspiring young girls to focus on their education.
“Our community is faced by several socio-economic challenges and families are impoverished so they cannot buy necessities for their children.
“The female learners have resorted to missing school during their menstrual cycle or asking the female teachers for sanitary towels. This donation will help to relieve some of the challenges they are faced with.
“Words cannot fully describe how thankful we are for this donation and we hope you will continue doing this good work,” Joseph said.
Sarel added that of the 60 people who took on the Kilimanjaro challenge this year, only 20 managed to reach the summit.
“We take great pride in Walter’s achievement. After my summit of Kilimanjaro last year, I had to choose one person as representative for this year and I chose Walter.
“He took on more than 400 km on his bicycle to raise money for Christmas gifts and food for the less fortunate in December, travelling from Johannesburg to Polokwane,” Sarel said.
Sapa Yopa President, Lesiba LesBoogie Chuene, said they are proud of Walter and his achievements.
“Walter made an unforgettable difference in the lives of these learners and we hope his acts of kindness will not end here,” Lesiba said. School Management representative of Badimong Primary School, Betty Raphela, said this donation will improve the quality of life and education for the learners.
“Most parents in our community are unemployed and are unable to buy necessities for their families. This donation will help the girls also learn more about hygiene and it will prepare them for their menstruation cycles,” Betty said.
