Durban — Local organisation Imbumba Foundation has launched a new partnership with Illovo Sugar Africa for the Trek4Mandela programme.
Illovo Sugar’s goal is to move metaphorical mountains for a total of at least 20 000 girls that are being held back in life because of period poverty across communities in Africa where the business operates, through the provision of sanitary products and menstrual hygiene education. They believe it is a cause worth supporting.
Dr Ernest Peresu, Social Development Director for Illovo, is one of the 17 Illovo Sugar employees selected with diversity in mind and united in purpose to participate in the Mount Kilimanjaro expedition. Peresu is expected to summit Kilimanjaro on July 18 – International Nelson Mandela Day.
“The Mount Kilimanjaro expedition is a celebration of the diversity Illovo Sugar represents – with a diverse team that truly represent everything in our organisation by any measure – gender, race, age, religion and physical constraints, with individuals whose jobs vary from office messengers to general managers,” he said.
He added that forging a partnership with the Imbumba Foundation (Trek4Mandela) was the next natural step. Peresu said the partnership allows Illovo Sugar to leverage the expertise of Trek4Mandela in co-ordinating Kilimanjaro expeditions, and proudly support their Caring4Girls programme that helps to address period poverty through distribution of sanitary towels to underprivileged schoolgirls and creating awareness about puberty and adolescence, and, in the process, demystifying menstruation.
To prepare for the 5895m Kilimanjaro Expedition climb, Peresu is gearing up with plenty of training including daily runs and walks, indoor exercises and weekend hikes in nearby mountains. He completed an eight-hour preparatory hike in the Drakensberg with the help and support of Trek4Mandela.
“Together with Trek4Mandela, we have also taken into consideration several key safety factors on hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, especially on altitude sickness and related complications, and experience of guides including guide-to-climber ratio and robust health monitoring and evacuation processes and protocols,” he said.
Peresu has the support of his wife, Daisy, and children, who are his biggest cheerleaders.
“My wife understands the true impact of period poverty, especially for girls in underprivileged rural communities. We train every morning together,” he said.
Peresu’s inspirational message, in true Mandela spirit, is: “Mandela recognised our differences as a source of richness and resilience, rather than division. This expedition provides us with a tremendous opportunity to be the ‘Mandela of today’ for girls in our communities that are being held back by period poverty.
“We should all rally behind the well-known African proverb that says, “If you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.”
This year, Trek4Mandela is doing a first-of-its-kind six-route expedition, with each route representing a colour of the South African flag to commemorate South Africa’s 30 years of democracy.
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