Raising funds for the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital - Cape Town, South Africa

In 2009 my young grandson, Tristan, suffered burns to his upper body and was treated in the phenomenal Burns Unit at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. It was an extremely traumatising experience for us all and introduced us to the reality faced by so many sick children and their families who have to deal with this kind of trauma.

We are so grateful for the wonderful care and support Tristan received at the Hospital from doctors and medical staff that we decided, as a family, that it would be fitting for us to be able to give back in some way. I’ve therefore committed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in July 2010 and will attempt to raise much needed funds for the Hospital.

100% of money I raise will be allocated directly to upgrade the Burns Unit - every cent donated to the Hospital Trust will directly benefit the Hospital.

Ultimately, the purpose of this project is to raise funds for an extremely deserving cause. I have given a personal guarantee to match the amount I must raise in sponsorships in the form of financial donations to the Trust.

I am very excited about being able to make a difference and sincerely hope you will be able to come on board with me in helping to get other sick children back home where they belong!



This is how you can get involved....

DONATE A SKILL

If you have a skill that you would like to 'donate' instead of money, this slot is for you.

I will create an event around what you have to offer and 100% of what people pay to attend will be donated to the hospital.

The hair spa day held in March at the Wayne.com salon at the One and Only Hotel is an example of such an event. We were able to raise R5250 on that day.

PLEDGES

Kilimanjaro is 5895m high. You can decide to pledge a certain amount per meter that I climb. You can email your pledges to me at: ferreira@netpoint.co.za OR you can download a pledge page from the section on the right of this page and fax it to me.

If you can't pledge yourself, how about getting your company to pledge and to perhaps even challenge other companies to match or better their pledge!!

DONATE ONLINE OR BY BANK DEPOSIT

On the right hand side of the blog, near the top, there is a section that includes a direct link to the hospital's website.

Read all the directions before clicking on the link, it is important for the hospital to be able to allocate your donation correctly.

The hospital trust will issue a tax certificate for any donation over R100, so that's an extra bonus for both individuals and companies!

AUCTION

I am currently collecting goods to offer on an auction to be held later this year - anything that we can turn into money is welcome!

Just to give you a sample of some of the things we have at this stage: three TOP NOTCH bottles of South African wines, compliments of Janet Malherbe, and five signed copies of a book written by the adventurer and master fundraiser David Grier!

For more info on David: http://www.davidgrier.co.za/

I'd love to be able to offer nights away at wonderful places in our country, romantic dinners at special restaurants etc. So if you have any connections or have something that you can offer yourself, I'd love to hear from you!

Just to make double sure you have my contact details - here it is again: ferreira@netpoint.co.za





Tristan enjoying being a healthy, happy little boy!


my blog entries

Will try and update on a regular basis!! :)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Back home!

I have been back home for 12 days now and still battling with a chest infection! I am so done with tablets and medicine at this stage - nothing seems to help! This morning I decided to go for a B12 injection to boost my immune system and I was told that within 48 hours I'll feel like a different person - so let's hold thumbs it works...

As for the climb - I still feel as if I've dreamt it all! It came and went so quickly, I have to start writing all the details down before it fades away.

One thing that I know will never fade, is the fact that this really was the most difficult thing I have EVER done. You keep climbing, day after day and the oxygen just keeps getting less and less. Even with the help of Diamox, altitude sickness is bound to affect you at some stage.

It really hit me hard as we reached our first camp at the end of the first day. I was ill for most of that evening and seriously considered turning back at that stage. I'm not sure how anyone can climb that mountain without the help of God! I prayed that night that I should just receive a calmness in order to continue because I actually had a few panic attacks that first night.

Home sweet home for 5 nights!

Lying in a tiny little tent in the dark feeling claustrophobic, nauseous and panicky is not fun! The headache I got that evening also stayed with me for thew next five days. My prayers really were answered, in the early hours of that morning a peaceful feeling came over me and I started feeling a little better. I made the decision to continue and looking back I am so glad I did!

I'll post more pictures and continue the story tomorrow!

Thanks to my amazing friends at Auto Trade Supplies for their wonderful donation to the hospital!!


With my fellow climber, Sandra and our guide Freddy
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