Walkers' feat will help fund relief efforts

BY THE time you read this, UCT alumnus and former staffer Jane Froggatt will be trudging along a lonely road on the eastern border of Zimbabwe. Hopefully, she will already have made some inroads into a 500 km endurance walk to raise funds for displaced farm workers and abandoned farm animals in the beleaguered country.

She is not alone. Froggatt, who is a Zimbabwean, has been joined by two other alumni, Jaqui Sommerville (who works in ITS) and Urban Schulter. The trio, called CapeBlue, will walk in relay as part of the Light Infantry team (supported by vehicles carrying their gear). (There are also cycling and Heavy Infantry teams, the latter carrying all their needs; food, water and shelter, on their backs.)

Their incredible journey is taking them from the lowest to the highest point in Zimbabwe, starting in Mahenye in the south and continuing via Chipinge, Chimanimani and Mutare to end at Nyangani in the north.

"Starting on August 5, walkers take 11 days, cyclists six, to complete the 500 km," Froggatt told Monday Paper.

"This equates to running a standard marathon every day while climbing the equivalent gradient of seven stacked Table Mountains (7 240m)!" she added.

"I can't go into the horrors of penned-in animals that have been left for weeks after farms have been invaded. But my concerns lie far more with the people. Due to farm re-allocations farms workers have been removed from their homes and livelihood. They are destitute. They have no allies and have nowhere to go."

Anyone wishing to make a donation to this cause can email Jane Froggatt at whiteknt@iafrica.com.

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