The Challenge!

Trev: I have just got back home from the Climb It Change Three Peaks Challenge and you could say I’m a bit tired! I’m really proud of the whole team including our driver and navigator but especially of Rich who climbed all three mountains and got back in twenty three hours and fifty two minutes and Chris who took just a few minutes longer. Unfortunately the heat, a dodgy knee and dodgier stomach stopped me from conquering Snowdon. I am disappointed not to have done the challenge this time but I’m sure that with different preparation and on another day I will make it one day.
It was funny how we were all really tired after our journey up to Glasgow for our stop over night but then we all slept badly. Next morning though we were all raring to go but just had to wait and kick our heels in Fort William for a few hours before the time to go.
Ben Nevis has some beautiful views but we didn’t see much of them because there’s no time to stop to admire just climb every mountain!
The weather was hot and clear for all three mountains – misty bad weather is a real challenge for most three peakers so we were really blessed with that. Thank you God!! Thanks are due to every member of the team because of the way everyone supported and encouraged each other in the tough bits of which there were quite a few! Thanks to all the friends and families who have sponsored us and have prayed for us. Most of all thanks to God who gave us these mountains to climb and the strength to do it.
Remember all the money we raise is going to fund the work of Christian Aid around the world. As it says on the T shirts ‘We can’t stand still whilst people go hungry. Can you?’

The Cost of Living

Jon: In March I was fortunate enough to meet Dr Kamathe Sekera, director of one of Christian Aid’s partners, Vorsi-Congo. He told us of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and how it is affecting the people living there. DR Congo should be a rich economical nation in Africa with its main exports including diamonds, gold and copper. Instead due to war and corruption over 250,000 people have had to flee there homes and the BBC reports that the war has ‘claimed an estimated three million lives, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition.’

Because of the expense of war, many essential services that used to be free now have to be paid for by a population in which close to 50% are unemployed. These services really are necessities. For a mother to give birth in a medical centre or hospital they have to pay US$500! For a child to gain a basic education at a primary school costs US$100 a year, plus the costs of exercise books and a uniform, without which they will not be admitted.

As in many African countries HIV/Aids is a major issue. Twelve people an hour die from aids in DR Congo alone and a further nineteen are infected. HIV is spread through most bodily fluids such as vomit, so something as simple as a family sharing the same toothbrush because they can’t afford more than one can cause the disease to spread. It cannot however be transmitted in sweat or saliva and this kind of misconception has stigmatised the disease and is the cause of many of the sufferers’ problems. HIV cannot be caught by touching or kissing another person, including shaking hands or hugging, and yet many refuse to do any of these things resulting in a person being marginalised. HIV is portrayed as the twenty-first century leprosy and sufferers become victims, not because of the disease, but because of the stigmatisation attached to it. This problem comes down to pure ignorance and a lack of education on the subject, which is where Christian Aid and their partner Vorsi-Congo come in.

Christian Aid funds Vorsi-Congo’s work to educate local religious leaders (who are the most respected people in the community) and eradicate the ignorance on HIV, therefore enabling proper care and treatment for HIV sufferers. Something as simple as this can dramatically improve the lives of people living in such conditions, and yet without the funding of Christian Aid, it would be impossible to educate the community leaders and stop the prejudice against the disease.

By sponsoring us five to climb mountains you might just change the lives of people in DR Congo, giving them the chance to receive the treatment and care that they deserve, instead of becoming just another statistic.

The Fifth Element

The big news this month is that Jamie Maule-ffinch has become the fifth member of the Climb it Change team who will be attempting to complete the Three Peaks Challenge at the end of June. Always up for a challenge, Jamie jumped at the chance to take part in the 24 hour test of endurance and will also take on the responsibility of filming the whole event.

The rest of the team have continued to train individually since the last group climb up over the Malverns. Running, hill walking and trips to the gym several times a week have made them confident that all the hard work will mean they’re up to the task.

To make the teams exploits worth while please sponsor them on the justgiving site and give as much as you can afford!

Malvern Training

Last Saturday the whole team got together for the first time, bright and early, for a training walk over the Malvern Hills:

Richard: 1st group Training session today – just a quick stroll up the Malvern Hills. Had to virtually kick Chris out of bed at 7:50 this morning, no surprise I don’t think he knew there were any hours before 1pm on a Saturday. Just a gentle 13 miles up to the top and down… and up the next one and down… and up the next one and down… You get the picture. Only three hours so not too bad… for a first effort. Three months to go so it’s a long way off yet… plenty of time for Jon’s dodgy knees to get sorted. I’m confident!

Trevor: Well we have started the team training. All four of us left the quarry car park in Malvern at 9.05 am on Saturday 28th March and exactly three hours later we got back to the car park having walked just over 20 km with as many up hills and down hills as we could find. It was a really good day weather wise considering the forecast all last week had been for driving rain and howling winds. It was a bit breezy at the top but we had no rain at all. We all took a turn at being the highest person in Worcestershire at 1395 ft. Rich thought he had won by being the tallest of us all until Chris climbed on top of the triangulation post! All in all a really good morning and start to the team’s training without even any blisters.

In the beginning...

This is where we’ll be keeping you up to date on our training, how much money we’re raising and any news we have regarding special events and features over the coming months. For those of you that have no idea what we’re going to do, here’s a bit of a run down.

At the end of June, four of us (Chris, Jon, Rich and Trev) are going to climb the three highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales, in just twenty four hours. The main reason for doing this is not because we need psychiatric help, but to raise as much money as possible for Christian Aid’s relentless fight against poverty and injustice.

The fact that every eight seconds a child dies of hunger unnecessarily is reason enough to want to make a difference, but there are many other statistics that illustrate how those stricken by poverty need our help. By climbing three mountains and gaining your sponsorship, we can change real lives for the better.