School girls trek from Namibia for charity

The physical and mental durability of fifteen Diocesan School for Girls pupils was recently put to the test in the school's ‘Fish-2-Fish Challenge’. The girls’ efforts were all for a good cause though, and raised R100 000 for a local school in need. Nick Hedley reports.

The physical and mental durability of fifteen Diocesan School for Girls pupils was recently put to the test in the school's ‘Fish-2-Fish Challenge’. The girls’ efforts were all for a good cause though, and raised R100 000 for a local school in need. Nick Hedley reports.

The 2011 DSG Challenge was an 850km trek on foot and by bicycle from the Fish River in Namibia to the Fish River in the Eastern Cape, with the aim to raise funds for a local mission school. The final leg of their epic journey was a run from the Grahamstown Golf Club to the DSG gates on Monday afternoon, where the girls were met by a cheering crowd of proud parents, families and friends. This year’s volunteers, fifteen girls from Grades 10 to 12, took on the Fish-2-Fish Challenge to raise money for Grahamstown’s Holy Cross School.

The 15 day endeavour began with a 100km hike of the Fish River Canyon in Namibia. The girls then cycled almost 800km from Upington to Grahamstown in a relay format, with each girl cycling a third of the distance. The trip involved six days of hiking and seven days of cycling, with two rest days in between. To prepare themselves the girls did some training together before their adventure – two spinning classes a week at the Rhodes gym, and cycling on Sundays.

DSG deputy principal David Wright supervised the trip, along with DSG Junior School's sport director, Neale Howarth, St Andrew’s College teacher Kate Cobbing, and old Rhodian CM Muller. Wright, Cobbing and Muller completed the entire journey with the girls. Two of the school’s professional drivers, Eric Zonke and Peter Zingela also made the trip, driving the bus and support vehicle. The challenge raised more than R100 000 for the Holy Cross School, which is run by the Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery, located off the N2 on the Highlands Road. Grocott's Mail was unable to reach anyone from the school for comment.

Participants Josie Palmer and Kim Rushmere agreed that the challenge had been a bonding experience for the girls. They said they had also learned a lot about themselves while being away from technology, and they were motivated by the fact that it was for a good cause.

The first DSG Challenge took place in 2000, and the Fish-2-Fish is now the fifth challenge undertaken by DSG pupils. According to Wright, the school has raised more than R1 million for deserving causes chosen by the girls since 2000. Past challenges have included swimming the English Channel, swimming from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand, and cycling the length of the Garden Route.