About

In May, I will be hiking Mount Toubkal in Morocco, the tallest mountain in North Africa, standing at 4,167m (13,671ft) to support Saavan’s Trust. I hiked the Atlas mountains last year and wanted a new challenge whilst also working towards a cause close to my heart. Over the 3 day ascent, accompanied by the friendly local Berber people and hikers from around the world, I will be faced with progressively steep mountainous terrains, pushing through the winding hills and zig zagging paths. Peak day will start before sunrise, walking head on into rocky trails and last reminiscence of the winter snow before soaking in the morning views at the summit. Treks like this doesn’t start at the first step on the mountains, but in the training. As this will be my first high altitude hike I’ll be increasing my fitness through a mixture of HIIT workouts, running and local hikes. The nerves are normal, however the excitement takes precedence for a journey thinking about Saavan in every step.

Background

Saavan Mundae was a young, ambitious student with a heart like no other. His dream of becoming an airline pilot was regrettably short lived when it was tragically taken away from him in a flight training catastrophe. Saavan’s Trust was set up to continue his legacy to build schools for children in less privileged parts of the world – a cause which was very close to Saavan’s heart.

The first project was partnered with Actionaid to build a school in Barmurikona, a small rural village within the Assam region of India. The village needed a school as the nearest one was more than 5 miles away with little transportation and travelling meant crossing a large river and busy highway and so the young children had no alternatives. We removed the impediment and a school supporting 850 children was built with funds raised by Saavan’s Trust.

More recently, in Cambodia our school build was located in the Kampot province. Children who lived in Damnak Trach village were amongst the most vulnerable and at risk of failing to progress from primary to secondary education due to a lack of classrooms and school facilities in the area. Students who finished primary school needed to travel 15km to the nearest secondary school and walking there the children encountered a high risk of traffic accidents, harassment, or abuse. This project helped to combat those challenges and enabled children from three neighbouring villages to continue with their education.

We appreciate every contribution and 100% of every penny donated will go toward partnering with more charities to building these schools.

Find out more about Saavan’s Trust at www.saavanstrust.org

Thank you for your support and helping everyone's hearts heal a little.

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