Mandela Day: Trek4Mandela – Helping keep a girl child in school

Trek4Mandela, established in 2012 works to create awareness and helps raise funds for underprivileged girls who are unable to purchase sanitary towels. The expedition was started to ensure that the girls of rural areas do not miss school due to menstruation challenges.

Trek4Mandela was initiated by Richard Mabaso when he had overheard his mother and niece talking about the challenges the girls face during their menstruation cycle. Studies have also shown that girls miss up to 50 days a year due to these challenges. To keep the girls in school, Caring4girls supplies them with resources and education materials that help them in these days. 

In just a short span of 4 years, caring4girls has helped reach and has touched the lives of more than 10,000 girls. They have also succeeded in distributing more than 130,000 packets of much needed sanitary pads to the young women of South Africa. 

To support the foundation, Trek4Mandela has been organized every year. During the expedition, various individuals, government institutions, celebrities, and business leaders head out to Tanzania to scale Africa’s highest peak – Kilimanjaro. 

The participants were allowed to take part in the expedition via:

• driving and climbing
• only driving
• flying and climbing
• donate from home

The cause has helped many and aims to distribute 670,000 sanitary pads each year. We at RapidStudio were privileged to help this cause by printing autographed photobooks for the participants. We hope to be of assistance to the great cause in the coming years as well and wish the foundation all the best in their future endeavors. 

Gugu Zulu and his wife (source: Gugu Zulu's Facebook page - last post from Saturday, 16 July 2016) 

It is also with great sadness, that as we commemorate this wonderful day, that we also share a sad loss - that a member of this great cause has lost his life this morning, South Africa's celebrated rally champion, Gugu Zulu. "It is with a heavy heart that we announce that one of the climbers on the Trek4Mandela, Gugu Zulu lost his life while summiting Kilimanjaro early this morning before summiting," a statement read. Read more on News24