Mt Kilimanjaro Trek - July 2012

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I've always been passionate about social justice, however my passion truly came to life just over 10 years ago when I spent four months backpacking around South East Asia and India and, for the first time, witnessed with my own eyes the extreme poverty and the devastating legacy left behind following wars, ruthless dictatorships and otherwise corrupt governments and social systems. To say the least, this four month 'holiday' has had a huge impact on my views of the world, and the responsibilities I believe we all, as a community, should face.

Following that time, I have since returned to Cambodia to volunteer at a local school, spent 3.5 years volunteering / living with disadvantaged teenagers right here in Melbourne, been a financial supporter of Oxfam for almost four years - and in July 2010 I raised money for Amnesty International when I ran my first 10km race in the Run Melbourne festival.

So when Amnesty International approached me late last year to take on the challenge of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro - Africa's highest peak at 5,895m - by raising money towards the incredible work they achieve in campaigning for human rights, I signed up! In addition to the more than $4,500 I've raised through this page thanks to the generous donations of so many wonderful people, I also raised just shy of $1,000 by holding a safari cocktail party for my birthday, and have even managed to also raise a few hundred bucks to cover a small part of the costs associated with the trek - camping fees, hire of porters, cooks, guides & doctors, etc.

Your support to help me reach my fundraising goal would not only mean the world to me, but will also really have the power to help make a huge difference in the world. Some of the HARD FACTS include:

- Globally, more than 1 billion people experience human rights violations that cause extreme poverty;

- Every 3 seconds a child dies from extreme poverty and every minute a woman dies from pregnancy & childbirth complications;

- 6,000 people die of HIV / AIDS every day and 800 million people go to bed hungry every night;

- In Australia, domestic violence puts more women aged 15 to 44 at risk of ill-health and premature death than any other risk factor; and more than one third of women experience physical or sexual violence in their lives.

These are just a few examples of the kinds of issues that Amnesty International takes on board, by lobbying governments, working with the world media to expose human rights abuses and calling the guilty to justice.

Together we really CAN make a difference!

Click on Donate Now to make a secure online donation. 

On behalf of those helped through Amnesty's amazing work, thanks for your support!