Organised by the Mamu Loman Federation, the event is being held to support and raise funds for The Unlimited Child.

“The Unlimited Child was the perfect match for us,” explains adventurer Andrew King, one of the founders of the Mamu Loman Federation. “As our route is through the Valley of 1000 Hills, we wanted to support an initiative that is giving back to this community and the great work being done by The Unlimited Child delivers on all fronts.”

The decision to support The Unlimited Child came about as the athletes participating in the Valley Run view the endeavour as an opportunity to give back to the community.  “The guys and girls who make up the Mamu Loman Federation are a mix of acomplished and recreational athletes. Ultimately, we are out to have some fun, get active and do some really worthwhile fundraising while we’re at it ,” says King.

The line-up for the Valley Run includes Sean Wisedale who has two trips to the South Pole under his belt; Ironman finisher Chester Foster who also competed in the G4 Global Challenge; Wim Van Herzeele a past Camel Trophy Winner and Devlin Fogg who has covered the distance from the North Pole to the South Pole using his own human power. For the first time this year, an invitational team from Zimbabwe has also been included.

Cassy Healey, CEO of The Unlimited Child, says they are thrilled that the Manu Loman Federation are throwing their weight behind the organisation. “We believe that the work we are doing will change the future for South Africa. Our goal is to reach 1,2 million children by 2016 and it’s through the support of events such as the Valley Run, that we will be able to raise the money required to do this,” she explains.

If you want to support the Valley Run in raising funds for The Unlimited Child, click here.

Children from the Valley of 1000 Hlls join Chester Foster and Andrew King on a training run for the Valley Run.

From left: Andrew King, Cassy Healey and Chester Foster with children from Embo Child Educare, one of the crèches that has benefited from The Unlimited Child.

The most rapid phase for brain development occurs between the years of 0 and 6. If a child does not receive correct stimulation during these years of preschool before they enter formal schooling – the parts of the brain that are unused will shut down. Literally. Shut down – never available again! The Unlimited Child ensures that this does not happen – children need to develop their gross motor skills, fine motor skills, cognitive ability, emotions, social skills… These are VITAL in the development of a child and in ensuring they are successful at school. If we do not provide this, the door to quality education will forever remain closed to those children who need it the most. So our question is: when will South African educators begin to acknowledge the importance of Early Childhood Development? MF

 About 68% of children aged 4 and below do not go to early childhood development (ECD) centres, a new study has shown.

This was highlighted in a survey run by the South African Race Relations Institute. The survey highlights the importance of early childhood development and how critical it is in developing our nation’s future.

A quarter of all children under the age of 4 in KwaZulu Natal do not attend a early childhood development centre.

To read more, follow this link

Iain Buchan:  We are at the South Pole after walking 19,5km today and everyone on the team is absolutely exhausted. It was a slow uphill climb that we didn’t expect. It was very tough, especially the last 4,5km. Having said that we are all elated to be here. It is the most special place on the planet. We are all so happy that we’ve finally made it. We’ve just had a chance to relax and unwind and we had a good meal at base camp. We were all really thrilled that Nzuzo was able to ski today and he did about 14km. The frostbite on his fingers and nose held up well and there’s no futher damage which is great news. He is very tired but he is very happy.

The overall trip has lasted six-and-a-half days. We were really lucky with the weather except for one day when there was a white-out and we struggled with our navigation. The rest of the time, we’ve had the most incredible weather and we’ve been told that it’s the best they’ve seen in this part of the world for many years.

Nzuzo Mnikathi:  Today has been a great day for me. Even though I really struggled, I’ve had the best day of my life skiing to the South Pole. I started off well but by half way I was really exhausted and I thought that I wasn’t going to make it but the team helped me. I’ve never had this kind of experience and I have to thank Barney, Iain, Zack, Pete and Sean Wisedale for all their help. To all the people in South Africa – you helped me make it and I just want to thank all of you.