Cape Town - For the love of animals, Sandra Cheung is gearing up to embark on an epic journey to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in hopes of raising R15 000 for the Johannesburg SPCA (JSPCA).
The money will go towards the care and treatment of abandoned, unwanted and abused animals taken into the care of the JSPCA.
From Johannesburg, Cheung, 36, will be travelling to Tanzania on July 2 and will start trekking the mountain 5 895 metres above sea level on July 3.
She has been volunteering at the JSPCA for three years and serves as a board member, however she works full time as a finance manager.
“I love animals, especially dogs. Helping animals is really close to my heart and something I am passionate about.
“Kilimanjaro has always been on my to-do list, so I want to take it as a personal challenge, but it just so happened to coincide that I can raise funds for the Johannesburg SPCA, so it’s killing two birds with one stone.
“We are trying to raise awareness about animal cruelty and promote compassion towards animals and help give a voice to animals who cannot speak for themselves,” she said.
Cheung said she visited hiking trails across Gauteng every weekend in preparation for her venture.
“I do not have a fixed training programme but I do hike every weekend and during weekdays for about two or three days. In the morning I do the Westcliff stair climbing to get my cardio up, so that supplements my training in addition to just doing hikes.
“Hiking does not really get my heart rate up enough but stair climbing is quite essential to my training because that really gets my heart going.
“I have a passion for hiking. I am not an expert but I do enjoy going outdoors and being away from the office desk by going out and taking in what nature has to offer us. There is a tranquillity out there that I really like, that is what kick-started something in me to do Kilimanjaro,” said Cheung.
Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain on the African continent and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. It is also one of the Seven Summits, the highest mountains of each of the seven continents.
Visit: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/sandra-spca-kili
Cape Times