Three 13-year old Island Pacific School students are raising money for high school tuition for their “pen pals” at an orphanage in Ghana.
"We have had a letter exchange between our school, Island Pacific School on Bowen Island, and the Royal Seed Orphanage in Kasoa, Ghana, for the past 5 years. There is little hope that our pen pals will be able to go to high school because of the cost. We want to change that by raising funds for the high school tuition fees. We have organized a fundraising 55 kilometre relay triathlon that starts in Deep Cove, North Vancouver, winds across the North Shore and crosses the strait, finishing on Bowen Island.
The children from Royal Seed orphanage are schooled for elementary and middle school. After grade 9, they have to start working manual labour which will most likely be their job for the rest of their lives. We want to give them the opportunity to go to high school, which is expensive, C$1,500 per student per year. We are hoping to fundraise enough to send as many children to high school as we can, to allow them to get educated and eventually land well paying jobs. We believe this will break the poverty cycle for them, boost their local economy, which in turn may allow even more children to go to high school and, maybe eventually help stabilize the country and make it a better place.
All three of us are athletes in different fields: Luke McKenzie (cycling), Willem Young (swimming) and Angus Duguid (running). We have designed a relay triathlon that connects our communities of North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Bowen Island.
The Tri4Ghana triathlon will take place on May 24, 2014 with the ride commencing in Deep Cove and ending in Whytecliff Park (41 km). The swim will cross the open water to Bowen Island (3.5 km) and the run will climb Mount Gardiner, and descend to Snug Cove (12.5 km) for the finish and after-party.
100% of the donations will go directly to our cause.
Visit us at www.tri4ghana.com, or on our Tri4Ghana Facebook page or on Twitter @tri4ghana.
We believe that this event will help many children in need. We need you to help support us and the children at the Royal Seed Home Orphanage, by helping to spread the word.
If you are interested in speaking with us directly, please contact 604.833.7556 or [email protected].
You may also reach us through our school at (604) 947-9311 or [email protected]."
