A GRANDFATHER plans to cycle from Dublin to Cork and back in just one day to raise money for an Irish-based charity which works in Lesotho.
Gerry Rea (70), from Bishopstown in Cork, is due to leave the city's GPO early on Saturday, August 23rd, bound for the Mansion House in Dublin. He plans to then rest for a few hours before turning around and cycling back to Cork - a 510km round trip.
Mr Rea has been cycling since he was a teenager and has already made the Cork to Dublin journey in one day. Mr Rea says the return trip will be arduous, but he believes he is up to the challenge.
Mr Rea is cycling on behalf of the Acara lesotho Build Project which was co-founded by his niece Colette O'Sullivan.
The Acara Lesotho Build Project helps provide schools, medical centres and halfway houses. The facilities are designed to be safe places for vulnerable children whose parents have died, allowing the orphans to lead normal lives in their communities.
Lesotho is the sixth-poorest country in Africa and about 30 per cent of the population is infected with HIV.
The Lesotho Build Project will bring tradespeople to help build and furnish schools, medical centres and safe houses to help some of the country's 180,000 orphans.
The project was founded by Colette O'Sullivan and Helen O'Malley, who saw the appalling conditions endured by children while on a charity trek in the mountains of Lesotho.
The women adopted a five-year plan to help Lesotho children by providing some of life's necessities
Mannete Ramaili, the Lesotho ambassador to Ireland, supports the initiative. "We want to try to keep these orphaned children within their communities rather than institutionalising them," he said.
"The halfway homes will provide a safe place for these children and enable them to attend their local school, learn life skills to help them cope with their situation and lead a normal life like every child in that area."
Donations to the cycling quest can be sent to Acara Lesotho Build Project, 20 Stephen Street Lower, Dublin 2. More information at www.acara.ie/lesotho.