Posted on July 2, 2009 - by boris

Rachel’s walk raises £3,000…

Rachel Kosciuszko

AFTER seeing for herself the hardship suffered by many Nepali woman, a 17-year-old student has completed a 50-mile overnight walk in aid of a charity that supports them.

Rachel Kosciuszko, whose parents Stefan and Takako live at Abbas Hall, Cornard Tye, took about 17 hours to walk from Brighton to her school, Charterhouse in Surrey, last Wednesday night and it was straight back to lessons the following day

“My school does a 50-mile walk every year and I wanted to do it to raise money for a Nepali charity,” she said. “I’ve got 14 blisters and it’s painful to stand but I’m so pleased to have done it. We were walking all through the night and didn’t stop for ten minutes.”

She has visited Nepal several times and enchanted by the character and warmth of the people she was saddened by the hardship some of them have to bear.

“I went travelling last year and stayed in a village in Nepal where I realised how poor some people were. The charity I’m supporting is run by an incredible woman called Ambika Shrestha and I wanted to help.”

“In Nepal the women control the household and if you can get women out of the illiteracy, poverty-stricken cycle it helps the kids who benefit so much and then they have some hope.”

“It’s such a wonderful country and the people are so nice and welcoming they don’t deserve this kind of poverty. They only have six hours of electricity a day which is ridiculous.”

So far Rachel’s walk has raised about £3,000 for the Kathmandu-based charity which focuses on enabling women to develop work skills and microfinance, providing them with a small amount of capital to help them get businesses off the ground.

She is returning to Nepal for five weeks in the summer and will be living in a village in the middle of the mountains where she will combine teaching with trekking.

Anyone willing to make a donation to the charity’s work can send a cheque to Rachel Kosciuszko, Abbas Hall, Cornard Tye, Great Cornard, Sudbury, CO10 0QD.

Source:http://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/news/Rachel39s-walkraises-3000.5420155.jp