Rafiki Relay for Education 2021
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RAFIKI RELAY FOR EDUCATION 2021 THANK YOU FOR BEING #RAFIKIRELAY HEROES! THIS IS OUR JOURNEY 1 One last time then fabulous #rafikirelay teams… What an amazing journey it has been and how truly staggering is the distance you covered in 6 weeks! You trekked from ‘Cairo to Cape Town’ in 6 days, took on the full ‘Coastline of Africa’ in 13 days, completed 103,791 km ‘Around the Equator’ in 17 days, and returned to, and passed Cairo in 6 days! Nearly a third of the way to the moon!! Along the way you explored 33 milestones – all of which are collated in this booklet for you! More than anything though, you are #rafikirelay heroes for your generous donations and sponsorship drive, between you raising a whopping amount to empower young people in £16,092 Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho through education! On behalf of the children whose lives will now be transformed, who will fulfil their potential, be able to pursue their dreams and lift themselves, their families, and their communities out of poverty… THANK YOU!!! With your support we will be able to pay for in Kenya, Uganda and Lesotho to complete their entire 5-year secondary 10 children schooling, or enable in Kenya to study for 3 years and graduate from university 6 young people with a Bachelor’s Degree, or provide who would otherwise go hungry, with a free meal at our link school in 70 children Uganda every day for 3 years These lives will be transformed, thanks to YOU! 2 ONCE UPON A TIME… There was a tiny charity called Rafiki Thabo Foundation and 2000 pairs of brave feet they walked, ran, cycled and swam raising money to empower through education With Cairo to Cape Town complete a journey around the Coastline of Africa began but would you believe, with no end to their determination they took on the Equator for #rafikirelay phase three! Unstoppable, they needed challenge number 4 and headed for a Return to Cairo with less than one week to go… As our #rafikirelay came to a midnight close the 2,000 pairs of brave feet were sore but with 103,791 km trekked, 33 milestones explored, and a whopping £16,092 raised we hope they look back on their challenge with pride, satisfaction, fond memories and are tempted for more! We are so grateful to our #rafikirelay teams, to our generous sponsors and our inspirational supporters! TOGETHER WE ARE CHANGING LIVES, FULFILLING DREAMS AND ENABLING BRIGHTER FUTURES!! 3 Setting off from Cairo on the 26th April, we had no idea how fast you would all be moving through the African continent! 13,222km was completed in only 6 days! I realised on day 2 what was in store, and got busy planning a phase 2, writing milestones at speed! You will now revisit our Cairo to Cape Town milestones, followed by Around the Coastline of Africa, Around the Equator and Return to Cairo! I have copied these in as they were written, so that you can relive our journey, but that does mean that you might giggle at times as of course I wrote some milestones before the relay started and as such at the time of writing had no idea you would race through them in 6 days instead of 6 weeks! You will also find social media celebrations, fundraising and #rafikirelay updates, gratitude to our sponsors and inspirational supporters, and towards the end of the booklet a bit about Rafiki Thabo Foundation and how to stay in touch! There is also a list of all #rafikirelay teams and their distances! 4 CAIRO TO CAPE TOWN – THE PYRAMIDS OF CAIRO – ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, GO! (26th April) Welcome to Cairo!! We are so excited that you are joining us for Rafiki Relay for Education – Cairo to Cape Town! As we now virtually gather for ‘on your marks, get set’ and GO on the 26th of April, take a moment to read about the amazing Pyramids of Cairo! Cairo, the capital of Egypt has stood for more than 1,000 years on the same site on the banks of the Nile, and is today one of the largest cities in Africa. At its heart is Tahrir Square and the vast Egyptian Museum, a trove of antiquities including royal mummies and gilded King Tutankhamun artifacts. However, for many of us it is the mystery and wonder of the incredible, vast pyramids that makes Cairo so exciting. The most famous Egyptian pyramids are those found at Giza, a district on the outskirts of Cairo. Among them the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence, the Pyramid of Khufu, also the largest Egyptian pyramid! Giza is where the famous necropolis of the 4th dynasty can be visited. Among the many points of interest are the famous Sphinx and the pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinos. The Pyramid of King Cheops is one of the most famous structures in the world. Built by King Cheops (4th dynasty) in about 2,650 BC and originally standing at 481 feet tall. To the south of King Cheop's Pyramid, a large wooden boat in a very good condition has been revealed and is now to be seen in a museum south to pyramid of King Cheops. The Pyramid of Chephren was built by Chephren (son of Cheops), south-west of his father's pyramid and is very similar to it. Although lower in height, it looks higher as it was built on a higher plateau. On the north side it possesses two entrances leading down into a passage and then across a corridor to the burial chamber, which still contains the large granite sarcophagus of Chephren. The Pyramid of Mycerinos is the smallest of the three pyramids, barely 66 metres high, and was originally covered with red granite stones from Aswan. All three pyramids of Giza are surrounded by several small pyramids and hundreds of mastaba tombs belonging to the members of the royal family, nobles, and high-ranking employees. On the way down to the Valley Temple of King Chefren, the famous large statue of the Sphinx is located. This colossal statue represents a body of a lion with a human head measuring 70 metres in length and 20 metres in height. So much excitement and so much to explore, and we are only at the beginning of our journey – we have a whopping 13,222 km ahead of us, to collectively reach Cape Town on the 6th of June! Want to explore the Pyramids of Cairo for yourself? Speak to Charitable Travel about your travel plans, and you can donate 5% of your holiday price to Rafiki Thabo when you book… at no additional cost! Find out more at https://charitable.travel/rafiki-thabo-foundation/ 5 CAIRO TO CAPE TOWN – THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS (27th April) Our first leg completed! We have walked, run, swum, or cycled 627 km and arrived at The Valley of the Kings! The astonishing landscape of the Valley of the Kings, with its sand dunes that stretch almost to the waters- edge of the Nile opposite Luxor to the high mountains, is matched only by the treasures the area has hidden for centuries and may still even hide. The ancient Egyptians built massive public monuments to their pharaohs, but they also created hidden underground mausoleums. The Valley of the Kings is the most famed collection of such elaborate tombs. The tombs evidence elaborate preparations for the next world, in which humans were promised continuing life and pharaohs were expected to become one with the gods. Mummification was used to preserve the body so that the deceased's eternal soul would be able to reanimate it in the afterlife. The tombs were well stocked with all the material goods a ruler might need in the next world, including amazing treasures as well as food and drink! Many tombs have been discovered, such as those of Tutankhamun, Ramses I, Ramses II, Ramses III and Ramses VI, Amenhotep II, Seti I, Sipteh, Thutmose III and Horemheb, and their treasures are displayed in museums such as the Egyptian Museum in Cairo or in the Luxor Museum. The tomb of Tutankhamun is one of the most famous #RAFIKIRELAY UPDATE! archaeological finds of all time, largely due to how intact the tomb Wow we hit Valley of The Kings in one and its contents were when found. Watch this short film from day! National Geographic and learn about the treasures and the Wow, when we were setting this challenge restoration of his famous golden coffin as the artifacts are being up and were deciding on the journey we would take on, I must admit we were prepared to return home to Egypt after being shown across the nervous about whether or not we would be world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3U1IcB3ecU able to get to Cape Town in 6 weeks - with The Valley of the Kings dates back to around the 16th to the 11th the whopping challenge of 13,222km! It is centuries BC as a necropolis of the Pharaonic Egypt’s New safe to say, we are no longer concerned! Kingdom dynasties. It is believed to have been used for around You guys are absolutely amazing! We have already visited The Valley of the Kings! Lots 500 years and is the resting place of the kings and other nobles of of teams are off the mark with many more the 18th through to the 21st dynasties. In 1979 it was made a to still kick into action - can't wait to see this World Heritage Site and remains one of the most important and unfold as we travel through Africa! famous archaeological sites in the world.