Charity climb to benefit Kenyan orphans

Jun 29 2011 by Johnathon Menzies, Stirling Observer Wednesday

LOCAL student Susan Peattie has decided to miss her graduation ceremony tomorrow (Thursday) in a bid to conquer one of the highest mountains in the world.

The prolific fundraiser was due to line-up alongside hundreds of her peers and be capped by University of Stirling chancellor James Naughtie upon collecting her BA honours degree in French and Spanish.

But, after plans for a January Mount Everest adventure were shelved because of the weather, she jumped at the chance to alter her remit to encompass Mount Kilimanjaro instead.

The Tanzania landmark, the highest free-standing peak on the planet at 19,340-feet, is close to an orphanage in Mombasa, Kenya which the former Job Centre employee has worked at in the past.

“I thought that would be better than trying Everest again,” Susan explained, adding: “I would then be able to take a bus to Mombasa to work in the orphanage after the climb. I’m sorry I’ll miss graduation, but I can’t afford to come back.”

Susan first encountered children from the Calvary Zion Children’s Home when she went out to teach at a nearby school in 2005.

Finding that the orphans were being taught in free state schools, which have 100 children in a class, she set up a trust to fund private schooling for the youngsters.

“These are children who have been abandoned or are homeless,” Susan continued.

“One of the children was left on a rubbish tip as a day-old baby – he was still attached to his umbilical cord, it was heartbreaking.

“Others have been snatched from their village by paedophiles and brought to the city.

“They will have parents, but the children don’t know their own names or where they come from – they don’t even know how old they are or when their birthday is.”

The Calvary Zion Children’s Home Support Trust has raised in the region of £64,000 and continues to put youngsters through private education and support them as they move into employment.

A new home has been built on-site to take in more children, something which led to the creation of Susan Peattie Avenue, as a lasting tribute to the trust founder’s legacy.

Susan added: “It gives the girls a future as teachers, as opposed to going on the streets or selling mangoes by the side of the road.

“One of the things I’m going to research there this summer is driving lessons for boys. We find the older boys don’t do so well at school as they started late, so they need a skill to stop them falling off the edge when they leave.

“If we can pay for them to learn to drive, they can be employed to drive taxis, safari tours or buses.”

After working at the orphanage all summer, Susan will make use her language degree teaching English at a nursery school in Kazakhstan.

Visit www.czchildrenshometrust.org for more information.