G4G charity plans adventure trip to India

Friday, Oct 04, 2013

Dubai: The Gulf for Good (G4G) group is raising funds for disadvantaged children by taking residents on an adventure trip to “The Last Shangri-La” in India.

The November “charity challenge” to the remote valleys of Uttarakhand state will fund the building of libraries in poverty-stricken schools there, in conjunction with the Room to Read charity, said G4G Chairman Brian Wilkie.

The week-long challenge, beginning on November 15, involves trekking, white-water rafting and mountain biking in the foothills of the towering Himalayas. Participants will also visit a Room to Read project.

The trip includes a non-refundable registration fee of Dh2,200 per participant and a minimum sponsorship target of Dh15,000.

Typically, about two-thirds of the target goes towards the charity project while the rest covers costs such as flights, accommodation, bikes, rafts, food and water, a G4G official said during a presentation last week.

Wilkie added that G4G is audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers and has its own system to check charity proposals with the help of independent third parties in the charity’s country.

“We keep track of everything, we don’t just donate,” Wilkie said.

‘Life-changing’

“We also always visit the children and try to do something together — build something for them, plant something, play games together. People get emotional, it changes you.”

Emirati G4G participant Afra Mattar described the challenges as “life-changing. You think about who you are and what you are, and how you can help. When you meet the children — it’s something you can’t miss.”

Wilkie said despite the physically active and sometimes demanding nature of the trips, anyone in “reasonable health” can participate.

“We could ask for a doctor’s certificate. We also give free advice and training before each challenge.”

G4G is supporting Room to Read to open its first 100 school libraries in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, G4G says online. Room to Read school libraries in India contain anywhere between 1,000 and 3,000 local language and English books, as well as games, puzzles and posters.

G4G says it has in the past 12 years completed 42 challenges, raising more than $2 million (around Dh7.34 million) for schools, hospitals, orphanages, and medical equipment in 23 countries in the Middle East, Asia, South America and Africa.

In February 2014, G4G and participants will be going to Laos, cycling the Mekong River. They then plan to climb the 4,167-metre Jebel Toubkal Mountain in the High Atlas range in Morocco in June 2014. Another summit, Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, is on the itinerary for July 2014. Next year’s final challenge is hiking, horse riding and cycling the expanses of Mongolia in October.

All G4G challenges fund projects for the welfare of disadvantaged children, the group says on its website, www.gulf4good.org.

By Faisal Masudi Staff Reporter