Fundraisers scale the heights to send more livestock to needy families
Along with other Bóthar supporters, they first endured the heat of Africa’s equatorial forest before embarking on a seven day climb to the freezing summit of Kilimanjaro, the continent’s highest mountain.
Michael, a farmer in the Comeragh mountains in west Waterford, and Podge, from a farming background at Charleville, Co Cork donned their county jerseys and crossed hurls at the peak, 19,340 feet above sea level.
Playing for Cork or Waterford at Semple Stadium would have been easier than their week of long treks, sleeping in tents, minimal sanitation facilities, extremes of heat and cold, and sickness brought on by altitude. It was one of Bóthar’s most adventurous fundraising challenges, to finance delivery of farm animals such as dairy heifers and goats to poor families and communities in 40 countries. The animals and their produce can bring those living on the margins of survival to relative comfort.
The mountain climber fundraisers saw the work of Bóthar at first hand in Tanzania, where dairy goats from Ireland have been gifted to many families, and are now bringing food and hope.
