HEAL founder Dr Satya Prasad Koneru, who is a GP at the
Westwood Clinic in Peterborough, was delighted when one of his
more adventurous patients told him he would like to dedicate
his next major challenge to the childrens charity.
Yashu Shah has already climbed Kiliminajaro in 2010 and now
plans to head off on a tracking adventure in Nepal this summer.
And 64-year-old Mr Shah hopes to raise sponsorship for his trip
to support HEAL’s efforts in placing hundreds of orphaned and
poverty-striken children in India into education.
He will arrive at Delhi in mid-August, then heading from
Srinagar, through the Valley of Kashmir and the dramatic
landscape of Ladakh, before heading off the beaten track on a
challenging week-long journey through the Stok mountain range,
reaching altitudes of 6,000 metres (20,000ft).
The route being travelled by Mr Shah and his party will run
through high mountain pastures and passes which are little
known and rarely visited, hence not even mentioned in
guidebooks.
The spectacular adventure ends with the group leaving their
final camp shortly after midnight, before beginning the climb
to Stok Kangri, across a glacier then along an exposed section
to the summit where, on a clear morning they should see all the
way to K2 and Nanga Parbat in Pakistan.
“This truely sounds like an incredible advanture and it is a
wonderful gesture from Yashu, who is one of my patients, to
make this a fundraising event for HEAL,” said Dr Prasad.
“We are in our 20th year of helping underprivileged children in
Andhra Pradesh by providing them with shelter, healthcare and
an education and we are marking this anniversary with our
biggest project to date for which we are urgently seeking
funding.
“HEAL already looks after hundreds of children in Guntur and
elsewhere through our poverty trap projects, but now work is
already well under way on Paradise Village, which will become
home to another 1,000 severely disadvantaged children very
soon.
“So the efforts of Yashu and others like him who help to raise
money in whatever way they can are more important to HEAL than
ever.”
If you would like to sponsor Mr Shah please make a donation
online at www.justgiving.com/yashushah or send a cheque,
payable to HEAL, c/o Westwood Clinic, Wicken Way, Peterborough
PE3 7JW.