Simon Jukes
For Rangers - Raising money for Rhino Conservation
Fundraising for Save the Rhino International
Story
On 2nd September 2024 I am running, with 90+ others from around the world, across 230 km of Kenyan trails to help raise awareness and money for the Save the Rhino charity and through this help to improve the lives of the rangers that protect these great animals and to boost conservation.
I think we can all agree that rhinoceroses are magnificent, yet they are still endangered. To survive, they need a safe world, one that the rangers work ceaselessly to help protect.
We will help ensure that ranger teams have the kit they need to do their job. In the last decade more than 1,000 rangers worldwide have lost their lives in the line of duty, yet rangers often don’t have the basic equipment, such as quality footwear, packs and tents, that they need to protect rhino/wildlife populations.
It takes a simple internet search to see, often so graphically, the devastation that poaching can lead to for rhinos and other wildlife in Africa and beyond. It is difficult not to feel saddened, helpless, and angered that such carnage can still take place.
All the money given goes to charity. The runners are self-funded and self-supported and any profits are donated by the race organisers, Beyond The Ultimate.
I hope also to see elephants, zebra, giraffes and maybe even a lion on the route which passes through the heart of rhino conservation from Lewa Wildlife Conservancy through the foothills of Mt Kenya to Borana and Ol Jogi Conservancies and the undulating plains of Ol Pejeta Conservancy on the Equator, home of the last two Northern White rhinos.
Rangers will be at checkpoints/water stations and at frequent intervals along the route, allowing us to spend time with, and learn about, the men and women we are supporting and who risk their lives to protect some of the world's most endangered animals. Staying at overnight camps we will live in the bush, just like the rangers, if only for a week.
Amid the many requests we all get from so many worthy charities throughout the year, if this one resonates with you (due to the Rhinos and Rangers, not my running!), I will all be so very grateful for your support.
haba na haba hujaza kibaba
(Swahili proverb)
little by little fills the measure
https://www.beyondtheultimate.co.uk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdHW-su8jw4
