SPA UK Sandesh 2014 | Page 68

Charity Trek for Alzeimer’ s / Dementia Sufferers & Albinism A BIG THANK YOU to all for the wonderful support for the Charity venture to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil for Alzeimer’s / Dementia Sufferers and children born with Albinism in UK The experience started by arriving in Buenos Aires and spending a day to acclimatise. There was a group of 5 people on the first day. We visited a historic town of Colonia Del Sacramento, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This was different and pleasant. We had a three hour drive to visit the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo, and a classical capital, famous for its beauty. The next 4 days were spent in Uruguay on a ranch with a group of 15 individuals. We had a fantastic experienced guide with us. We experienced firsthand the Gaucho lifestyle on a complete ecological ranch. We did lots of trekking. I had my first experience saddling and riding horses, bringing cattle and sheep back to their paddocks from a farm quite a distance away. We spent two full days in the wilderness with difficult terrains and changeable weather. This was a new challenging experience. We then crossed into Argentina and Brazil for the next 4 days trekking in the National Forest visiting the world famous Iguazu Falls. It is one of the wonders of the world. This was a different trekking trail, very wet all the time from the mist of the waterfalls. The most amazing trek was in Brazil on the Island of Ilha Grande, which has one of the top 10 beaches in the world. No cars are allowed on this island. I climbed the Parrot Peak at 952 meters high with no treks but just a trail. It was difficult, tough and challenging. Only two of us made it to the top of the peak taking 4 hours, and a further 3 hours to descend. My legs are still sore! The blessing was that no one out of the group had any trouble of any kind. The last day was spent in Rio de Janeiro before flying back after 18 days of tough but wonderful experience. “Hemendra is a member of Shree Prajapati Association. Alzheimer’s Society has in the past carried out awareness seminars for the same Charity Organisation. We are absolutely delighted and very grateful to Hemendra and his charity organisation for this wonderful fundraising and awareness activity. He has been kindly supported by friends, colleagues’ and business organisations around Leicester. ” Extract of letter from the Alzheimer’s Society, 22nd May 2014 from Danielle Hindle Community Fundraiser, East Midlands The final joy is that with the generous help from all involved I have exceeded my target and raised in excess of £5,000 for the Charity. In taking up this venture I have funded the cost of the trip myself. I take this opportunity to thank all members from Shree Prajapati Association who have helped me tremendously, my friends, colleagues and companies and Businesses in Leicester and UK. Once again many thanks for a wonderful support By Hemendrabhai C Mistry, MBE 66