by Mike and Anne Yarney
Together we can do this…
We had registered to take part in the Dundee Kiltwalk on Sunday 16th August, thinking we had plenty time to get our fitness levels up and kickstart the training! However, the announcement has just come in that the August date has been cancelled and instead there will be a Virtual Kiltwalk between 3rd – 5th July – this doesn’t give us much time to train or fundraise but we do like a challenge and with your support and encouragement we’re sure we can do this! We are also incredibly grateful to the Tom Hunter Foundation who will add an additional 50% to our total amount raised!
We first became involved with Comfort International 3 years ago when we started sponsoring Roberte, an expectant mum who had just been taken on as part of the Comfort Babies Project in Rwanda. Shortly afterwards she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Loana.
We were very much looking forward to returning to Rwanda in July this year to build on the relationships formed and to see first-hand the change and progress in the lives of those we met, sadly COVID-19 has put a stop to this.
When we returned from our visit in 2018, we looked at practical ways we could support the projects and raise much needed funds. One of the ways we did this was to take part in the Edinburgh Kiltwalk last year. The Mighty Stride was a challenge to extend our usual 4 or 5 mile strolls in the Fife countryside to the 24 miles round the streets of Edinburgh which we managed to complete in 6 hours 12 minutes, with a little bit of a competitive streak in us and the thought of a roast dinner, promised by our friends!
This year we have selected the Comfort Babies Project to be the beneficiary of our Kiltwalk fund raising. This project provides support to mums and babies who are living in dire poverty. Many of the women have endured suffering such as rape, illness or neglect, and some are only teenagers. The project provides essentials such as food, clothing and healthcare to ensure that these babies are given a good start in life. In addition, when the mums are ready, the project helps them get back into education, training or work so that they can work towards self-sufficiency.
We plan on doing our Virtual Kiltwalk on Saturday 4th July and we’ll be walking the 25 miles over 3 loops from our home in Dalgety Bay visiting South Queensferry, Aberdour and Dunfermline. There’s method in our madness, doing it in 3 loops means we can safely use our house for vital pitstops!