A bike-a-thon, farmyard fancy dress and Karmafest- Dig Deep!

Week 7 (this week) is a big one for the charity group ‘UEA Climbs Kili to Dig Deep 2014’. There are all sorts of exciting fund-raising opportunities that you can get involved in, and the money goes to Dig Deep, a small charity which works in East Africa, providing rural areas with access to clean water, sanitation systems and renewable energy sources through community led projects.

20 UEA students from all different faculties will be coming together to raise £28,000 for the charity, as well as raising awareness for their climb this summer.

The intrepid team!

The climb itself will take place in August 2014 and it will take the team five days to reach the summit of the mountain which is 5985m above sea level making it the highest free standing mountain in the world! It will be pretty gruelling with many challenges such as altitude sickness (which can and has killed people!) and general fitness and mental strength needing to be at an all-time high. They will trek through five climate zones: from tropical rainforest to arctic snow and the trek will culminate in a nine hour ascent which begins at midnight of day five. It’s not for the faint hearted.

But you don’t have to wait until August to get involved!

Week 7 is ‘Dig Deep Week’ – there is a range of events occurring this week including farmyard fancy dress; Jessica and Marte will be dressed as a pig and a cow around campus and will be wearing the costumes non-stop all week.

Coming to a campus near you…

There will be various cake sales around campus, as well as the excitingly-named Karmafest, which means a range of Indian-themed stalls in the Hive offering food, fashion and henna tattoos.

There will also be a 24 hour bike-a-thon taking place in the Hive on Thursday and Friday in which two members of the team (Jade and Tom) will try to cycle as far as they can in 24 hours. The public is invited to come along, donate, and have a go!

Another brave and dedicated team member, Dave, is going the whole of week 7 without food – only surviving on tap water – to raise support for the cause and  ‘UEA Headlights Stands Up for Dig Deep’ will be taking place in the Hive on Monday  of Week 8.

Dave will need serious self-control to survive 7 days without food

Speaking about the importance of the project, Amaran, the Team Leader and a 3^rd Year Chemistry Student said;

“Most fundraising projects I’ve been involved in have been great fun in their own right, but working with several exceptional UEA students for a charity that has such an innovative approach to 3^rd world development makes this campaign all the more fulfilling”

Team member and 3rd Year English Literature student Jade told us;

“I’m doing this challenge because education has gotten me this far in life and I’m hoping the money raised by the climb will help other people access education. I’m bricking it about the climb though – I’m terrified of heights!

The overarching theme of the challenges occurring is endurance. Marte and Jess are staying in fancy dress, not showering, being embarrassed etc. for as long as they can (and as long as people keep donating); mine and Tom’s bike-a-thon is another endurance exercise, as is David’s starvation. The Kilimanjaro climb itself is going to be the ultimate endurance challenge.”

The team in action

Come along throughout this week to eat cake, get a tattoo, ride a bike and raise money and awareness for a great cause!