1Good morning.
2I'm very pleased to have been invited along to your club to talk about our Charity Sponsored Walking Holiday for Education Aid.
3I'll start by giving you a brief overview of what it entails.
4First of all, let me explain what we mean by 'sponsored' here.
5This is where people promise to donate money to the charity if you achieve your goal,
6in this case, to walk a certain number of miles.
7Basically we are organizing a ten-day holiday,
8from the sixth to the sixteenth of November,
9with eight days actual walking, trekking in the Semira Mountains.
10Let's have a look at some of the details.
11We require you to raise sponsorship money of at least $3,200,
12paying $250 of it upfront as a deposit
13and the rest in stages throughout the year.
14Out of this about thirty-five percent will go on your expenses,
15and that leaves sixty-five percent guaranteed to go to the charity.
16Which brings me to the most important part.
17This trek is being specifically organized to help education in the Semira region.
18Last year we helped train teachers for the disabled,
19and this year we're focusing on the pupils.
20Each of the walkers' sponsorship money will go to help an individual special needs pupil in one of the mountain schools.
21In the second part of the talk, I'll be giving you a lot more details,
22but back to the basic information.
23Age limits.
24This is the second time we have run this kind of holiday and...
25on the first we even had an eighty-year old,
26but we found it was wise to establish limits this time.
27You have to be at least eighteen and the top limit is now seventy,
28though you need to obtain a health certificate from your doctor if you are over sixty years old.
29Now, the Semira Mountains are among the highest in the world
30but you mustn't be too daunted,
31we will mainly be trekking in the foothills only,
32although there will be spectacular views even in the foothills.
33However, you will need to be extremely fit
34if you aren't now and you're interested in coming with us.
35You have plenty of time to get into shape.
36You will be sleeping in tents so you must have quite a bit of equipment with you
37but you will be helped by local assistants.
38Your bedding and so forth will be carried by them.
39We ask that you only walk with a small rucksack with needs for the day.
40I don't think I've really said enough about the marvelous area you'll be walking in.
41Let's have a look at some of the sights you'll be seeing.
42Apart from these spectacular snow-covered peaks and valleys,
43there are marvelous historic villages.
44The area has been famous for centuries for making beautiful carpets,
45although recently there has been a trend to move into weaving blankets and wood carving.
46The people are extremely friendly and welcoming.
47We deliberately keep the parties small in size to minimize disruption to people and landscape.
48I hope that there are still some people interested.
49I will be distributing leaflets at the end where you can find out more information,
50but just for the moment I'll outline the itinerary,
51the main high points of the holiday.
52Obviously, you'll start by flying out to Kishba, the capital city, on Day One.
53After a couple of days to acclimatize yourself,
54you'll start the trek on Day Three walking through the enormous Katiba Forest
55which will take the whole of the day.
56Day Four takes us higher up, going through the foothills past a number of villages
57and visiting a school for the disabled in Sohan.
58Then you have a rest day, that's Day Five,
59before going to the spectacular Kumi Temple
60with twelfth-century carvings, set in a small forest by a lake
61and that's Day Six, the highlight for many.
62We stay near there for Day Seven because then comes the hardest day,
63walking through very mountainous country,
64but culminating in a swim in the Parteh Falls.
65This is the highest waterfall in the region.
66Day Nine is much easier, with part of the day spent in a village where they make some of the gorgeous red blankets.
67Then back down to Kishba and the journey home.
68So, you can see it's a pretty packed timetable...