A Canyon Hike for Sight

A courageous father living with degenerating sight and his 2 sons tackle the Fish River Canyon to raise funds for research and create awareness about Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

On the 10th of June 2011, Vitorino da Graça (67) and his 2 sons, Joao (36) and Pedro (32) will set off from Johannesburg, South Africa on a 1200km drive to Hobas in Namibia - the start of the Fish River Canyon. On June the 12th, they will make the 500m or so descent into the canyon before starting the 80 km gruelling trek to Ai-Ais.

Why are they doing it? Well, apart from it being an awesome father-son bonding experience and the canyon being the second largest in the world, they will be doing it in order to raise funds for Retina South Africa (NPO Number 003-184) and raise awareness about Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

AMD, a medical condition that results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field (the macula) because of damage to the retina, is close to the heart in this family as Vitorino was diagnosed with the condition about 7 years ago.

Retina South Africa (NPO Number 003-184) are a South African non-profit organisation whose aim is to promote research into retinal conditions such as Macular Degeneration.

All costs for the hike are self-funded and all funds and donations raised by the hike will go to Retina South Africa.

Once the hike is completed a short blog along with a photo gallery of their experiences will be posted on their webpage www.hike4sight.com. In the mean time, you can check out the Donation-O-Meter or why not donate to the cause pages on this website?

For more information on retinal degenerative conditions contact Claudette Medefindt on the share call number 0860595959 or visit the Retina South Africa website at www.retinasa.org.za.