Bolster this fund and you may well secure our health corps for the next half a century!
While you read this edition in the comfort of your Garden Route abode, 30 medical students from Stellenbosch University are about to set off on a gruelling 1,000km cycling trip from the SA-Namibia border to Cape Agulhas -all in pursuit of assisting fellow students who are struggling financially.
Among these mindful youngsters is Plettenberg Bay native Kyle Goosen, who has just finished his fourth year of medical studies after completing a sterling school career at Plett Primary and Bay College, where he matriculated top of his class in 2015.
Says mom Loren Goosen – a seasoned educator of local pre-school kids for the past 15 years: “Its quite amazing that they have found the time amid hectic study schedules and electives to train for this trip, and are giving up time during their short holiday to help other students.”
But for Kyle and his cycling colleagues, the dire need for this fundraising drive far outweighed other obligations.
“The idea for this project came from personal experiences in our student community, where we realised that all students have equal opportunities, but not equal resources to benefit from those opportunities,” he explains.
“The people who will look after the health of our country for the next 50 years should not be struggling to survive while they develop, they should be thriving! As students, we decided to do something crazy to make a significant change.”
The eight-day trek from the Northern Cape border to SA’s southernmost tip serves as an incentive for crowd-sourced funding, with all contributions placed in the Nkululeko Fund – an official university platform that facilitates financial aid for students, by students.
“Nkululeko means ‘freedom’, which forms the foundation of what we dream of giving fellow students in the form of financial freedom,” says Kyle.
“Sponsorships for food, accommodation and kit had been established before the trip, so now we are calling for contributions to the actual fund, which will directly benefit deserving medical students.”
• Visit www.givengain.com/ap/hippocampus18/ if you would like to donate and follow The Hippocampus Team (see a block at right) on Facebook and Instagram for additional information, and to track these intrepid young fundraisers’ progress from November 28 right through to December 8.
Why Hippocampus?
The plan for a fund-raising drive started in a medical residence called ‘Hippokrates’, but the dream was to help the whole campus; when combining the two words, you get ‘Hippocampus’ -which is a special part of the brain that regulates emotions, the formation of memories, and the process of learning.
“We chose this name because it says who we are and what we want to do,” explains Kyle “We want to improve the mental health and experience of learning on our campus by decreasing the financial burden experienced by fellow students.”