In 2022 Jim Kennedy then, 79 had a major car accident when his mini was hit twice by a truck on a motorway in the U.K. Just 8 weeks later Jim was one of 10 Rotary Club of Silves members who walked 120km of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela to raise money to equip a sensory room to be used by autistic and Downs Syndrome children at Silves Sul School on Armacao de Pera. Jim now 82 and still receiving treatment for his injuries from the car accident is off again raising money on a charity walk. The Rotary Club of Silves as part of an international programme run by Corridors of Peace in Switzerland supports the rehabilitation of women fighters in Chad. Jim along with one of his Camino walkers Materne will walk the 130km of the Yorkshire Dales Way. Starting on 17 June. This will be a challenge for the octogenarian as by its name you know there will be many hills to climb on route from Ilkley to Bowness
Please sponsor Jim’s walk! We want to give these women a place back in their communities.
Background:
Some years ago, Women from Chad in Central Africa took up arms to fight for their husbands and sons who were being taken away and killed in a tribal conflict. When the women returned home, they were not welcomed back but were ostracised by the community. They were not even allowed to get food from their families or even be seen outside during the day. The Rotary Club of Silves in Portugal is working with the Charity, Corridors of Peace who are already working in Chad to help these women set up small businesses so that they can demonstrate their value to their communities and be accepted back into society. Initially they have been market gardening and raising goats. Funds from the walk will purchase good quality goats and breed them in controlled conditions in preference to the inbred often sick animals that they have now. The profit from these more valuable animals will be used for other projects like fish farming and market gardening.
Rotary Clube de Silves 