Supplied / Cape Union Mart

MAN ON A MISSION: Kingsley Holgate heads towards a container vessel that will be shipping his Land Rovers to Djibouti, where he will be starting an expedition to the Great African Rift Valley.

HUMANITARIAN explorer Kingsley Holgate is off on a year-long mission along the length of the Great African Rift Valley to bring spectacles to the poor-sighted and to tackle the spread of waterborne diseases.

Holgate, who is the author of several books documenting his travels and experiences and who is a member of the Royal Geographical Society, has in the past focused on malaria-prevention advocacy and the distribution of malaria nets.

This time Holgate and his team will visit remote areas in a project partnered with the Right to Sight initiative.

The crew will fly a team of ophthalmologists to key locations to perform cataract operations.

A cataract is the clouding of the lens of the eye, and occurs as a result of aging, eye injury, UV radiation or disease.

If untreated, a patient’s vision will deteriorate from slight vision impairment to blindness.

The team will also tackle the risks of contaminated water, partnering with LifeStraw, where they will distribute portable water purifiers to filter contaminated water to reduce the risk of contracting waterbourne diseases.

The team’s three Land Rover vehicles have been shipped to Djibouti – the starting point for the first chapter of the expedition.

The Great African Rift Valley Expedition gets under way next month and is expected to take one year to complete.

Holgate founded the Kingsley Holgate Foundation and has embarked on several expeditions aimed at delivering thousands of mosquito nets to help prevent malaria cost-effectively.

The Right to Sight campaign provides glasses to assist those with poor sight, allowing them to resume simple tasks such as sewing, reading and beadwork.

The adventurers will travel from the northern-most point of the Rift Valley in Djibouti through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi to the southern-most point near Gorongoza in Mozambique.

The team recently returned from their “Journey to Juba” expedition from South Africa to Southern Sudan, where they partnered with the UN’s United Against Malaria campaign to share malaria-prevention education in various communities.

They distributed mosquito nets treated with long-lasting insecticide to pregnant mothers and those with children under the age of five.

Holgate then came down with malaria.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it, when you think of all the United Against Malaria work we do… But I guess you sometimes have to risk lives to save lives.

“Imagine what it is like for those without the availability of modern drugs or even a mosquito net,” he said

To follow the expedition, click on www.kingsley holgate.net and Facebook – Great African Rift Valley Expedition. – Staff Reporter