Mission accomplished. The Unlimited Child South Pole expedition team overcame sub-zero temperatures to reach the pole on Sunday morning after trekking 111km in six-and-a-half days.
Among the seven-member team of South Africans was Nzuzo Mnikathi, a 19-year-old orphan from Pietermaritzburg, who, despite struggling with frostbite for most of the journey, soldiered on and managed to ski 14km with the rest of the group.
With him were Iain Buchan, a Hillcrest businessman; his two sons, Zack and Barney; Pete Berning, a medical doctor; Sean Wisedale, the renowned explorer; and the professional expedition co-ordinator and leader, Dave Pritt.
Mnikathi, who matriculated recently, said on Sunday that he could “never” have prepared himself completely for the gruelling challenges he faced in the Antarctic
“This has to be the best day of my life. Even though I really struggled and feel really exhausted, I am so grateful to be here with the rest of the team.
“I did not think I would have managed to hold out till the end, but I am so glad that I did,” he said.
Buchan Snr, the founder of The Unlimited Child, said his team encountered an unexpected slow uphill climb on the final 19.5km stretch towards the finish.
“It was tough, especially the last 4.5km, but we are all elated to be here in what I reckon is the most special place on the planet,” he said.
“We are especially thrilled that the frostbite on Nzuzo’s fingers and nose held up well… We were very worried about him at some stage.”
The purpose of the expedition was to build awareness of The Unlimited Child and highlight the importance of early childhood development as the first and most important building block of a child’s edu-cation, he said.
On its website (www. theunlimitedchild.co.za), the organisation points out that there are more than six million children between the ages of one and six in South Africa who have little or no exposure to early childhood development.
Unless those children are exposed to the correct stimulation, such as learning colours and shapes through educational toys, their potential in life will be “severely stunted”.
The Unlimited Child promotes early childhood development by providing educational toys and caregiver training to underprivileged crèches.
The journey to Antarctica began on January 9 and the team is expected back in South Africa on Thursday. - The Mercury