Kitale golfer, son complete charity ride

In a ride akin to tackling a section of the world famous Tour de France cycling race, Kitale Club golf captain Fandi Shiyukah and his 15-year-old son Jesse on Sunday completed a gruelling, 1,000-kilometre ride from Kitale to Mombasa to raise funds for schools in Kitale.

They are seeking funds for construction work at Rayzon Schools and Mercy Rescue Trust orphanage, and were accompanied in the ride by Mercy Rescue trustee, David Cummins.

The trio ended their epic journey at the iconic Mombasa tusks on Moi Avenue.

“We want to improve the level of education in Kitale, and this is also a reason for the ride. We decided to also help out the rescue centre, and to raise funds for the centre, we decided, with my son Jesse, to ride all the way from Kitale to Mombasa,” said Shiyukah.

“Mercy Rescue Centre takes care of babies who are vulnerable, nurtures them and even finds foster homes for them,” he told Nation Sport.

“We started our ride on December 2 and we have made it to Mombasa in eight days. We have had numerous punctures along the way and we also had to contend with bad weather.”

Cummins has been in Kenya for two years and said the Mercy Rescue Trust currently has 25 babies.

“We are working on erecting classes to accommodate even more children. The reason for this ride is to also raise awareness on the centre.

“We are determined to have a pre-school that will be free for the vulnerable children in Kitale. We have 160 or more babies come through the trust, and we want to ensure that the ones we have get to access free education,” Cummins said.

Shiyukah said they had so far raised about Sh300,000 against a target of Sh2 million, and that contributions can be made through Mpesa paybill number 620692 (account name: Ride26).