A LOCAL nurse will trek more than 600km across Vietnam and Cambodia to raise money for orphans in developing countries.
Nyah West aged care worker Meg Polkinghorne has set herself a goal of raising $20,000 from sponsorships, and has already raised around $12,200.
Along with Brian Ford, a friend from the US, Ms Polkinghorne will begin the 664km journey on January 22 at Nha Trang, Vietnam, finishing five weeks later at the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
The money the duo raise will go to the university education of orphaned students from Cambodia, Nepal and Tanzania through the charity International Brothers and Sister House (IBSH).
Ms Polkinghorne told The Guardian she was excited for the trip and couldn’t wait.
“I love travelling — I love getting back to the basics,” she said.
“We start with no training, we follow a main road averaging about 18km a day.
“We’re planning to camp a few of those nights because it’s all in a rural area and we’re going to have to do it cheap.”
The 23-year-old, who will complete the second of a three year nursing degree at La Trobe University this year, said she was she is no stranger to “voluntourism”, having already been to Africa to volunteer for charity twice in the last few years.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Monday’s Guardian (January 12).
