Cyclist adopts world vision

BEN CAMPBELL/Eastern Courier
PEDAL POWER: Adam Kirby will cycle through Cambodia to raise funds for clean drinking water.

Stuff.co.nz
By NICOLA WILLIAMS - Eastern Courier
Friday, 04 July 2008

Cycling through 475km of tough terrain is not for everyone.

But that’s what Adam Kirby will attempt in November as part of the World Vision cycle challenge through Cambodia.

The event will raise funds to provide clean drinking water for one of Cambodia’s poorest areas, Koh Andaet, hit hard under Pol Pot’s Communist regime.

Participants must raise $6000 for the trip – half for expenses and half to donate to the project.
"My personal goal is to raise $10,000 and I am asking for sponsorship that will go towards the water project," Mr Kirby says.

The English lecturer’s "long-term interest in that part of the world" began while working at a refugee centre in Britain and at a refugee camp in Cambodia in 1982, where he was involved in a nutrition programme for underweight children and taught English.

When World Vision asked if he was interested in the cycle challenge he thought: "Why not?"
"Cycling in a hot tropical climate is unknown territory," he says.

Mr Kirby cycles the 18km round trip to work at the Manukau Institute of Technology to prepare for the challenge and will increase his training in the lead-up to the event.

The challenge will help one community build a future and provide something we take for granted every time we turn on a tap, the Howick resident says.

"Cambodia is particularly im-portant because it has been through such trauma and is still suffering."

Mr Kirby says World Vision is working with other healthcare organisations including HIV/AIDS education projects that develop initiatives at a local level.

While in Cambodia he will meet the 12-year-old he sponsors and he is learning the Khmer language so he can talk to her.

A fundraising dinner with international food, music and entertainment is being held on September 20 at the Pakuranga Baptist Church. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children.

To donate or to buy tickets to the dinner email Mr Kirby at adam.kirby@manukau.ac.nz.