It’s not often that a grandmother wakes up one morning and decide to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. But then again Lynn Forbes is no ordinary grandmother by a long shot.
Inspirational Speaker, Entrepreneur, mother to two boys including Hip Hop Artist AKA and grandmother to the soon to be 3-year-old Kairo, Lynn is putting her social influence to good use in her latest challenge to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in July.
As an ambassador of the 2018 Trek4Mandela Expedition, Lynn aims to raise R1million in aid of Caring4Girls, to assist them in reaching their goal of supporting 2 million economically disadvantaged school girls by 2020. She is committed to raising awareness for the initiative, in order to increase accessibility to sorely needed sanitary products together with hygiene education and to ensure the growth and development of young South African schoolgirls into women with dignity.
A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Lynn has always wanted to summit Kilimanjaro, the place above the clouds, where she escaped to during the time of her abuse as an 11 year old. Her childhood dream to summit Mount Kilimanjaro resurfaced with the birth of her granddaughter Kairo Owethu Forbes in 2015. Three years in the planning, this triggered her final decision and commitment to summit Africa’s highest mountain, as part of her 50th birthday celebrations in July 2018.
ClimbingKili4Kairo has become her personal cause, Kairo being symbolic and representative of the plight of every child on the African continent through her involvement in the Caring4Girls initiative.
A teacher by profession, Lynn is passionate about making an impact through education, inspiring courage and giving hope to children. She is a black South African woman who feels compelled to personally make a positive contribution to address the social and economic circumstances faced by so many children in Africa.
Having faced the stigma surrounding sexual abuse, the silence that protects the perpetrator and the shame and denial which fuels the epidemic for over 38 years , Lynn has finally broken her silence last year and have spoken out against the abuse of children. She advocates our responsibility to raise children who will not spend their adult lives recovering from their childhoods.
The Trek4Mandela 2018 Centenary Expedition to Kilimanjaro has provided her with a platform to carry forward Madiba’s legacy, achieve her childhood dream and celebrate her 50th birthday, while raising funds and awareness for this worthy cause.
To find out more about Lynn’s journey or how to get involved or donate to the cause, simply follow her social media handles.
Twitter – @LynnForbesZA
Instagram – @LynnForbesZA
Facebook – Lynn Reed Forbes
