A Belfast cyclist is in training to help raise funds for a good cause close to the hearts of his sister and her husband who were tragically killed in a crash in Kenya.
Andrew McCormick is taking part in the Lap the Lough challenge later this month, in which participants cycle the 89-mile route around Lough Neagh.
The funds the 62-year-old will raise alongside friends Drew Curran and Robert Poole will go towards a school in rural Kenya that had previously been helped by his sister Grace and her husband, Dr Brian Johnston.
Both originally from the north, the couple settled in New Zealand, and through Bethlehem College in Tauranga, NZ, paid visits to the village of Mahanga in eastern Kenya, where they assisted in the building of classrooms at the Ark Quest Education Centre school.
Tragically, both Grace, who was 57 and raised in Belfast’s Stranmillis area, and Brian, 64, originally from North Down, lost their lives in a van crash in Mahanga in 2013, alongside former Bethlehem College pupil Caitlin Dickson and Kenyan driver Christopher Mmata.
The couple were survived by 10 children.
Now Grace’s brother plans to continue the help his sister and brother-in-law offered the rural Kenyan school, with a fundraising target of £6,000.
Ark Quest serves 130 children in a region with limited state education provision, and is supported by UK charity International Needs.
“I became aware of Ark Quest through Grace and Brian. It started out pretty low-key, simply providing nutritious meals in a remote community where food poverty is a stark reality,” Andrew explained.
“Eventually, basic school buildings were erected and animal stalls constructed. Grace and Brian visited several times with their own children.”
Andrew and his wife visited the school themselves two years ago, and saw the huge improvements made through charity efforts, including the replacement of mud huts with a new two-storey concrete classroom block, a new well providing drinking water, and a farm providing crops.
He said the school’s founder, Calvine Ominde, still faces challenges with limited funding for the project.
“With limited funds do you buy food for today? Buy school books? Repair the roof?” Andrew said.
“We’re hoping what we raise will provide a good quantity of classroom furniture that will help the children learn more effectively, and demonstrate that Northern Ireland cares about them.”
He added: “We’ve been training twice a week, and it won’t be an easy challenge, but knowing what we raise will continue the legacy of Grace and Brian in Kenya will keep me going.”
Donations to Andrew, Drew and Robert’s fundraising can be made at ineeds.org.uk/events/lap-the-lough-2024.
