Maltese national Daniela Gusman, 36, is preparing to face the ultimate challenge of running the Victoria Falls Marathon in Zimbabwe this Sunday.
Daniela, who has never run a marathon before, will attempt to run 26.2 miles to raise money for an orphanage in Lesotho - a developing country landlocked in Southern Africa. She has been volunteering her time to work with a group of 34 two to 17-year-olds who reside at the orphanage.
"I am very nervous about running my first marathon," explained Daniela. "However, that fact that I am raising money for a very good cause will help me when I will, no doubt, hit that wall during the race. I am sure this will give me motivation to finish."
Daniela's hard work will definitely be made worthwhile if she succeeds in raising her goal of 3,000 pounds for Me Neo's Orphanage. She moved to Lesotho in September, when she began to work with Kick4Life, an independent charity that receives no government funding. The charity uses football to educate children about ways to prevent HIV along with essential life skills. There are over 110,000 orphans in this country, due to Lesotho having the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world.
"These children have so little, and yet are so happy; their smiles light up a room" commented Daniela.
