A non-profit organization, Pediatric Care Africa launched an epic 2,500 km tractor and trailer charity ride through five provinces. The aim of the “On Trac-Tor” charity ride, which made its way through Lichtenburg in North West, is to raise funds and awareness around the need for medical treatment and surgeries for children.
It also promotes awareness of crimes committed against children and farm murders. This initiative aims to raise at least R250 000 towards assisting children in need of urgent medical and surgical treatment.
Dr Andre Hattignh, founder of Pediatric Care Africa, says they hope to raise the money for expensive surgeries.
“The reason why we drive the tractor is because we have other ways of collecting money, but this one is for larger surgeries, for instance, a heart valve replacement and those kinds of surgeries (that) cost a lot of money. So, we ride especially, for some children and we also want to make the people of South Africa aware of the number of children murdered, raped, and so forth in South Africa.”
Dr Hattingh says while donation income has shrunk and demand has skyrocketed several children continue to receive assistance.
“Since we started, we’ve helped, medically speaking, 700 children of which 138 received their surgeries already. We’ve taken 1,330 children to see specialists and afterwards, we do x-rays for them. We also handed out 148 tons of nutrition to children,” he added.
The tractor ride started in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and is now in North West, thereafter it will go through the Free State, KZN, and then back to Mpumalanga SL in Lichtenburg.
