A MUM is celebrating her 40th birthday by raising money for a charity that helps young African girls who have been sexually abused.

Rowena Mynott, who lives in Dittisham, will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for the Rafiki Mwema safe house in Kenya.

She hopes to raise £2,000 and afterwards will be visiting the shelter to meet the girls, many of them young children, to see exactly how the money will be spent.

Rowena travelled to Australia 15 years ago where she worked in marine education, conservation and research and met her husband.

They had a son and it was during ante-natal classes that the couple befriended fellow Brit, Claire Harding.

Claire, along with some friends, set up the Australian based Rafiki Mwema, a sub-charity of the UK-based Play Kenya.

Rowena said: ‘Rafiki Mwema means loyal friend and these young girls need a friend more than most as the girls, aged from one to 12 years old, have all been horrifically sexually abused, often by their fathers or been prostituted out by their mothers.

‘Rafiki Mwema is also a safe house in Kenya where these little girls can make sense of the horrors that they have experienced, receive medical attention and support through the courts to charge their abusers.’

Rowena and her family moved back to England last June.

‘I have followed the Rafiki Mwema charity since its creation and having a young child myself the stories of these children have always hit home hard,’ she said.

‘I turn 40 this year and rather than throw a lavish party or ask for extravagant gifts, I decided to raise money for these girls.

There are 15 of us climbing, most are coming from Australia but there are a few heading over from England too.

‘We are climbing the Machame route which will take us a long, hard seven days.’

Mt Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa and the Machame route is 37 miles. The trek is planned for January.

Rowena added: ‘I am in training, swimming, doing yoga and weights classes each week along with hiking. It has been phenomenal.

‘So far I am enjoying the hilly coastal path to strengthen my leg muscles, but I am also planning to visit Dartmoor and, in a few months, Snowdonia to hike at a greater altitude.

‘Every penny I can raise counts and is so very appreciated. These girls deserve any bit of happiness and security we can provide for them.

‘I am also looking for local businesses that might be interested in volunteering their services or products for fundraising events, such as movie nights, prizes donated for an auction, or products for a barbecue fundraiser.’

Donations can be pledged on Rowena’s Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/Rowenamynott