An Enfield 10-year-old was driven to action after learning about famine in his late grandfather’s home country.
Although Dexter Durde never got to meet his grandfather Yussef (known as Joe), he decided to climb Mount Snowdon to raise £2,878 after learning about drought in his grandad’s home country of Somalia.
Dexter’s father had told him stories about his Yussef's childhood in Somalia, before he emigrated to Italy, and then the UK in later life.
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Dexter’s mother Carrie Durde said: “One day recently we were sat down when a news article flashed up about the drought in Somalia and the subsequent hunger crisis happening there.
“It was of course quite confronting to see, and I could tell it made Dexter think about his grandad.
“He turned to me and started asking questions like ‘what if I was living in Somalia right now?’ and ‘what can I do to help Grandpa Joe’s home country?’”
According to Save the Children, the charity Dexter raised money for, the number of children in Somalia receiving treatment for the most dangerous form of malnutrition tripled in the first six months of 2022 due to drought.
At least 1.5 million children under five are acutely malnourished across Somalia, with more than 385,000 children at risk of dying without immediate care.
Dexter and his mother set off just before 6am and reached the summit in just under four hours.
Carrie added: “Dexter was amazing and didn’t complain once, even though we walked over 10 miles and had a very early start.
“I’m so incredibly proud of Dexter and I know his grandfather would be as well.
“No child should have to go hungry.”
The Just Giving page has 82 donors who shared messages of support congratulating Dexter and Carrie and telling them how proud of themselves they should be.
Carrie said: “We settled on the idea to climb Snowdon together to raise money, as Dexter has been learning about mountains at school.
“Funnily enough the house teams at Dexter’s school are named after mountains, but Dexter is in Everest, and we thought that was probably a bit too ambitious for a ten-year-old.
“Never say never though."
Visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Dexter-D to donate.
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