Optometrist flies to South Africa in charity effort

Elstree optometrist and flying instructor David Harrisberg is embarking on a charity flight with pupil Rodney Dennis for South African children's HIV/AIDS charity, One to One Children's Fund.

The duo, who have flown together previously to Israel and Morocco, set off for South Africa on February 2 from Elstree aerodrome in a propellor plane powered by a three-hundred horse power engine.

The trip, which will take three weeks there and back, is their most challenging, taking them from Corsica to Crete, past the pyramids in Luxor, crossing the equator in Kenya, through Malawi and on to Johannesburg before touching down in The Cape.

'It's a small sacrifice for a cause that still requires enormous levels of funding,' said Harrisberg, who hopes to raise around £25,000 from the trip.

'Africa Positive, an offshoot of One to One, seeks to raise money to support orphans with HIV/AIDS. Retroviral drugs, currently unavailable throughout the health services in Africa, can make a huge difference to quality of life,' he said.

To sponsor Harrisberg and Dennis visit: www.southafricapositive.org or call: 020 8207 3342. Online donations can be made on: www.justgiving.com/saposflight4life