Isidingo: The Need star Jack Devnarain, famous for his role as Rajesh Kumar in the mining town soapie, will trek up Africa's highest peak in the name of philanthropy this July.
He was invited by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory to climb Mt Kilimanjaro as part of the Trek4Mandela campaign.
The initiative raises money and awareness in an attempt to stop 270 000 young girls missing school because they do not have adequate access to sanitation, like tampons and pads. It seeks to empower girls with knowledge about their changing bodies and menstrual cycles.
Devnarain started his acting career in Durban performing on the community theatre circuit while studying Law at the University of Natal. After graduating in 1993, he joined the Police Service and served for nine years, all the while performing in film, TV and stage productions.
He moved to Johannesburg in 2002 when he started work on Isidingo and has since performed in numerous TV and film productions including ‘On the Couch’ ,‘Snitch’, ‘City Ses’la’ and ‘High Rollers’.
In his most recent film, Devnarain played the lead role in the heist action movie 31 million Reasons for which he received a SAFTA nomination for ‘Best Actor in a Feature Film’.
The star will be mountaineering along side Morning Live's Leanne Manas and Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO Sello Hatang. 27 hikers will form the team, one for each year of former president Nelson Mandela's incarceration.
Devnarain hopes to raise more than a million rand for this year's Caring4Girls collection drive.
“Imagine if every Isidingo fan made a donation,” he said. “Each rand collected here... is another step closer to critical empowerment. I hope do this remarkable initiative proud.”
Pledge R30 by smsing GIRLCHILD to 42513.
Additional reporting by Dominic Skelton
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