Saray Khumalo ready for her greatest challenge: Everest

For Saray Khumalo, climbing the highest mountain in the world is about more than setting a record - it is about courage and her desire to help others.

The 42-year-old mother of two from Weltevreden Park, west of Johannesburg, jets off to Nepal tomorrow to begin the first leg of her journey to summit the world's seven highest mountain peaks.

"It's not about becoming the first black African woman to summit Mount Everest. I just want to summit, come back alive and make a difference," she said.

Khumalo, a divisional manager at Discovery Vitality, started training for Mount Everest in December 2012, after successfully conquering Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro - Africa's highest peak.

She raised nearly R200000towards the building of an outdoor gym, study and library at Kid's Heaven - a home that takes in and rehabilitates street kids in Benoni, east of Johannesburg.

Khumalo said she was introduced to charity work in her youth and she was now teaching her sons - aged 11 and 16 - the importance of giving back.

"Growing up with my grandparents, our home was like a halfway house for the needy. They [grandparents] instilled ubuntu in me to help others," she said.

"There is actually more reward for you if you give to others when you can. I also take my boys with me to homes to spend time with those less fortunate and teach them the gift of giving."

When they are not busy with charity work, the Khumalos spend weekends doing various physical activities - including running, hiking and rock- and mountain-climbing.

Khumalo will be guided by mountaineer and adventurer Sibusiso Vilane, who in 2003 (and again in 2005) became the first black African to summit Mount Everest. Vilane is one of a handful of people to climb the seven highest peaks in the world.

Vilane will raise funds for the Mandela Library project, while Khumalo's fundraising efforts will be for the Lunchbox Fund, an NGO that provides meals toorphans and poor schoolchildren in townships and rural areas.