A LLANUWCHLLYN teenager is spending this Easter trekking up a 5,000m mountain in the Himalays to support victims of the war in Ukraine and people with HIV in Nepal.

Joseff Griffiths, 19, finished 6th form at Ysgol Godre’r Berwyn, Bala, in July and is currently on a gap year. In September he will study medicine at the University of Nottingham, but before then he has been spending his gap year helping people all over the world.

Speaking to the Cambrian News he said: “So far it has been an incredible year full of growth and new experiences.

“I headed to rural Tanzania to gain work experience at a small local hospital. I used to think Meirionnydd was rural, but after going to a village in a 2,000m high village surrounded by mountains and trees, I am not so sure now.

“The staff of the hospital, including Doctors Adrian and Hilary Murray from Bala who are working as volunteers there, work hard to support their patients.

“Much of the equipment at the hospital was very dated compared to this country, apart from a mobile ultrasound machine which has been recently purchased.

“Working in quite primitive conditions really inspired me, and I learned so much. It was a joy to help deliver babies; new life is just the most wonderful thing.

“Of course, there were sad and happy outcomes. The experience gave me a taste of medicine in rural Africa, and I have learnt a lot and see myself returning working in such a hospital after more training and experience.”

Joseff spent three months in Tanzania before flying to France where he spent five months on a training course with the Christian organisation, YWAM.

“This allowed me to explore faith as well as practically serve the community - including helping at a homeless shelter in the suburbs of Paris,” Joseff said.

“For the last two months of the course, I headed back to Africa, but this time in an urban setting, to Cameroon where we served the local community and churches in various ways.

“We were out there at the time of the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, which brought people from many parts of the continent together.

“Cameroon was such a different culture to home; everything was slower and people’s perspectives on things such as life were different. It was incredibly hot there and people were so friendly!”

Following his Easter fundraising trek in the Himalayas, Joseff will return to Bala to join the gap year programme at college until September.

Speaking about the Easter trek, he said his efforts will “raise support for a project in Nepal, AIDSlink, helping people suffering from HIV/AIDS, as well as for Ukrainian refugees”.

“We will be a small group visiting the HIV/Aids project in Kathmandu, before going on to the Langtang valley,” he said.

“The plan is to trek through the valley, passing some villages tragically destroyed by the 2015 earthquake. We will then ascend Tserko Ri mountain which comes in at around 5000m in height.

“I am very keen to try and raise support for the Aids project, which improves people’s lives and reduces the damage of HIV/AIDS.

“HIV can be a terrible illness when poorly managed and I saw the horrible implications of this in Tamzania.

“What shook me most was seeing a patient with stage 4 HIV, tuberculosis, and Kaposi’s sarcoma.

“The HIV virus had weakened her immense system making her more vulnerable to other diseases.

“She was in the women’s ward with only a shawl as privacy. She looked terrible and her prognosis was very bleak, she was only 31.

“I was at a loss of what to do when facing a person who is in such a state?

“We tried to console with words and gentle touch. Could we have done more?

“When poorly managed HIV can have a sad and terrifying outcome but the HIV should not reach such a severe state because there are medications available that keep it at bay.

“That said, I also saw the life-saving work of NGO’s regarding HIV.

“Medication and support were offered through foreign aid at the hospital.

“There was also a bi-weekly youth club for those born with HIV and I thoroughly enjoyed being involved in this.

“It offered support in managing HIV as well as teaching life skills for the future.

“In Tanzania, there were many children raised by their grandparents as they had lost their parents to HIV/AIDS.

“When the children would come of age, many would really struggle as they no longer had any inheritance due to the land and possessions of the parents being distributed amongst the family.

“Furthermore, the stigma around HIV is another challenge.

“And so, the club offered opportunities to learn different skills to make a living

“ Once we were making baskets from plastic strips, other times the club received a tour around the doctor’s garden to learn good planting techniques and a new project is to plant avocado trees.

[”Though I don’t think medication and youth clubs require a large amount of resources and effort, the impact they have on individuals lives is massive.

“Thus, I am incredibly keen to raise as much support as possible to prevent as many people as possible suffering the same way this poor 31-year-old lady did. No one should end their lives on earth like that.”

If you would like to support Joseff’s fundraising efforts, visit https://www.uk.om.org/fundraisers and look for his name, or contact him directly at [email protected].