Johan Speelman from Sneek start Friday, May 8 for the second time in his life, a walk to Rome. He wants the trip in sixty days to complete, it would be a new Dutch record.,, I am not a walker, "Speelman haste to say. Five years ago he made the trip for the first time and that is a good birth. , ,, I was entering my sixties and wanted to celebrate with friends in Rome. I thought, oh I walk over there. "The 2250 kilometers through Germany, Austria and Italy were it not heavy. ,, I have not trained. "

Speelman, craaries a 11 kilogram backpack , uses the principle that the tour is also the training. ,, The third week is easier than the first. You get in your rhythm, condition is becoming always better. "From blistering he never burden and its condition is excellent, he says shortly before the start. He has his second edition out a tight schedule with few breaks.

,, Last time I did the trip in 75 days, but it should also be able to sixty. Although there is someone from Germany who did it to Rome in 58 days but he started in Maastricht. "On average, he forty miles per day in order to achieve the prescribed time. ,, This means that there are days that I should run because you are in the mountains is less mileage. "If it unfortunately still need more time, then it does not matter to him. ,, I do have time. "Speelman who was 65 yesterday, sees the walk to Rome not as a pilgrimage. No, it is not. "The monster walk is not just for fun. He runs for the widows of Varanasi in India. Hindoestaanse weduwen in India worden door hun familie vaak verstoten. Hindu widows in India are often disowned by their families. Not only poor families, the better off treating their old mothers often dirty and old.

Kym and (old) Sneker Margreet Diment have attracted the fate of many widows in Varanasi and built uwith help of EO broadcast, a widow house. In this house dozens of widows may be simultaneously housed and equipped with the most urgent needs. The younger widows are encouraged to meet their own maintenance to continue to work in their own bakery or in workshop where ornaments are made in this way making their life a new start.

Who wants to sponsor Johan Speelman for a penny, a dime or a penny per mile : every cent goes to the project because Kym and Margreet itself are sponsored by a constituency of friends and their church community, the EGS in Sneek. For more information about this project can contact Piet Speelman phone 06-30368570. Moreover, there is on Sunday May 24 an Indian presentation in the evening at the HIM Hemdijk 47 in Sneek with delicious Indian snacks, Indian items and a short film about the work of Margeet and Kym in Varanasi India.