Real Way Down

Early post project thoughts!

2011-10-28T12:01:00.000+01:00

Greetings! I have to firstly apologise as I haven't had a second to think, let alone write since leaving Johannesburg nearly four weeks ago!! It was a race back to addis, in just over a week, and we had an unfortunate incident in Arba Minch (South Ethiopia), which delayed things further. Luckily everything was okay in the end, and I arrived at my new home in Addis Ababa just a few days behind schedule.

Since arriving in Addis, it has been none stop!! I have had to contend with visa/work permit issues, and will indeed be continuing my travels to Djibouti next month to resolve them. I basically have to leave Ethiopia! Our Director is here this week, and we have had a packed full schedule, with our main focus being supporting students with interview technique, presentation skills, and general approach for their applications to the New York University Abu Dhabi, where we currently have three EEF students on full scholarships worth $250,000. We are extremely hopeful of getting at least another two in this year, giving them arguably the richest and most diverse university experience available on the planet. Not bad considering where these young Ethiopians were 4 or 5 years ago. This years and next years selections include some students with such massive potential to achieve great things. Particularly the girls gave inspirational presentations on issues as difficult and complex as female circumcision, HIV/Aids in women, and traditional domestic practices in the Hammer Tribe of Ethiopia. The strength they showed at such a young age to talk openly about subjects that many leaders fail to address was truly wonderful to see!! Maybe the future of change in Ethiopia, and Africa.

In addition to this we have also had to contend with a couple of personal issues with some of our students. One boy, we recently discovered has been suffering from a severe bout of depression, and has been missing school as a result. This has stemmed from an extremely difficult family background, and has also resulted in an eating disorder, and a virtual incapability to eat in front of others. He is a wonderfully polite, kind, and honest boy, however, and also incredibly intelligent. We are working closely with him to resolve these issues, and already he is showing great signs of progress. There are always going to be such psychological problems within our student base, as a result of their backgrounds, and the foreign environment that our sponsorship scheme puts them into. In 7 years, we have yet to fail a student, however, and we don't intend on this happening at any time in the future. Another of our students, has suffered a lot since losing his mother two years ago, whilst he was sleeping next to her in the same bed. We can't even begin to imagine what he has been through, but again, we will offer him all the support he needs to grow into an adult with an excellent academic record, and ability to approach issues and difficulties in a positive and progressive way. The EEF hostel is truly an inspirational place to be, and I highly suggest you come out and pay me a visit at some point, to support, and see our work for yourself.

Now, onto the main subject of this email.... the 'Real Way Down'. Firstly, apologies for rambling so much about my new venture, but I have already become completely immersed in it. This does not mean, however, that my focus and passion towards 'Patchwork World' has faltered at all. My decision to take this position in April, was based on an enthusiasm to obtain more direct experience of grass roots development, whilst playing an active role in the next stage of progression of a charity with hugely impressive foundations. Everything I learn here, and the contacts I make, will be put to use in the development of Patchwork World in the future.

The 'Real Way Down'... what can I say? I owe a massive debt of gratitude to so many people that it is impossible to even begin to mention individuals. I had a vision a long time ago now, almost it seems in a different life, and never could I imagine the incredible support everyone offered me in achieving it. It is true to say that the journey wasn't a 6 month expedition, but rather a 5-year long journey, and indeed most of the difficult moments happened even before our vehicle's tyres had begun to roll. At many times, I felt an inability to achieve what I had set out to achieve. My self esteem was fleeting, and at times I felt like I had been kidding myself. In truth, without the support of so many people, I would simply have given up long before the physical journey began. It was not only tangible support, in terms of the website, fund raising events. donations etc, but more so, the incredible moral support I received almost constantly throughout the duration of the last half decade, and for this I am eternally grateful.

I haven't really had time to process the entire project yet, but all I can say is that I hope it has been part of the people following us, as it has been for both me, Phil, and Cindy. It is impossible to describe how I feel now having reached South Africa, and maybe I will have to leave that until I have a few weeks to think it all through. One thing which is for sure, however, is that the journey rolls on. It is all part of the one same vision, and I truly hope that one day this vision becomes a part of a greater vision, which truly helps to activate change and progression. We have seen many horrendous sufferings during this journey, but what has been overwhelming is the strength and hope in the face of such adversities. Still, it is true that some things were just unacceptable, and indeed many of these were in Europe, not as far from home as you may think. Africa has suffered now from disease, famine, poor education, violent leaders, and a lack of many human rights and freedoms for a number of years. There is, however, a sense of change in the air, and the young people who will be the leaders of tomorrow, have much more of a sense of equality, freedom, and human rights, than their predecessors. Progression is at the core of many of their philosophies, and truly I can see a much more prosperous future for a continent, which has had the lion's share of problems in modern history. As for the Middle East, and indeed Northern Africa, change is clear to see for everyone. The Syrian crisis, which threatened to end our journey, rages on, and with the International community merely playing a spectator's role, whose to know when a resolution will come. One thing is clear, however, and that is that people are prepared to fight until the bitter end for the rights and freedoms that we as Western Europeans take for granted. We can only hope that the next wave of Middle Eastern and Arab African leaders rebuild their respective nations on foundations of equality, and not greed. There are still many issues, however, back at home in the UK and Western Europe, and sometimes they are even more complex and subtle in their nature. There are still millions of people who fall outside the protective gloves of such nations, and there is a need for a deep and thorough investigation into how we can limit this. Many people would suggest that there will always be those who suffer, and those who prosper, and perhaps to a certain extent they are right. As an idealist, however, and a great believer in humanity, I don't accept this is the case, and believe we should work towards a future where everyone has access to the potential of a prosperous and happy existence on the land mass that we all call home.

The world is a small place, I truly feel that way now, and the differences so minute and subtle, that to an outsiders eye we would all be deemed to be the same. Religion, race, tradition, and shoe size apart, we all have the same foundations at our core, and to focus on this in a world where leaders are determined to create divisions, is a challenge which we should all strive towards. For too long our world has been under the 'management' of weak men, driven by fear, greed, and self importance, when truly it is the people who have the power to create, progress, and develop our world. To this end, we must focus on education, women's rights, and the empowerment of individuals ahead of governments and corporations, in addition to providing the basic necessities for human life. There are those driven by power, destruction, and complete domination of the world, there are however many more driven by a passion to share, unite, and live in peace. The 'Real Way Down' rewarded us so much for our belief in humanity, and truly despite passing through several regions suffering from internal struggles, namely Syria, Egypt, and Sudan, we were much more aware of the kindness, hospitality, and great spirit of everybody we met. This was indeed the greatest lesson in not basing opinions on news stories or television, but rather to form opinions based on individual experiences, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.

All I have left to say at this point, is that I owe a huge amount of gratitude to each and every person who helped along the way, even if it was just to tell a friend about what we were doing. All of the people we met along the way were such inspirations, and again their belief in our project was humbling. There is one person who I have to thank ahead of everyone else, and that is 'video monkey', Phil. Without him the 'Real Way Down' would have been nothing. It would have been one slightly misguided young man on a kamikaze mission of self discovery. Phil made it so much more than that. We were at each others side constantly for 6 months, and rarely, if ever did we fall out. As many of you will know, I'm not always the easiest person to be around, and so thanks man for your patience and trust. I truly hope that when all is said and done, you don't feel that you were simply along for the ride, but that both of us experienced a shared vision. It was epic, that is for sure, there were ups and downs, but the latter were far outweighed by the positives. We met so many wonderful people, and such little negativity. The entire journey seemed to be riding on a wave of positivity, fortune, and unbelievable kindness.

I apologise for only sharing rambled and rushed thoughts, but I will be writing somthing much more considered in the near future.

Love to you all once more!!! Thank you for being a part of the journey!!

Peace by Piece!!!

Road to Zion

2011-09-17T14:17:00.000+01:00

Eventually we left Harare, and as always, it was against our will. It had been so great being a part of the Makokoro family for a week, and really Zim was a place that entered both of our hearts. We were now heading inland towards Bulawayo, and from there we would head back up the continent towards Livingstone, and Victoria Falls.

After spending a night in Bulawayo, we hit the road early doors, and had hoped to perhaps catch a glimpse of Victoria Falls. Unfortunately though, when we arrived, we were in a race to hit the border, and so after discovering that we would have to pay to even catch a glimpse of the falls, we decided to add it to the list of tourist attractions omitted from our itinerary. We would be crossing into Botswana, and then after an hour, further into Namibia, where we would be staying with ‘Children of Zion’, a Christian orphanage, in Katima Mulilo.

Our progress was slightly delayed by traffic cops in Zimbabwe, who with something resembling a 1950s hair dryer, suggested that we were going to fast. After almost an hour of debate, we decided to pay the $5 fine, and be on our way. In truth, I probably was going a little too fast, but an 80km/hour speed limit on a straight, tarred, and empty road was a little limiting. Anyway, eventually it was an hour that we couldn’t spare, and after passing through the border in Botswana, we were informed that we would be too late to make the Namibian border. It was a shame, but not the end of the world.

We headed to the only major town in the area, Kasane, to get some cash, and having eaten a late lunch, decided to head to the border, and buy dinner once we arrived. Once we got to the border, it was indeed closed, and thus we headed off in search of food and a place to stay. We hadn’t quite realised how little there was in North Botswana, however, and after driving around for an hour or so, we accepted the locals answer of ‘there is nowhere to buy food anywhere’. We were used to finding small local restaurants, or at least someone cooking on a grill, but there was literally nothing. As we headed back towards the border, we decided to veer off the road towards a safari lodge. It would probably be expensive, but it had been a long day, and the idea of setting up our stove and cooking some of our remaining tins didn’t appeal.

We drove up to the lodge, and felt a little out of place nervously walking into a luxury restaurant with our travel withered faces, and dusty clothes. At first it seemed that we were going to have no joy getting food, as it was bought in especially to order for the guests. But after hanging around chatting for a little while, the mood changed, and soon we were given meals in little takeaway boxes, and drinks free of charge. It was a massive relief. We were both tired and hungry, and have to extend a massive thank you out to J.J Nyathi, at Muchenje Safari Lodge in Chobe Nature Reserve, Botswana. After eating our delicious meal in the car with the border in sight, we chanced upon an accommodation block for local lodge workers, and were granted permission to use their bathroom and toilets. After spending a short time, watching ‘The Patriot’ with a couple of guys in their outdoor bar area, we headed back to the car to sleep.

We had been used to sleeping in strange places, and indeed the car, so we didn’t think it would prove to be much of a problem. We did not, however, take into account the vast quantity of mosquitoes in the area. It was like a never-ending chorus of piercing hums. Eventually it got to the stage where neither of us could sleep, and instead spent hours trying to execute as many of the damned things as possible. Eventually nature balanced out again, and as a reward for being kept up by the mosquitoes, we got to see a small family of elephants grazing right in front of our car. It wouldn’t help to clean the cobwebs from our souls, but it certainly reminded us of the beauty of nature in the face of the annoying.

Early doors it was time to progress, and soon we were in Katima Mulilo, having successfully crossed the border. We found a great little café with wifi, and after getting our breakfast inside us and doing some work, headed to the Children of Zion Village. We were met there by Travis and Lorna, who have been the managers at the village for 11 months now, and who would be our hosts for the week. The organisation was set up in 2003 as an orphanage, mainly supporting children who have lost family members through HIV/Aids, and is now home to 59 children. In their own words, “Each year, millions of children are being orphaned or abandoned in third world nations as a result of war, poverty, neglect, and the AIDS Pandemic. Too many times, these children have no one to turn to for help. Children of Zion, Inc. is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization that supports a Christian Children’s Home in Namibia, Africa”.

Having been running now for 8 years, Travis and Lorna have arrived at a time, where many new issues need to be addressed. One of their first initiatives was to attempt to empower the community more. It has been a recurring factor on this journey, that people are starting to move more towards sustainable, and community driven projects, and repair some of the damage caused by earlier mistakes within the sector. Travis and Lorna were both keen to be a part of this transition, and so they have begun the process of making the village more inclusive to the local communities, firstly by the simple gesture of opening the gates, and secondly by involving themselves more within community life as a whole. In addition to this, they have also given more responsibility to the local Namibian employees, who have thrived, and began to develop a real sense of ownership over the village. Travis and Lorna commented that initially there had been some reluctance towards these new responsibilities, but now they have proved they are capable, and their confidence and self esteem has grown incredibly as a result.

The next hurdle that Travis and Lorna are working at overcoming is the fact that the initial group of children, who first entered the home eight years ago, are now adults, and thus a plan of how they can move on from the village and back into the community is vital. The first piece in this puzzle was ready to be put to the test soon after our departure, with the founding of the Transition home. This would be a first step for some of the older children to begin learning about how they can live independent lives. Here they would have to cook, clean, and tidy for themselves, as well as after an initial month settling period, be required to earn their own money, and budget for themselves, for food and bills. They would earn money by working within the village, and this would give them their first taste of how life might be in the outside world. In addition to this, the children were also encouraged to spend their school holidays with family members within the communities in which they will most likely return to at some stage in the future. This was to ensure that in addition to the education they received through COZV, they would also pick up many of the skills needed to live within mainstream Namibian society.

The one thing that will stick with me the most from my time in the village is the incredible personality and character of the children. They were truly a lovely bunch of kids, all offering something different and equally rewarding. They had experienced extreme difficulties and grief within their young lives, and they still held themselves in such a positive way. I laughed an awful lot during my time there, and really learnt to respect a lot of them for being so kind, friendly, open, and positive in the face of such adversities. Although this all sounds incredibly clichéd, it was really the overwhelming feeling I had during our stay. The abilities of some of the young men on the football pitch also, was incredibly impressive. They weren’t just good, but several truly displayed a great potential to play at a higher level. The village really offers these children a chance they otherwise wouldn’t have, a home and a family. It is always difficult to know when to let go, and be able to move on in this respect, but work is certainly being done to find a balance.

The religious aspect of the orphanage is one, which to me personally is not important. The fact that these children are being raised in a kind and loving environment is really enough to justify its existence. We could go into deeper debate about the long-term implications of such external influence, but really I feel no need to. Lorna and Travis both understood, and indeed had experience in the complexities and sensitivities of what the village offered, and although Christianity was at the core of the children’s syllabus, the main aim was to empower the children, and allow them to grow into good, healthy, and inspirational Namibian citizens. I have my own opinions about the involvement of a religious context in humanitarian work, but really for now I’d rather focus on the positive work being done. There is still a huge need today to support people, and especially children, affected by HIV/Aids. It has had such huge negative implications on countries and communities now for years, and although there is a major effort on the behalf of several NGOs to address the issue, there is still a lot of work to be done, and like everything it begins with the children, and indeed education.

We were incredibly humbled once more, by how welcoming and friendly everyone was to us. It was a place that could very easily have been depressing and almost hopeless, but due to the fantastic work of the local staff, Lorna and Travis, and indeed the children, it was a place full of positivity, hope, and an ambition to look forwards. It was extra difficult to leave these children, and it would be very easy to want to stay forever. It really is an incredibly challenging aspect of development work; to be able to help, but also to be strong enough to be able to let go when the time is right.

After, a wonderful and thought provoking few days, it was time to hit the road once more. We were heading back into Botswana, and hoping to reach Francistown in a day, where we would be filming with the ‘Tachila Nature Reserve’. South Africa was getting ever closer, and soon it would be time to digest everything we had experienced on this incredible journey.

Making of: Real Way Down documentary (part 13 - Sudan)

2011-09-15T11:37:00.002+01:00

Latest behind the scenes video, courtesy of Mr Phillp Wright

Making of: Real Way Down documentary (part 13 - Sudan) from Patchwork World on Vimeo.

Zim Zimmer!!

2011-09-08T09:07:00.000+01:00

After the delays of the immigration and customs procedures, we didn’t leave Lusaka until mid afternoon, and thus decided to head for the border, where we would spend the night, before heading to Harare the next day. We had hoped to cross at night to save time in the morning, but unfortunately arrived just after it had closed. We found a cheap lodge again, and had the bonus of catching the football once more. My worries about missing the premier league have been completely laid to rest, as it seems even easier to catch the games in Africa.

The following morning we headed off early, and were surprised at how easy and organised the Zimbabwean immigration was. They have a special system where you can both exit Zambia, and enter Zimbabwe in the same room. It makes everything a lot easier, and soon we were heading off to Harare. There was very little between the border and the first major town, approximately 150 miles down the road. We stopped in the second town for lunch, and soon we were closing in on Harare. I had been excited about seeing Zimbabwe, and Harare, as it is of course more renowned for it’s dictatorial leader, Robert Mugabe, than tourism.

Once we arrived in Harare, we gave our contact Patrick, a call, and he drove out to meet us. Patrick and I had been in communication a lot over the entire project, during the preparation and the journey itself, and it was great to see he was as enthusiastic and energetic in real life. After brief introductions, we headed off to his home, and the Goromonzi head office, where we would be staying. Patrick is the Director of the Goromonzi Project, and is currently working on a complete restructure of the organisation.

The house/office was incredible. We couldn’t believe our luck. We had a bedroom each, and the family environment was nice having been on the road for nearly five months. Patrick, and his wife lived there with their two-year-old daughter ‘cheche’, who was troublesome, but adorable. They were all lovely and incredibly welcoming, and we felt instantly at home. The Goromonzi Project was set up by Janet Shaw, who in 2005, whilst visiting her home land of Zimbabwe, had seen the devastating impact of AIDS on orphaned children and their families and communities. While in many cases the need for shelter was being addressed, the local resources were not adequate to respond to shortages in food supplies and basic health care, or lack of money to pay for education. As a result of this experience Janet formed an organization to find support for the basic needs of food, education and healthcare for orphaned and vulnerable children of Zimbabwe. Patrick had recently taken over the reigns completely and was looking at adjusting their approach slightly.

Although during our time there, we couldn’t see an awful lot of actuality, it was an inspiring period nonetheless. We visited Goromonzi, which is a poor area about 40 km from Harare, and a couple of the schools who have benefited hugely from the oranisation. As Patrick said, extremely passionately, on several occasions, pre-primary education is really key to the development of a child’s brain, and this was backed up by interviews we conducted with some of the schoolteachers. It was commented on several occasions that children who have studied in pre-primary can adjust to life, and learn a lot quicker once they enter primary school. It makes the teacher’s jobs a lot easier, and not only are the children use to the process of learning, but also they often have a lot more confidence, and comfort within their environment. The children, unfortunately, were on holiday during the time we were there, and so we couldn’t see them within the classrooms. We did, however, see the rooms, and it was clear to see how they help the early development of a child’s brain.

In addition to seeing Goromonzi, and a couple of the projects the organisation have realised already, we also were given an in depth tour of Harare itself by Patrick. We visited some of the most affluent areas, with high walls and gates protecting their privacy. Some of the houses were ludicrous, with incredible views, huge gardens, and enough rooms to house a small army. In stark contrast to this, we also visited Mbari, which was an inner city slum area, and one which had experienced its fair share of political problems in the past. Here there was a major issue of crime, and poverty, and also a huge amount of political oppression at the hands of the Zanu-PF youths.

To talk about Zimbabwe’s political situation would take a long time, and an awful lot of research on my behalf. In short, Robert Mugabe has ever increasingly lost control over the country. In the early years, back when Zimbabwe first became independent, Mugabe was a huge success, and widely celebrated, even supported by the British who he had recently defeated. He had, however, over the course of the following thirty years increasingly lost his grip on the country, and begun to run an ever more erratic, violent, and oppressive government, killing and beating anyone who opposes him, and fundamentally standing in the way of democracy. He has been responsible for the killings of thousands of people in the Matebeland region of Zimbabwe, and his displaced many more. His increasingly paranoid outlook had also lead him to drive a division between white and black Zimbabweans, as well as between different tribal groups, and alienate the country from most of its neighbours.

The political background of Zimbabwe made it particularly difficult to film. Freedom of press was not high on Mugabe’s agenda, and thus journalists were often given a rough ride in Zimbabwe. Many of the shots we got of both Harare City, and Mbari district had to be done quickly and subtly, and there were several occasions when we had to drive off from being shouted at. It was frustrating, but part and parcel of filming in a ‘paranoid’ environment. Again, Patrick did his best to ensure that we got the footage that we wanted, but having once before been at direct risk himself, from Zanu-PF, was understandably cautious.

The recent developments with Patrick, and the Goromonzi project are structured around a plan to form a coalition of community-based projects around the Harare area. All of these projects have a focus on pre-primary education, and it is great to see someone as switched on and as focussed as Patrick. He has a huge focus on sustainability, and stressed the importance of donor understanding. He suggested that in the past donors had wanted to see specific things done with their money, but it didn’t fit in with a long-term sustainable plan. It was clear that he had great integrity, and truly wanted to put plans in to action to catalyse progression. He had put himself and his family in a more unstable situation as a result of wanting to ensure the true benefit of the organisation, but had the faith that his hard work and vision would pay off in the end.

As mentioned earlier, it wasn’t easy to get the footage we needed, but I was, however, extremely satisfied during our time there. In recent years the level of cynicism towards the charity sector has grown massively, as a result of a number of issues, including corruption, high salaries, administrative costs etc. It is, however, incredibly important to understand that a huge amount of development work does indeed take place in an office, and not at a school, or in a children’s home. It is vital that donor money isn’t wasted, and that the donor to field ratio is high, but it is equally important to ensure that the money is being used responsibly, and with the ownership of a community. It is important to focus on long term and sustainable solutions, and not to please a donors wishes of having nice photos and a building to show for 12 months labour. Again it is about intent. Corporate bodies who decided to support charitable work need to do it with the intent of supporting a just cause, not enhancing their public profile. Too often money is used to achieve short-term visions, without any consideration for long term and sustainable benefits.

Another interesting conversation we had during our time in Harare added further zest to this issue. A guest at our Zimbabwean barbeque, Hugh Brent Solvason, of Stanford University’s Department of Psychiatry, spoke at length with us about the psychiatry of development. This is a prime example of long-term objectives. He had focussed some research on working with sub-Saharan orphans and vulnerable children in Southern Africa, and noted that often when a charitable objective can seem to have been achieved, it is often blind to the long term reality. For example, for children who have grown up in a violent, paranoid, post-conflict (or conflict) state, there are longer-term implications to their experiences than simply missing out on education, or needing food and shelter. There are often permanent implications to the development of the brain, and this needs to be considered. Also, incredibly, he mentioned that research had suggested that exposure to violence, suffering, or oppression can pass through generations genetically. This means that a vast and deep understanding of history, and past experiences is vital for the true understanding of how to progress. Again, some times this as a stem of charitable work, which doesn’t attract a huge amount of donor support, as it offers no short-term tangible results.

In short, there is a very difficult balance to strike, in ensuring that both a high donor to filed ratio is present, and that a long term and sustainable focus is in place. There is an incredible importance for a depth of research to be carried out, and when connected to development, it’s vital that this is donor supported. Again, still for me, the answer lies in a cooperative path to long term objectives, and with a focus on small community based, grass roots NGOs, supported by a whole range of professionals in various fields, from Development to Psychiatry, and Anthropology to History. It seems to me a little like ‘development experts’ have carved there own little niche, and have become rather arrogant in thinking that they know the best path to progression, without considering the views of the above mentioned experts, or indeed the community members themselves.

After, a slight false start, we decided to take the car in for a quick check-up, before we left the city lights of Harare, and headed back out into the wilderness for another few weeks. The end was getting closer, and the picture clearer. One thing, which was for sure, was the cemented view that the ‘Real Way Down’ was very much the first step in a life long journey.

Kasanka National Trust

2011-09-06T15:58:00.000+01:00

The short drive down from Mpika to Kasanka was easy enough, and soon we had arrived at the National Park for which the Trust are responsible. Once again we had arrived later than expected, and so after being showed to our room, headed straight to the lodge to find food. It was the first time on this journey that we had entered into tourist territory, and as well as being lovely, it was also strangely alienating. Due to the nature of the project, we have only really seen a high number of tourists in passing, and have of course been staying away from such areas. It is one of the huge benefits we have found throughout the course of this journey. Not only have we driven through each country, and thus seen a good proportion of the varying communities and landscapes, but also we have been based in places where tourists wouldn’t visit, and thus have had a unique view of their day-to-day life.

The Kasanka Trust was set up when in 1985, a British expatriate, David Lloyd, who had lived in Zambia on and off for many years, visited Kasanka out of curiosity. There were no roads or bridges and no tourists had penetrated the Park for many years, but he managed to explore a little on foot. On hearing the crack of gunshots he concluded that if there was still poaching, there must still be animals! He was impressed with the beautiful habitats he found and decided to try and save the Park from complete destruction and the threat of losing its National Park status. He teamed up with a local farmer who had also explored the Park a little, and the two used their own resources to employ scouts and build roads, bridges and temporary camps. These early efforts were encouraged by the government, which had been unable to manage the Park itself. In order to help raise funds and formalise their position, they formed the Kasanka Trust, which was registered in Zambia (1987) and UK (1989).

The Project soon attracted attention from conservationists, and tourism started to bring in a little money to help cover costs. In 1990, the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) was sufficiently impressed by the progress to sign an agreement allowing the Trust to manage the Park and develop tourism to help fund its activities. This agreement recognised the importance of co-operation with the local community, which has always been central to the trust’s philosophy. In May 2003 the new Zambia Wildlife Authority which took over from National Parks and Wildlife Service, signed a new agreement for a further 5 years which automatically renews for a further 5 years at expiry. This agreement grants the Kasanka Trust “exlusive rights to manage and develop Kasanka National Park….” Kasanka is Zambia’s first national park under private management and is entirely reliant on tourism revenue and charitable funding.

Today we find the park thriving and full of animal species. For both of us, it is our first safari-esque experience and thus we can’t really compare it to any other parks, it was however truly beautiful. The view from the Wasa Lodge, where we spent most of our down time, and enjoyed our evening meals, overlooked a wetland, which was home to numerous bird species, hippos, and crocodiles. The evening sounds were completely bewildering, reminiscent of a Disney film soundtrack. The roars of the hippos, the bell like chorus of the birds, and the constant hum of insects, created a sensory overload, unlike anything I have ever experienced (well, since Ethiopia).

The original purpose of the trust, as stated above, was to rejuvenate a park depleted in animal species, and falling foul of hunting and neglect. The mission, however, involved a great deal of community interaction, and it was imperative to their ambitions to simultaneously protect the park, and instigate community development. The premise was an extremely strong one, which involved the local community learning and seeing for themselves the great benefit of conservation work. The idea was that if they saw tangible benefits from the conservation, anti-poaching, tourism etc, they would embrace the park, and be happy to adopt different approaches to earning a living (other than poaching). The model was that the park conservation helped to increase animal numbers, which in turn attracted a greater number of tourists, and thus more revenue, which would be shared with the community through development projects. This model, as well as helping to display the above-mentioned benefits of conservation, also gave the local communities a feeling of ownership over the park, and thus a sense of pride.

For once our timing was good, and we had arrived at a time when the sponsored secondary school students were doing a field trip at the park. To our delight, one of the community projects that the Trust embarked upon was to assist local children with secondary education. This had been an issue in most if not all of the African countries that we had passed through. There seemed to be almost an excess of primary education projects, but very few which maintained support to that next stage. The children were at the park for a few days to learn about conservation, animal species, and everything else connected to the Kasanka National Park and Trust. It was certainly a great place to start the community development focus, and many of the children displayed a keen interest to become involved within nature conservation in the future.

Our first morning in Kasanka was an early one, as it had been decided that we would join the sponsored students, and the Officer for Education, Given, on a morning safari. We had limited expectations, as we had only ever heard about safaris second hand, and thus were extremely excited when after only a short time we had our first big sighting. We had stepped out of the vehicle at the first base camp, and immediately were pointed in the direction of some Elephants. At first they were just grey lumps hiding in the long grass in the distance, but after a short period they came out into full view, and soon the incredible grandeur of one of Africa’s most famous animals was clear to see. This sighting set the tone for the day, and after walking a good few miles, we had seen several species of antelope and bird, some monkeys, and four hippos. It had been an incredibly successful morning, and not only on the animal front, but also with the children who were really great examples of why education is a key component of development of any kind. As if to put a cherry on top of proceedings, as we headed back to where we had left the vehicles at base camp and just before Phil and I headed back to base, the elephants had grown in number, and soon 13 elephants were walking across the plains in front of us. It was an incredible sight, and the presence of a three-day old just enhanced the experience further.

After a quick rest for lunch, we headed off into the bush to visit some rangers out on patrol. Teams of around six or seven men would spend just over a week on patrol out in the park, looking for any signs of poaching, or trespass. The problem had been catastrophic in the past, and had played a huge role in dilapidating the animal numbers. The rangers were very welcoming to us, and incredibly articulate. Many had worked in the park for over ten years, and there was an apparent sense of pride towards the work they did. They all commented on how they had seen an incredible increase in animal numbers in their time working there, and also mentioned that the community had come to accept the work they do now, where as before they had been met with some negativity. This was down, in their opinion, to the understanding now within many members of the community that protecting the park, and its wildlife, was also helping to enrich their community, and provide them with opportunities for the future. Poaching, however, hadn’t by any means disappeared completely, and one member of the team had recently had a frightening encounter where he had been shot at a couple of times by someone out hunting. The issue is certainly, however, improving, and with further work within the community, will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

After a second day spent exploring the lodge, chatting to tourists, employees, and volunteers, and running interviews with both Inge, the Park Manager, and Given, our final day was spent with the community development team, with whom we visited several development projects in the local area. One of the key approaches of the community development section of the Kasanka Trust was to focus on income generating activities, which could replace the necessity to poach. There was a chronic lack of employment opportunities in the area, with Kasanka really offering the only real jobs, and thus money was hard to come by. The focus was thus on several different farming initiatives. We visited vegetable farms, where seeds had been provided for by the Trust, fish farms, and bee keeping projects, all of which seemed to be successful. Again, however, as we’ve seen many times on the continent, it is not the growing of crops, which is the problem, but rather the selling, as there is a limited market within the poorer rural areas. It did, however, provide families with good food, and made enough additional money to buy other necessities. The one problem we encountered, however, was that there wasn’t enough income generated to make the farms sustainable, and the Trust faced an issue of many people requesting supplementary support to help expand their businesses, meaning that they were becoming slightly dependent on the financial support.

Again, a recurring theme we have encountered during our time in Africa in particular, is many repeat projects. They are always good starting blocks. You have primary education, micro-finance business grants, school buildings, feeding centres etc, but often, due to the grass roots nature of the charities involved, they end there, at this initial stage. It is not a criticism of such ventures, but rather an observation. This is perhaps where larger NGOS, or government bodies should become involved, however, I also feel that it is a clear sign that there is a need for a new approach, and an increased diversity with regards to grass roots development in Africa. It is the lack of innovation that inspired our project in the first place, and shows exactly the problem caused by the massive gap between community projects and the major NGOS. The community projects are aware of the problems, in respect to moving on to the next stage, but have a specific goal, and a lack of resources to expand. The larger NGOs, and maybe I’m being a little harsh, but am speaking from my observations, simply don’t seem to have that same understanding.

Again, this simply cements the philosophy of Patchwork World, which is to work as a force in between the small community based projects, to catalyse cooperation and innovation, to overcome the next level issues, and move development on to that next stage. Development on this level has existed for long enough now, with the same recurring problems, that something should exist to help overcome them. From my experiences thus far on this journey and before, however, it doesn’t. I hear of major NGOS carrying out initiatives with grass roots charities, however the few times I have seen anything of this ilk, it has been at arms length, and through funding only. Once more, it is time for some people in development to think ‘what’s next?’ and to begin to consider the steps in between the initial support stage, and the level of sustainability and prosperity that is being sort in the long run. It is key, in my opinion, for a new energy, and level of innovation to be injected into the sector to boost the good work being done thus far, and really I believe this needs to be the core focus of Patchwork World.

The community projects carried out by Kasanka Trust, however, were successfully achieving their objectives. In addition to the farming ventures, there was also support given to many local primary schools to enhance sustainability, in addition to supplementing education, with conservation groups, workshops, and field trips. The poaching had decreased rapidly over the years that the Trust’s community work has been active, and certainly the community felt a new sense of importance towards both education and conservation. The model wasn’t completely functional in reality, in the respect that they were reliant on a large amount of donor support to maintain the community development section of their work. As Inge mentioned during her interview, the primary objective of their work would always be on the direct running of the park, and thus if the money received by donors was taken away, the community development section would suffer first. This, again, is a sign of a small grass roots organisation, clearly achieving their objectives, but now requiring cooperation, and innovative approaches from outside to advance their work onto the next level.

After a final treat of oven baked pizza on our last afternoon, we decided to eat a little way into the journey down towards Lusaka, and put a few miles on the clock. We only managed to get a few hours in before darkness descended, but it meant that the journey down the following day would be quick and easy, and that we should arrive at a decent hour. We still had the issue of having neither passed through immigration or customs, and thus we would have to contend with that there. We hoped it wouldn’t pose too much of a problem, but as it was, we had to stay in Lusaka for the weekend, and sort out our various issues on the Monday. After some confusion, a couple of heated discussions, and long long waits, we eventually had both our passports and carnet stamped, and could continue onwards to Zimbabwe, where we would be visiting the Goromonzi Project, in the capital, Harare.

The Invisible Border

2011-09-02T12:46:00.000+01:00

After studying our paper maps and GPS for quite some time, it suddenly dawned on me that we could in fact avoid going the long way round, through Lilongwe and Lusaka, and instead cut across into Zambia, via Rumphi. We had planned to research the possibility of crossing this border as an international, but having failed to do so, went with the 'well lets just go and find out' approach.

At first, all seemed well, the road, by African standards, was okay, and the GPS seemed to be picking up a direct route to the border. Things began to get a little bit worrying, however, when the road began to narrow, and soon disappeared into little more than a cycle path. We ploughed on. At one point the road/path had collapsed, and it was only after a local lady shouted at us that we realised we could take an even narrower path around it. We were intrigued to see what kind of border post laid in wait for us, and soon we found out.

'We're in Zambia!' Phil's exclamation from the passenger seat came as a result of our GPS informing us that we had crossed the border. We looked at each other, and then the map, and then the road ahead, and conceded to continuing until the first town to access our situation. As we approached the first town, still there was no sign of a border. We asked around a few confused locals, and were eventually instructed to return back the way we came in search of the Malawian immigration. After, a relatively short but frustrating drive back to the 'border', we managed to locate the Malawian immigration on our GPS, and soon we were approaching it from the wrong side.

There was a barrier, and a small hut, and a few young men, and the remnants of a flag. After informing the young men that we were in fact leaving Malawi, and not entering it, we waited inside the semi-abandoned building for the immigration officer to arrive. The process once he did arrive was very straight forward, and after talking him through the Carnet, we were on our way out of Malawi and into Zambia for the second time of the day. We still had no idea where we could be stamped into Zambia, but again conceded to the idea of driving further in, and seeing what happened. It was preferable to a long and frustrating journey back along the cycle path, and plus, we were out of Malawi now, we didn't really have another option.

Again we headed back towards the 'border' town, and this time bumped into someone saying he was the immigration officer. We headed back with him to a small office, and after informing him of our situation, he made a phone call to the 'man with the stamp'. Unfortunately, the 'man with the stamp' was in Lusaka, and thus we couldn't have either our passports or our carnet stamped here. He did, however, offer to write us a letter to present to the immigration office in Zambia's first 'major' town, ensuring that we didn't get into trouble for entering the country illegally. We were happy that this had sorted any potential problems, and were keen to get back on the road towards Isoka, approximately four hours away.

Believe it or not, that was just the start of our problems. After driving a short distance further towards Isoka, the car suddenly cut out, and refused to restart. It was awful timing, and although it didn't seem to be a major issue, it would delay things a day at least. We were lucky, again, in finding a nearby 'bush' mechanic, and after a night spent in the car, we were heading off again. Unfortunately, we didn't get very far, until the problems returned yet again, and to add to this problem we were critically low on petrol, and due to election fever, there was none around. All fuel in this area was black market, but everyone had run dry. It left us with a dilemma. We were broken down on the side of a road, with no fuel, and only a bush mechanic. We eventually decided to head off in search of fuel, and after Phil's missions to the nearby towns failed, I jumped on the back of a lorry for the four hour journey to Isoka.

I was lucky, in that the lorry was being driven by our bush mechanic friend, and thus I got a seat up front. I was, however, unfortunate in that the Lorry was going to Isoka to have some work carried out on its suspension, and thus each bump in the road was ever increasingly painful. When I eventually arrived, however, I was relieved not only to find fuel, but also a place showing the first day of the football premier league season. It had been a long day, and the lorry wouldn't be heading back until the following afternoon. After finding the cheapest hotel in town, I retired to spending the day in front of the tv screen, enjoying the football.

The day got even better when I received a phone call from Phil, who by chance had bumped into Harrisson, a Zambian guy working on a road construction project. He had agreed to tow phil and our car all the way to Isoka (approx 200 miles), and thus I wouldn't need catch a ride back, also it meant that we could find a slightly more qualified mechanic to get the car ship shape once more. It was a huge relief, and we owe a massive debt of gratitude to both Harrisson and his driver. Several hours later, and just as the Arsenal game had kicked off (I got to watch Villa anyway), a men named Harrisson entered the bar, and told me that Phil was with the car just outside town. The car had made it all the way, but just a couple of miles short, there was a steep hill, and his car didn't have the power to tow ours up it, and into Isoka. We headed back with the petrol to see if it would start, and when it didn't, it was another quick call to Mike (our bush mechanic), who caught a taxi out to us, and within half an hour we were pulling up outside our lodgings for the night.

The following day, we managed to find two local mechanics who set about getting the car back on the road. It was our hope that as long as we could get to Mpika (a slightly bigger town), then we could get it properly fixed up there, and then continue onwards. It worked. After half a days work, and a five or six hour drive, we stuttered into Mpika. The car had just started to show signs of not being altogether well, and we were relieved to have made it. It was late, and so after dinner we went straight to bed. The following morning we located a local mechanic, and after a couple of days work, we were ready to get back on the road once more. We still weren't officially in Zambia, and had seen no sign of an immigration or customs office, but with time ticking away, we headed straight for Kasanka, and our partner organisation 'The Kasanka Trust'.

New 'Making of: Real Way Down documentary (Part 12 - Egypt)'

2011-08-24T07:01:00.002+01:00

Coming courtesy of the Phillip Wright kitchen of video dreams...

Making of : Real Way Down documentary (Part 12 - Egypt) from Patchwork World on Vimeo.

Expand in Malawi

2011-08-21T13:51:00.000+01:00

The drive down to Malawi was completely painless, and went without a hitch. We crossed the border with considerable ease on the Sunday morning, and after stopping off for lunch quickly, we headed straight towards Nkhata Bay, and our partner charity ‘Expand’. The journey once more was incredible, with Lake Malawi in full view as we climbed mountains, and evaded road side baboons. The road surfaces were good, and it wasn’t long before we were in Mzuzu, and it was time to veer off the main road towards the Chisala School.

Mr Banda was roadside waiting for us, as the roads went from tarmac to dust track, and after a short, and quite incredible drive through the mountains we spotted him. Chisala school had been funded, and supported by the ‘Build Malawi’ project in 2008, in conjunction with ABC (Action for the Benefit of Children). Tanya Clarke, who has been my contact person, was the Project Manager, and now she has developed the NGO ‘Expand’ to help continue the work of the initial project.

In essence, what the Build Malawi project did, in 2008, was to assist the local community, in an extremely poor and remote area of Malawi, to build a new government primary school. It was commented to us on several occasions how difficult it had been before for some children, especially the younger ones, to get to school, as not only did they have to walk between five to ten miles each day, but also the rainy season complicated things further, with many paths blocked. As a result of this, often children didn’t begin school until the age of 8 or 9, or even older, and indeed many didn’t come at all. The difficulties in this respect had meant that very few members of the community had a chance to directly observe the benefit of school, and with very small numbers going on to secondary education, their reservations were understandable.

Now, admittedly, we struggled a little bit at first, to fully understand and decipher the issues facing the community before, and the benefit now. The school was remarkably built, with solar panels powering everything, from the water pump, which gave a good clean water supply, to the electricity, which wasn’t a given in several other schools. The hygiene levels were good, and with a fully stocked library, the project had definitely succeeded in building an excellent environment for learning. The questions we had, however, were based upon the issue of walking to school. Both Phil and myself walked to our primary schools, and in my case certainly the school was far from perfect. We had some classrooms in temporary trailers, the school was very often vandalised, teacher shortages meant we had to combine year groups, and the general atmosphere was pretty drab. We did, however, have computers, and resources, and more than enough teaching aids. It seemed, in perhaps the same way that religious buildings are often ludicrously over elaborate, that perhaps their was far too much attention on the building in which we learn, and not the depth of the learning itself.

Phil and myself began to discuss this issue. It sat uncomfortably with us both, and we weren’t quite sure what to make of it. Had our grandparents been here to here the complaints about walking to school, they would have given them a good kick up the back side, and told them to get on with . This isn’t of course the beginning and end of my opinion. I am by no means suggesting that they are making a fuss over nothing. It was just the method. Would it not be possible to spend money on a cycle to school scheme, supplying bikes and supervisors to assist younger children. How about some other form of public transport? Would it be possible to fund roaming libraries, to supplement schools in a certain area? My mind was running, and then it clicked.

What Chisala School does, simply, is give pride to a community. It becomes (perhaps like a church), the focus point of a village, and something they look up to. It gives an inherent importance towards education (like perhaps religion), and helps to encourage parents and children alike to make full use of it. It has reaped positive results, and some, very few, but some have gone on to secondary education, and thus the community can directly see the tangible benefits of education. It is a young project, and maybe after a few generations, the change it has brought will be even more apparent, but already it seems that perhaps education, and knowledge are becoming valued entities. I hate to continue this rather self fulfilling analogy too much, but perhaps education, like religion in the past, is becoming the focus and the foundations of rural African society. I myself am agnostic, and see little reward in organised religion. Perhaps over the coming years, we will see the church buildings turned into schools, and education, knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, will replace religion as the key component of progression and development. Personally, I hope so.

So, in the end we left semi-satisfied, not with the project itself, which was excellent. The initial building process, and the manner in which it was carried out was incredibly amicable. Community involvement was extremely high, creating a collaborative effort between donor and beneficiary. The pride of the community had been enhanced by this, and also the progression of the school, with new toilet blocks, sports fields, vegetable plots etc, were a direct result of this approach. I am confidant that this approach with ‘Expand’ will continue to aid the progression of education, helping it to further become of core importance within rural communities in Africa. The issues, and there are issues, are largely on the higher, deeper, and more long-term level.

Again we see an issue with the progression of children from primary to secondary education. I don’t know the statistics exactly, but I would say, from my experience that it is not even nearly 10%, certainly in rural areas, and this is really poor. It’s not just in Malawi, but in several countries we have passed through. Secondary education in the UK, and I presume much of Europe is compulsory, but many children even with an incredible urge to study, and with good levels of achievement at primary school, simply are not able to go. It’s depressing. I would quite happily tomorrow, kick out every half-arsed English secondary school student (of which I was one) out of their schools and replace them with these children, in my opinion to the benefit of everyone. This of course isn’t an overly progressive solution, but a solution all the same. Knee-jerk reactions aside, more does need to be done, and certainly more of a focus on secondary education is desperately in need.

After this project, at the end of September, I will begin work with EEF, who I spoke about previously, and who do aid children with secondary education. Their model is simple. It is a simple expansion of one man’s faith and inspiration, from one boy’s struggle and potential. IT could so easily (relatively), be employed as a concept in other countries, and indeed other areas of Ethiopia. The only other large, and established project, I am personally aware of, is the Starehe Schools in Nairobi, which again I have already talked about. It is understandable, sure, that initial focus, in respect to education in Africa, was one of ‘lets please get these poor, rag bearing, muddy faced children into a school’, but that is simply not it anymore. We have become, or at least are becoming to view Africa, and Africans as the equals that they are. No longer is it enough to help quash our guilt by helping them to speak English, giving them a place to make friends and to act like children, and perhaps enabling employment in the tourism sector. It is about time that the charity sector, grew some balls, and realised that it is now, that these children deserve the opportunities that we all have. Not, to go to primary school, and then surrender to a life of subsistence farming, or to learn English and enter the proverbial bull ring of tourism, but to be allowed to dream, and have at least a small chance of achieving them.

I’m an idealist, true, but not an unconsidered ‘lets change the world now’ idealist, but rather one who believes that only be starting with the end goal in sight will it ever be achieved. Models like EEF, enable a few (approximately 40) girls and boys, each year to get the secondary education they deserve, which includes the resources and the environment to study at home. It’s not a huge amount, but the focus on the most vulnerable and highest achieving segment of society enables the impact to be much larger, and the success rights after six years have proved this. Now, three of their students have gone on to achieve full scholarships at what is arguably the most resource rich, and progressive further education facility in the world, the New York University, in Dubai. All of the other students to complete the process have gone on to further education, and another couple recived offers from American Universities. It’s a start, but at least it’s a completed vision. It is now up to the individual students, and the governments of the countries to take things a step further.

The Ethiopian government, like many others take control over further education to a ludicrous extent. In Ethiopia, you don’t get to choose your field of study (unless of course daddy is rich), and 70 % of all students are forced to study Engineering. You could call it shortsighted, but it’s an awful lot more than that, it’s outright stupidity. A nation’s progress is achieved by; writers, scientists, philosophers, musicians, sportsmen, engineers, politicians, doctors, nurses, psychologists, and many more credible professionals. How is a nation of Engineers going to successfully aid development, with the support of privileged politicians looting more of their natural resources? It makes no sense. In Zambia, I saw an advert for applying to University, in which it stated that a non-refundable fee of $60 was needed with the application, regardless of whether the application is successful or not. Now, most Zambians can’t afford $60, let alone the course fees that they would be left with if they were successful.

So, in essence, in an attempt to cut short a potentially never-ending barrage of ranting, there are several things that need to be addressed. Firstly NGOS, charities, volunteer organisations, aid workers etc need to, on a much higher level, have real change in mind. It is no longer enough to gently push people in the right direction. We are here, that much is concrete. We are here, because currently we live in an overly privileged society, and others the opposite. We are not here as a colonial presence, or because we know better, but because we are offering a hand of support to others, who often through no fault of their own, currently need it. But that hand of support needs to come from a strong arm, with a strong mind, and a will to attribute to real change. It needs to be willing to fight to achieve goals, and to stand up to any obstacles that stand in their way. It also needs to aim to one day be able to let go, and this should be a part of the process from the start. The second thing is much more complex, but not altogether impossible. Governments need to be pushed, they need to be prodded, their doors need to be worn thin where knuckles have knocked against them. Communities need to be supported in this, and encouraged to stand up for their rights. Ex-pats (as they are rather anarchically referred to), also have a responsibility to stand up to the powers that, whilst they are living and working in such countries, represent them also. Corruption, greed, selfishness, ignorance, and elitism are not accepted aspects of African politics; they are a vile intoxication, which can be eradicated.

Another key approach, which I have not yet mentioned is that of cooperation. The concept of ‘Patchwork World’ and the ‘Real Way Down’ project, were built on the foundations of the word. The ability for organisations to work together to achieve shared visions and goals is of upmost importance. It provides steps of progression and development, and can thus successfully see the impact climb from the minimum to the maximum. Each and every charity that supports a community, is merely a step on a ladder. The only way real change, and real progression can be achieved is by combining this step with further steps. Some make up rungs on the ladder, and others support to hold it up, and to aid the ascent. Charities need to work together, not only to increase the scope of their influence, but also to discover where the gaps lie, and thus create a full picture, a jigsaw, with pieces missing.

Anyway, regardless of all the above, the scenery had turned Phil into the happiest man alive!

Futuresense in Tanzania

2011-08-18T17:12:00.000+01:00

After a comfortable nights sleep, it was an early start, and a 45-minute morning stroll to the ‘Futuresense’ head office, where we met with Sarah, the country manager. We promptly had a meeting to discuss the programme for the following three days, and decided that we would spend two filming in Arusha, and one in the Pare Mountains, on our way back cross country to meet the road down to Malawi. Initial thoughts were extremely positive, and Sarah was really great and accommodating to our needs. Immediately, I felt a sense that ‘Futuresense’ had very much moved in a positive direction since I had last encountered their work, seven years previously.

Our first port of call was to visit a team of Durham University students who were on a volunteer-tourism break. This included 4-days climbing Kilimanjaro, a weeks rest in Zanzibar, two weeks volunteering with Futuresense, at two separate projects, and finally a 4-day safari. Now I, like most people who see themselves as more long-term development workers, have often questioned the impact, or indeed the benefit of short-term volunteering. I did it in Tanzania in 2004, and I had to think long (still thinking), and hard about the intent, benefit, and indeed necessity for such an experience. I do, however, believe I am in a good position to argue in favour, as it catalysed a great passion in myself to continue with such work, and in truth helped to inspire this project.

As Sarah stated to us very strongly in her interview, volunteering is not always good, and indeed can at times even be detrimental. The importance lay very much in the management, and the understanding of an organisation to place people at suitable projects. Short-term volunteers (2 weeks or less) were most likely to be placed on building projects, where some good old elbow grease could really create positive results and fast. The team of Durham students were a fine example of how many hands can really make a fast and positive impact. They were working at a primary school, and an orphanage, and they were all motivated by the fact that they could, even in just two weeks, leave a truly positive mark on a community.

In addition to building projects, Futuresense helps with the supply of volunteer teachers. These can both be young, and inexperienced, who would teach primary and pre-primary, and qualified teachers, who would teach in government schools. Again, with a chronic shortage of funding, and a lack of teachers, both approaches can really make a positive addition to the local teaching staff. On the negative side, as was pointed out by Sarah, it is difficult to maintain a consistency in this respect. It is hard to ensure that a school always has support, and thus is difficult to implement regularity in the child’s education. A solution to this is not easy, as it is difficult to ensure both quality and long-term teachers. The only real answer lies in the individuals, and a motivation for trained teachers to commit to full years (or more), of voluntary teaching. Perhaps with more funding, these volunteers could be supported financially, and this would act as a further incentive to them.

Finally, Futuresense supports micro-finance business proposals, based on the fact that in Africa, a little can go a long way. Just $50-100 can facilitate an individual to set up a small business, helping to bring extra income into the household. These grants were often given to women, although not exclusively, and in this respect also helped to empower women within the community. We have seen on so many occasions now, how this can truly be a catalyst towards great community development. Within these societies, women really gain a huge amount of pride and confidence, by being able to provide for their family. Some of the projects we visited included Chicken breeding, restaurants, and shops, and all had seemingly become successes, at their own relative levels. It is a true example of a little going a long way.

After two days filming several programmes in Arusha, we headed out of Arusha, and firstly to the ‘Nice Orphans Centre’, just outside the city. This was truly a sign of a grassroots community initiative, and clearly the volunteers who had been placed there had made a huge impact. All of the ladies talked about past volunteers, with huge smiles on their faces, and although this was a project still with a long way to go, it was great to see a community, with just a little helping hand, reaching out to support those with nothing. We donated a few books, clothes, and school uniforms to them, which had kindly been donated to us, and again it was a sign of how a little can go a long way. With just a little support, be it financial, through volunteers, building, or indeed equipment, this small, community driven orphan centre, could help to transform the lives of so many. It is also again, an example of the importance of cooperation, as with the support of other such organisations, so much more could be achieved in the future.

Next it was time to wave goodbye to our fantastic community guide, Sam, and head onwards to the Pare Mountains, where we would be visiting ‘Urafiki Usangi’, another business programme set up and supported by Futuresense. Kate, an accounts manager back in the UK, had been volunteering there for approximately two months, and was driven by using her expertise to assist the project. The road up to the home-stay where Kate was based, and where we would spend the night, was interesting to say the least. It was a winding road up the side of the mountain, passing through villages, and blessing us with unbelievable views all around. Eventually the road steepened massively, and at one point, after three attempts, Phil, and an unknown helper, even had to give the car a little encouraging push. After, a huge amount of anxiety, and with the clutch giving off a familiar scent, we made it up the mountain, and to the wonderful home, where we would regret only having time to spend one night.

After, an early night, we ventured down to the village, where the workshop was located, and met the local manager, as well as the two young and talented sewers. The project produced a selection of great products, including laptop cases, iphone cases, bags, purses, and other such items. Currently the products are largely sold to volunteers both in the Pare Mountains, and at the Arusha HQ, but plans are to increase marketing to a wider audience. Kate had spent much of her time sorting out the accounts, and putting a financially viable plan into action, and had also focussed a lot of time and attention on quality control. They were hopeful of targeting the more high-end tourist sector, and thus it was important to produce good quality products on a constant basis. I was so impressed by the products, that I purchased myself a great little Iphone case, and placed an order for a laptop case, to be hand delivered by Kate, back in London. This project not only helps to give employment to young women in the Pare Mountains, but also has huge potential to grow into a scheme, which could help to fund future Futuresense initiatives. Kate was a fine example of how specific expertise, utilised in the right way, can really offer a great deal to a developing community, and again, a relatively short stay can make huge impacts.

As time was getting on, we had to wave goodbye to Kate and the girls, and head onwards towards Malawi. My lasting impression of Futuresense, in Tanzania at least, was that under the management of Sarah, they were making hugely positive strides. It cemented my opinion that volunteering was a part of development, which with careful and experienced management could be hugely rewarding. It is very possible for volunteer placements to be both pointless and detrimental, however there is also a great potential for them to work. I would encourage any individual looking to volunteer abroad to do so, but also to ensure that they set themselves realistic goals, and truly make the most of their time, to ensure a positive impact on both themselves and the community in which they are placed.

Back in Pangani!

2011-08-16T12:31:00.001+01:00

After a brief ferry crossing to Mombassa's southside, we were on the road to the Tanzanian border, and Pangani. My nerves obviously passed onto the vehicle, and with Tanzania only 20 miles away, the electrics blew, and we grinded to a halt. Once again, however, luck was on our side, and somehow in the middle of nowhere, we had broken down 20 yards short of a makeshift roadside sign, saying 'Mechanic Services'. After a push down to the makeshift garage, which was simply a yard, next to a half built house, Edward began an assesment of the vehicle. It was dark, and getting late, so we decided to camp in the yard, and cycled into town to buy some fish and potatoes, which one of Edward's assistant's cooked up for us.

The following day, we had to catch a matatu (small bus) into a town approximately 30 miles away to purchase some replacement cable, and then head back to begin the repair. It wasn't too long before the car was up and running again, and with the light fading, we decided to hit the road. The electrics weren't altogether right, and we now had no functional speedometer, fuel gauge, or battery light. We did, however, have a car that served its purpose, and for now that was enough. We set off expecting to find the border closed, and had planned to cross early the next morning. When we arrived, however, it was very much open, and so we decided to press on towards Pangani, with the aim of arriving there by arround 11pm.

As we passed through Tanga, the closest city to Pangani, I tried desperately to scout my memory banks for familiarity, but found none. We then headed down the dirt track towards Pangani, and it brought back memories from seven years previous, when I had ventured down the same road in a dala dala (small bus), and where I had experienced my first taste of Africa. We arrived into Pangani late, and in the darkness the town was barely recognisable. There were hundreds of new brick houses, a tarmac road, shops, restaurants, and numerous other new developments. My barings were confused by one of the major landmarks (an area of grass), having turned into a residential street, and after half an hour of being unsure, finally we asked the patrolling police vehicle, and were directed to the Yoeza household. It turned out I had directed us just one house short, and when I saw Mama, and entered the yard, all familiarity came rushing back.

I had promised 7 years ago that one day I would return, and it is important to me to always keep a promise. It had been a lot longer than I had first hoped, and imagined, but once more I was in Pangani, and with the Yoeza family. Mama was the same, and although the house had been improved it was very much like how I remembered it. Me and Phil took residence in my old room, and after Rich (Mama's son, who had been 14 last time, and was now 21), popped in to say hello, we all headed off to bed. Both Rich and Mama were the same as I remembered. Rich was of course older, and taller, but he still had the same manner, which I had liked so much before. It felt good to be back, and I was excited to explore the following day.

The next day we woke early, and after breakfast headed to see my old haunt, 'Pangedeco'. I had spent many an afternoon, reading or socialising there, and had half expected to find it unaltered. It was, however, unrecognisible, closed down, and overgrown. It was sad to see, but in truth it had been semi-neglected even when I was there. We soon discovered that there was a nice new campsite, bar, and restaurant just next door, and tourists weren't falling over each other, but neither was it 'dead' like all tourist resorts had been 7 years previously. Similarly, the beach was no longer completely deserted, with a few tourists exploring. It felt strange. In the two months I had previously spent there, I had seen only two tourists. Now, there was at least five times that number, and some even ventured into the town itself. It wasn't the stuff of my nightmares, but it was a small step towards it.

That night, I had to think. It was confusing. It was development. I had seen it with my own eyes. New houses, improved infrastructure, road networks, shops, restaurants, general living conditions, but somehow, somewhere it also seemed to have lost a little of it's soul. Although I had bumped into a few old friends, many more had moved on, and a high percentage of the new residents had arrived from the island of Pemba, bringing with them a whole new character to the town. It was nice, and they were lovely people, but it was different, and I didn't know how to feel about that. Pangani had changed form a poor fishing town, to what I can only describe as a soon to be thriving coastal destination. It had a new island feel, and I sensed very much that tourism, both international and local, would soon be abundant in the area. It was a good thing, it was progression. I simply had to get over my cynicism, and reluctance to embrace such a sector as wholly positive devlopment.

I had an issue with tourism in Africa. It's not a wholly justified one, but it was there all the same. Rich, who had impressed me so much with both his level of intelligence and character was now working as a waiter in a safari lodge, and it was good, it was work, an income, a livelihood, but it was also a service - a service to rich, and largely western tourists. If Pangani did become the resort town I half expected it too, it would no longer have that sense of the 'real' that I fell in love with. Tourism tended to create a rather unpleasant, competitive, and often invasive nature amongst people, it seemed to widen rather than reduce the gap between the natives and the outsiders. I hated every time I was approached as a tourist anywhere in Africa. It was an extension of the 'begging' culture. I wanted to scream 'I am here as a human being, as someone you can befriend, and talk to, not as a an outsider taking a peek into your difficult, but somehow enviable world.' It is unfair, I know, my opinion is massively flawed, but it was also massively real. It made me look forward and crave for the day that i learn to speak good enough Swahili, Amharic, Lua etc to not be seen as one of the outsiders anymore. I understood how important tourism was to the economy of many Africa countries, but even more so it reminded me of how important a conscious and ethical approach was to its development. It was the responsibility of both tour companies, resorts, and the tourists themselves to make the sector a positive one, bringing people together, and not reinstating that horrible presence of master and servant, that so deeply sickened me.

Ranting aside, we spent a lovely couple of days in Pangani, exploring both sides of the river, and catching up with old friends. Thomas (Mama's older son) had returned from Arusha, especially to see me, and although he was barely recognizable both physically and mentally, it was great to see him again. We had formed a special bond on my last visit, and although it didn't immediately click back and that familiarity was almost completely lacking, it certainly was important to me to see him again after so long. After our third night, Phil, Rich, Thomas, and myself jumped in the car together to head to Arusha, and for us our partner charity 'Futuresense'. I had volunteered with them (then 'Mondo Challenge') seven years previously, and so in a way it was my experience with them that had inspired the 'Real Way Down' itself. I had some negative preconceptions from my previous experience, but had observed a great deal of progression online, and hoped that this too would be recognizable on the ground.

After dropping Rich off in a town en route, to catch his bus back to work, and Thomas off at home, we met up with Gady, the elder son of the family we would be staying with in Arusha, and headed to our homestay. A lovely house on the outskirts of the city, we had the luxury of a comfortable bed each, and this would be crucial with a busy week ahead.

Miche Bora - Mombassa (via Nairobi)

2011-08-09T17:12:00.001+01:00

After a straight forward drive to Nairobi, we very quickly found ‘Jungle Junction’, which is famed in overlanding circles. We soon found out why. With camping very cheap, wi-fi Internet, onsite mechanic and workshop, great communal areas, hot showers, and good breakfasts, it really was a great place for both us and the car to recharge our batteries. It was also an ideal place to catch up on some work, and upload the latest blogs, photos, and videos to our website.

We eventually decided to stay for three nights, and this really gave us time to do everything we needed to do before heading on to Mombassa., as well as having a little peak at what Nairobi had to offer. The car was running smoothly, as were we, and the plan was to arrive in Mombassa late on Sunday evening, camp, and then meet up with Sonery, our contact at ‘Mustard Seed’ the following morning. For once, everything went to plan.

After arriving in Mombassa, we soon found a campsite, and again the prices were invitingly low at little over $4/night. After a quick bite to eat at one of Mombassa’s less classy establishments, we were well ready for bed, and soon were sound asleep. In the morning we discovered that we had in fact camped a stones throw from the beach, and thus enjoyed a slow breakfast with a nice refreshing sea breeze. After a quick wake up swim in the Indian Ocean, we set off to meet Sonery, who by chance, was situated only a couple of miles away in Mgongeni, a poor ‘village’ suburb of Mombassa, where we would spend the next four days.

A British couple, Geoff and Rita Fowler, had visited Mgongeni whilst on holiday in September 2008, and were shocked at the conditions of the village. They visited a school which was being run by two young men in appalling conditions and knew they had to help the community. They returned 4 months later having registered as a charity with the intent of setting up a school and supporting the community. In September 2009 they set up a school with three teachers in two rooms in another school. Then in January they moved to another rental building with three rooms. All this time they were paying for these unqualified teachers to receive in-service teacher training as well as paying salaries, rent and all other expenses.

Eventually, after spending six months in this building it became obvious that they just would not have room in January 2011 for the new intake so in September 2010 they moved to a bigger building, and that is where we found them; at the ‘Miche Bora’ (Mustard Seed) Primary School. Having begun life with just 26 students, they now boasted 97, with five teachers. The school building was great, with adequate space for all of the children, and very high hygiene levels throughout. They had a donor who supported them with a feeding programme, and thus the children received both a mid morning snack, and lunch, which is vital, as many would receive no food at home until dinner. It was mentioned to us on several occasions that this limited the attention spans of the children, but now they were full of beans, and ready to learn.

Resources were also of a high standard. Geoff and Rita had written a successful bid to a charitable trust and they had been able to buy plenty of toys, and learning materials. The children all seemed very keen to learn, and the play times were a partially organised chaos, where children would skip or kick footballs, and seemed to be having a great time. There is, however, still further room for development within the school. Sonery told me that the plan is to expand by one class each year to accommodate up to grade 8 (the final year of primary school in Kenya when the children are 14). As well as being a teacher Sonery is the paid coordinator for Mustard Seed Project. Her drive is really inspiring, and she has a belief, which makes myself in turn have faith that one day her vision will become a reality.

As I mentioned earlier, Mgongeni, is a poor suburb of Mombassa, and has been largely neglected for a long period of time. But the school has helped. Micha Bora have a policy of keeping the number down to 25 per class. Costs can sometimes be really high in other schools and they have no resources or furniture. Although the government schools claim to be free for 7 – 14 year olds, things such as uniforms, books, and exams can still make it a huge expense, and thus many parents choose not to send their children to school at all. Micha Bora School helps to attract parents in such a position, with lower fees, which can be paid throughout the month, and not in one lump sum. In addition to this, there are no exam costs, and many resources are provided to the children by the school The feeding programme is another big attraction to both parent and child, and helps to keep the attendance at a high level.

It’s not only education, which is lacking, but also many other such basic necessities. Mustard Seed also have a firm focus on empowerment. They have also built a well and got mosquito nets for the community and the local trustees worked hard to get street lighting installed. Mustard Seed have a computer training centre and have also given 120 women business training skills and started health training. All of the work that we witnessed had made a huge impact on the community, and their was a renewed belief and sense of purpose within many of its residents. One of the village elders said that they were thankful to Rita and Geoff for showing them that they shouldn’t just sit and wait for development, but also stand up and demand for it. This attitude was an extremely positive one, and one, which I believe holds Mgongeni in good stead for the future

Although I felt a huge amount of optimism for the area, there is still an awful lot of work to be done. The football team, who I spent a lot of time with (including playing a game), need more equipment and better facilities though I believe that this is in hand. There is a huge issue with the dumping of waste. Rita and Geoff have been negotiating with the owner of the land used for dumping in order to use it for agriculture but I believe he changed his mind at the last moment. There also needs to be an improved ratio of children going on to secondary education. In the last 2 years Rita and Geoff have spent 6 months in the community to help with developing a sustainable approach to both vocational training and business but there is a long way to go. The foundations are in place, and personally I adored my time in Mgongeni. We stayed in Mustard Seed Trustee, Amir’s family home, and found the experience incredibly humbling. Amir was always so positive and his laugh infectious. The entire family up from the mischievous bebe to the wonderful Mama, were just a pleasure to be around, and I must admit I wanted to stay.

I was inspired here, more so than anywhere else so far to initiate projects myself, and it helped to create a clearer vision for ‘Patchwork World’. I believe that through creating and encouraging more partnerships between ‘Mustard Seed’ and other organisations, so much progress could be made in Mgongeni. It is difficult for grass roots charities to have the time and resources to focus on this, but to have a charity, which purely helped to inspire and initiate cooperative projects between organisations, could truly be a great catalyst for great progression and development. I am still a long way off working out where to begin, but I have a clearer vision for ‘Patchwork World’ now. It will continue with EEF in Ethiopia, and hopefully long into the future with a variety of other organisations. Eventually, I hope that Patchwork Work can have a presence in many countries throughout Africa, and perhaps eventually elsewhere, helping to form such partnerships, and connect small focussed projects together, creating collaborative paths to tangible progression.

After many weeks now spent in Africa, I have developed a vision, and a dream, of one day being able to travel the continent as an equal, and not someone from that ‘other world’ where they have everything they want. To be able to meet people all over the continent with friendship being the only driving force and not development, and with no other expectation than this, would be a wonderful thing, and I truly believe that one day I will realise this dream.

After leaving Mombassa, we headed off towards Tanzania, and Pangani, where I first found Africa seven years ago. This would truly give me a taste of development, not only externally, but also with my own internal journey. I was nervous and excited in equal measure. I had experienced nightmares of finding Pangani a completely altered place, and was desperate to still feel a connection there. As we hit the road, I felt as though I was leaving a place that had formed part of my future, to go to a place that was very much part of my past. There was something about this part of Africa that just felt so welcoming. It felt like home.

Hope and Kindness - in West Kenya

2011-08-09T16:54:00.000+01:00

The next morning we were officially welcomed by the teachers and students of the school with the most incredible assembly. We had welcome songs and speeches, and really felt an incredibly positive energy from everyone. The school was setup in 2002 by a British couple, Terry and Judi Mott, after they spent a year volunteering in West Kenya with their two children. So moved were they by the extreme levels of poverty many of the families were facing, that they setup a children’s home and a school that year.

We found the school nine years on, thriving, and with a student population of over 150, with 36 orphans living in the home adjacent to the school. Many of the students were either orphans or from single parent families. Often the cost of schooling is too much for the families to deal with, and therefore the cycle of poverty continues. What ‘Hope and Kindness’ contribute towards is at least helping to ensure as many local children as possible receive primary education. Even if that is all they get, it can make an incredible difference to their lives, and help them to overcome some of their problems.

Terry and Judi regularly visit the school, and when they are in the UK still manage to run the project from afar. They are helped by the incredible School Manager, Mama Ben (Mary), Duncan, who is full of energy and fronts the farming initiative, and a great group of enthusiastic teachers. In addition to this they have regular volunteers from overseas, and right now have two thoroughly lovely and committed helpers, in the form of Hilda and Ian, who were at the early stages of a 12-month stay. They will be supporting Terry and Judi with the development of the agricultural training scheme, and also be helping with the other major stem of Hope and Kindness’s work, community development.

In addition to the school, the charity also has a desire to help the local community to develop, and supports many of the least privileged people in a number of ways. We were lucky enough to visit some of the families who had been assisted in building new homes by Hope and Kindness. Previously their homes had very little space, and would sleep several people to a room. In addition to this, they often had leaking roofs, and were just generally detrimental to the overall health and wellness of the family members. Having been assisted with building materials, their living conditions had been improved dramatically, and the change this made to them was clear. One of the ladies we had the absolute pleasure of meeting, Persilla, commented, that ‘Hope and Kindness’ had made her not to feel like a widow, after her husbands death. They had helped her in a multitude of ways, and had truly helped to transform her life.

The agriculture scheme was up and running already, and we even got stuck into a little bit of digging ourselves. Duncan was in charge, and the children were more than happy to muck in. This initiative is set to be increased drastically in scale, however, with Terry keen to setup an agricultural training centre. Unfortunately, job opportunities in the area are still few and far between, and a massive percentage still relay on farming. Thus, it is immeasurably valuable to offer children training in this department. It won’t be for all, and still there is a drive towards getting students into secondary school, and even further to University, but the reality is that farming will play a big part in many of their lives.

In a recurring trend that we have witnessed in several countries, there is an issue with the cost of secondary education. We take it for granted in the UK, but really secondary education is still very much a luxury in many countries. It is my belief, and the belief of many others that education is a key component of development, it is however, an incredible challenge to get it right. The balance between getting numbers into schools, and ensuring a quality education is often difficult to find, and thus one or the other is lacking. Hope and Kindness are not responsible for this, and the work they do for these children and the community is amicable, and extremely important. It is imperative that charities like this are supported, as they offer immediate support to children and families now, who otherwise would be left behind. It is, however, equally crucial that some of the larger NGOS and the governments of developing countries begin to get secondary education right; ensuring it is both quality and inclusive, and that it doesn’t follow an elitist path that simply widens the gap between the haves and have-nots.

We left Hope and Kindness, once again too soon, and we were really grateful for their incredible hospitality and warmth, and only wished we could have stayed longer. We did, however, have a long drive to Mombassa in the diary, where we would visit Kenyan charity number two, ‘Mustard Seed’, and once more be introduced to the issue of education, community development, and vocational training. We would also be stopping off in Nairobi to catch up on some much needed editing, blogging, and rest, and also a little TLC for the Yellow Beast.

Making of: Real Way Down (part 10 - Syria)

2011-07-22T20:08:00.000+01:00

Courtesy of Phillip Wright...

The 'most dangerous road in Africa'!

2011-07-21T09:26:00.000+01:00

Before leaving Addis, we took the car for a quick check up, mainly to ensure that everything was nice and tight and ready to face the perils of what has been described on several occasions as ‘Africa’s most dangerous road’. Luckily we stumbled across ‘Mitchell Cotts Land Rover’, and they were more than happy to carry out a few quick checks, and tighten up a few nuts free of charge. We could now progress with an ease of mind, which has been lacking with regard to the vehicle, for some time. We were in convoy with a lone Andres, and had an extra passenger in the form of Ephram, the lovely young chap who was the catalyst and inspiration behind EEF. He was heading home for the summer, and with his hometown, Arba Minch, roughly en route we had agreed to drop him back.

We headed off, slightly delayed by general lingering, and got in a good eight hours driving, before deciding to come to a rest in Sodo, where we sought out a cheap hotel. Following a policeman on a bike to several overpriced establishments, we eventually arrived at what was little more than a brothel, and managed to agree a price of little less than $4/night. It wasn’t ideal, but it was dark and we were tired, so we shut off our ears to the none-stop music downstairs, ignored the damp smell coming from the bathrooms, and tried to get our staple six hours sleep. We woke up, slightly refreshed, and after a desperate hunt for black market petrol we headed off to Arba Minch.

The road wasn’t great, and it was a bit of an effort getting there. When we did, we found a lovely, shady hide away to eat, and stayed for far too long. By the time we left Arba Minch, we were a good couple of hours behind schedule, and another late night arrival seemed inevitable. We waved goodbye to Ephram, who had been a pleasure throughout, and headed onwards to Moyale. At first the road was very average, but we were making reasonable ground. It wasn’t until we reached a diversion sign on the road that things got incredibly interesting. The diversion appeared to take us directly up and over a mountain, and down the other side. We drove through riverbeds, and across shanty bridges. At times we needed a good run up to get our vehicle up steep inclines, and occasionally on the way down the smell of our brakes was becoming more and more apparent. It was tricky, and at one point we sat at the base of a valley with steep hills both in front and behind us, unsure as to whether we could make it either way. Eventually, after several hours, we spotted a road up ahead, and after what had been an extremely enjoyable and challenging section of our route, we had three hours along a bumpy, stony road, before eventually arriving at Moyale.

Once we did, our mission was once more to seek out a cheap hotel. The first couple of hotels were either closed or full, but eventually we came across a lovely little place, with several UN vehicles parked up outside. Although the ‘nice’ rooms were out of our price range, we did eventually manage to persuade them to put all three of us in a cheaper room, and again paid around $4 each for the night. The next morning the plan would be to fill up on petrol, head to the border early, and then set off along the notoriously bad road into Kenya. We were pretty sure, however, that our experiences that day had put us in good stead, and the fact that both of our cars had stood up well to the conditions gave us confidence going forwards.

The next day started slow. First job was trying to arrange some money to be transferred via Western Union. A serious lack of ATMs had left us a little short, and we didn’t want to suddenly run out of money somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Western Union has always worked incredibly efficiently, however, the bank was having connectivity issues, and after a few hours of waiting we gave up. We headed off to haggle of petrol prices at the last garage in Ethiopia, and then crossed over to the Kenyan side. The border was pretty straight forward, and our only issue came with our $100 bill being refused on the basis that it was slightly damaged. Andres leant us the $60 we needed, and soon we were on Kenyan soil, and for me back in the Swahili speaking land that I had fallen in love with in Tanzania six years previous. I again headed off to the Western Union office, and here things were straightforward. Frustratingly we also found there to be a functioning ATM machine there, and the day had been pretty much wasted. We found a nice campsite, however, and it was nice to have a relaxed evening at a Kenyan bar, with chip shop chips, and ice cold beer.

The next morning we got up early, and were advised to head off before the convoy of buses and trucks, as it meant that if we were to encounter nay trouble, they would be right behind. Very quickly we arrived at the first police checkpoint of the day, and were given an armed guard, and an off duty policeman to join us for the journey. Both were heading back to Marsabit, and were more than happy to hitch a ride, at the same time as giving us some protection from the bandits who were rumoured to be very active in the region. The road lived up to its reputation, and although we kept reasonable pace, the nature of it was quite relentless. We adopted the method of ploughing through, and only stopped occasionally to allow Andres and his little Citroen Ami to catch up. Eventually we decided we had to push on, and with a guard on board, we were happy Andres would be safe.

After about six hours driving, we eventually stopped for food, and were happy for the temporary respite. Our ‘guards’ had been a pleasure throughout, and we enjoyed jovial chats over food. However, time was ticking on, and too soon it was once again time to hit the ‘road’, and try our damndest to arrive at Marsabit at a reasonable hour. The road got worse rather than better, and at times we could only crawl along a little over five miles/hour. We did, however, eventually reach Marsabit, and after dropping our guards off at the local police station, we continued onwards to Henry the Swiss’s campsite. We were kindly fed by a safari company staying for the night, and before the clocks had even hit 9pm, we both headed off to bed. As we did, we received the phone call that we were waiting for, from Andres. We had heard along the grapevine that he had at least one puncture, but when we spoke to him, we found out it had been four, and a fuel pump issue. He ended up driving all night, and eventually we saw him again in the morning, tired, but relieved to have made it to Marsabit.

On waking the next morning we also were amazed to see that a convoy of Trucks, ambulances, and vans, all heading from South Africa to Gaza on an aid mission had parked up right next to us. We must have been tired, as neither of us had heard anything. They were taking masses of stuff to Gaza, including some incredibly large generators, which could power entire hospitals. Phil, in particular, who has close ties to Palestine was incredibly interested and enthused to see the troop, and after chatting to the team for an hour or so, we had to head onwards. We agreed to take their armed guards back to Isiolo with us, and they all kindly invited us to stay with them once we arrived in South Africa. You can follow their progress at www.sarelief.net , and we wish them all the luck in the world for a successful mission.

Our first port of call once more was a mechanic. The previous day had been punishing on the vehicle, and we felt it was necessary to have a quick check up. First it seemed fine, however on closer inspection we had a small puncture in one tyre, which was fixed easily, but more troublesome was that the casing for one of our front shocks had worn through, and needed replacing. The road to Isiolo was for the first 150km no better than what we had just experienced, and we weren’t prepared to take it on without having everything up to scratch. It took a couple of hours, at an expense of less than $100, but it had delayed our progress again, and when we hit the road at around 2pm, it was obvious that we would once more be arriving late.

We again headed off with Andres, and after another exhausting drive on both us and the vehicle, we waved goodbye to him at a Safari Lodge just short of Isiolo. He hadn’t had any sleep for over 24 hours, and was keen for a couple of days rest. We headed onto Isiolo, and after eating quickly we eventually found Gidasa Hotel and Camping. It was late, and pitch black, however Vera, our host, was incredibly sympathetic, and allowed us to have a lovely and clean room at a reduced rate, of approximately $10/person. It was lovely to have nice clean beds in peaceful surroundings, along with mosquito nets, and we must have slept well, as neither of us stirred until 9.30am. When we did, Vera offered to prepare us a breakfast of cereal and toast, which was just too good to refuse. In fact, we could have stayed there for weeks, and recommend it to anyone passing through. Once more, which has been the curse of such a tight time schedule, we had to leave long before we wanted, and we had another days drive to get to Kosele and our partner charity ‘Hope and Kindness’.

The roads were good, and we made reasonable progress. Another diversion slowed us down slightly, and then we spotted that we had a slow puncture still in our back left tyre. On closer inspection we found a nail. We enlisted the help of a local man with an air compressor, and a friend with a pair of pliers, and armed with our puncture repair kit, had everything ship shape in half an hour. We continued onwards to Kosele, and eventually, with the time approaching midnight, we arrived. Mary the manager of the school and hostel, kindly had waited up, and brought us bread and jam, before preparing our rooms, where we retired enthusiastically to get some rest. We had to be up by 7.30 for assembly at 8am, and so it wouldn’t be as long a sleep as required, but any sleep had become appreciated, and no sooner had my head hit the pillow, I was sound asleep.

EEF - introduction

2011-07-21T09:11:00.000+01:00

So, as I mentioned we spent a few days in Addis Ababa with EEF (Ethiopian Education Foundation), where I will be working from September. Our time there was great, and the quiz night, and welcome/graduation party were both fabulous. A long time ago, when I first discovered I had got the position there, I wrote a blog entry, which I will share with you now.

A few weeks before embarking on this mammoth journey, in one of my few free moments, I decided to write a new CV, and begin exploring the possibilities of what to do next. Of course I am still committed to developing ‘Patchwork World’ long into the future, but it is a question of through which approach. ‘Patchwork World’, I have started to understand, is a representation of my own philosophy towards development. It is a key platform for the sharing and promotion of this philosophy, but as much as we encourage charities to cooperate and collaborate, I feel it is important for me, as an individual, to do so also.

The very existence of ‘Patchwork World’, as a charity, came from the result of an overpowering desire to ‘do more’. This passion had bubbled up over the years I spent working for established charities, but without really scratching the surface. I am young, I have energy, passion, and I believe good ideas on how to progress development work. Being confined to a desktop computer and databases, or throwing everything into promoting events wasn’t enough for me. I had a desire to change things, not from an activist mindset, nor from a bureaucratic mindset, but rather from the bridge in between, and to me that is the key.

During this entire project, over the past four years, I have encountered many interesting and positive charities, and I’m happy to name a few of the ones that stand out to me.

Gemini-i: Gemin-i is an educational charity helping children around the world share ideas and work together for a brighter future. Through a whole host of innovative partnerships and initiatives, Gemin-i really succeeds terrifically in achieving its vision. (www.gemin-i.org)

Shelterbox : Shelterbox provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. Focussing on the immediate aftermath of a disaster, Shelterbox are often the first on the ground of a disaster helping to provide food, shelter, medicines, and hope to millions of people who have lost everything. (www.shelterbox.org)

Starehe Schools : Starehe Boys' Centre and School is unique for a Kenyan independent school in that it educates at least 70% of its students free, and the rest at a reduced rate. This stems from its founding charter as a charitable school. School fees are paid on a means-tested basis, with substantial subsidies paid by the school, so that students from all walks of life are able to have a comprehensive, high-quality, public school education that would otherwise be beyond their means. (www.starehe.org)

The above three organisations have something in common, and that is that they all achieve their stated objectives to an incredible degree. Gemin-i connects over 60,000 young people in 122 countries worldwide. Not only this, but through innovation and partnerships achieves a huge amount of success in helping to create global citizens for the future. Shelterbox, in a relatively short time, has become one of the leading charities on the ground in the event of natural disasters. Having a clear and concise mission statement, has lead them to achieve their goals successfully, and earn plaudits from organisations working around them. Again cooperation has played a key role. Starehe Schools is repeatedly in the top three schools in the whole of Kenya, in terms of academic success, and one third of all trainee doctors in Kenya's public universities were educated at Starehe.

This brings me nicely, in a roundabout way, to my news, and to the organisation EEF (Ethiopian Education Foundation), where we spent four days last week. Occasionally, an organisation has something even more exciting than the success of the three above-mentioned charities. Sometimes there is also an energy attached to a project, which represents its incredible potential – a potential to grow, and to evolve, and to provide real tangible progressive solutions to not only a community, but also a nation, and perhaps even eventually the world. It is what I like to call the ‘Patchwork Effect’ - pieces being laid out to help create a path of positive progression to individuals, communities, and nations, laying firm foundations, on which the people of a nation can build upon from the inside.

The EEF journey began in 2003, when some of its board members went on an expedition to Ethiopia. Wanting to learn more about the education system there, they visited a school in the agricultural town of Jinka, and were incredibly moved by what they saw. An unbelievable passion to learn amidst difficult and challenging environments, and lifestyles, is a common trait of many developing countries. I saw it myself in Tanzania, in 2003, and the EEF team saw the same in Jinka, Ethiopia. In particular the team were inspired by the story of one boy, Ephram.

Ephrem, 12, was living with his young brother and his bed-ridden mother in a single-room made of mud with no electricity or running water. Although at school, Ephrem worked part time in the local butter market to help feed his family. At home he had no space to study and living in these conditions he would never have the chance to reach his full potential. Ephrem’s mother had a long-term illness and could not provide for him so with her blessing they paid for him to travel to Addis Ababa and sit the entrance exam at the School of Tomorrow, one of the countries best private schools.

He was accepted, and so they found him a nice room to stay in Addis for only £25 per month, and thus enabled him to receive the education he deserved. Ephrem is now at Addis Ababa University studying computer science. Inspired by Ephrem’s story the three returned to the UK with a vision to create positive change in Ethiopia by giving children like Ephrem the chance to study at the School of Tomorrow in Addis. From that vision EEF was formed.

Since then, EEF has grown incredibly fast, and has already had an incredible level of success, with all of its pupils achieving excellent results. Each one of the EEF students to pass through the system so far, has gone on to study at University, and this year two of them achieved full scholarships to the New York University in Abu Dhabi, giving them an immeasurable opportunity to learn and to achieve.

As a result of the poor living conditions of many of the pupils EEF support, they now also have two purpose built hostels (boys and girls) where a high percentage of its students reside. Built in the shadows of the ‘School of Tomorrow’, in Addis, it gives the students a perfect community to learn and to grow collectively, truly inspiring them to become positive citizens of the future, and it is here that my news eventually comes.

After applying for the position online, and following a phone interview, and meeting Glenn and Achim (two of the founding members) in person, I was offered the position of ‘Boys Hostel Manager’ with EEF in Addis Ababa, to commence in September, after the completion of the ‘Real Way Down’ project. I can’t tell you how incredibly excited I am about this, as it really gives me the opportunity to throw all of my energy into a project for which I feel so much connection and positivity towards. I will be responsible for ensuring that the new boys settle into their new environment, as well as ensuring that they develop well in and out of school. As well as being responsible for their day-to-day needs, I will also work to develop extra curricular activities to supplement their academic studies, and create truly positive citizens for the future.

The simplicity of the ‘EEF’ model, and the incredible levels of success that they are already achieving is what I believe creates such firm foundations on which to build. Their intake is based upon a combination of examination results, application, interview, and a home visit, as well as discussions with their current school staff. They have links to several government ‘feeder’ schools around Ethiopia, and really this model goes a long way to ensuring that the potential of some of Ethiopia’s most gifted young people is achieved.

The potential of EEF, I believe, is truly limitless, and I feel proud and blessed to be a part of its progression. I would like to think Glenn, Achim and the entire EEF team for giving me this opportunity. Also, I would like to thank Dee and all of the children for the incredible welcome we received when we were there last week, and I can’t wait to back as soon as physically possible.

There are also a couple of guest rooms in the hostel, available at very low rates, so if any of you want to come out and visit the work we do in Addis Ababa, at the same time as visiting one of Africa’s most culture rich capitals, just drop me a line, and we will sort something out for 2012.

For more information, please visit the EEF website at

www.ethio-ed.org

Ethiopia continued

2011-07-21T08:53:00.001+01:00

It’s been extremely difficult keeping the blog up to date recently. We have been incredibly busy, and the lack of fast internet connections have limited are communicational capabilities. In addition to this, we have both been a little ill at times, and have also had to navigate Africa’s ‘most dangerous road’. We are now with ‘Hope and Kindness’ in Kosele, West Kenya, but I will backtrack a little to speak about some of the experiences we had in Ethiopia.

So, after the epic drive in from Sudan, we had the weekend to catch our breath. We ventured into Gonder on the Saturday, where we met Alex and Towadrose, two lovely young men, who became our good friends. After exploring the market and the sights of the town, we ate and then headed to a traditional Ethiopian club to experience the local culture. The club was immense, and Phil, Alex, Towadrose, and myself were up and dancing in the unique snake-like fashion for most of the night. Everything about Ethiopia was an attack on the senses, in the most positive of respects. It seemed as though around each and every corner there was something else remarkable. We were both utterly taken by the place, and excited to learn more.

After spending a lovely evening with Ferdi and Katherina, our overlanding companions from Aswan and Wadi Halfa, on the Sunday, it was time to learn more about the ‘Kindu Trust’ and the work they do to support people in the community. They had been established approximately ten years ago, by Kate. , an English lady living in Ethiopia, but recently handed over to the local people to run themselves. Kassahun was the man in charge, and along with him had come Fente. In addition to this they had recently employed two young men to add some youthful exuberance to the organisation, in the form of Tadele and Lainie , and had recently moved premises, to accommodate the expansion of their work.

Fundamentally, the ‘Kindu Trust’ run a child sponsorship scheme. This is predominantly to support the child’s education, but also assists their entire family with medical support, vocational training, and regular assessment. The communication with the child’s sponsor is maintained rigorously, and thus if any serious problems are to occur, the sponsor will be made aware of the predicament. We met two families who had both been supported with the installation of water pipes, giving them access to water to wash, drink, and in one case make home brewed beer. One of the houses we visited, we also found the mother to be very sick, as a result of suffering from HIV/Aids. The support she and her family receives from the ‘Kindu Trust’ helps her to receive the medical care she so urgently requires.

Since taking over the management of the organisation 18 months ago, Kassahun and the team have made hugely positive strides to making the work they do more sustainable and far reaching. They stated on several occasions that they wanted to ensure that the families didn’t become over reliant on their support, and were aware that it wouldn’t be there forever. The main way they went about trying to achieve this goal was through vocational training. They had recently employed two young ladies to make jewellery out of old magazines, which they then sold in the Kindu Shop, with profit being made by both the ladies (who are family members of sponsored children), and a small amount by the Kindu Trust themselves, to help fund future initiatives. They also had a partnership with a hair salon, and supported several girls each year to receive full training, thus opening up employment opportunities for them. This aspect of their work was really developing well, and seemed to be a real focus of their work.

Another project they were reigniting was the ‘Kindu Club’ and nursery, which would enable the children to visit the charity once a week during the school holidays, to make friends, have fun, and prepare themselves for the upcoming school year. The initiative had just begun at the time of our visit, but already it seemed to be up and running, and certainly showed positive signs of being a great programme for the children. The two boys I had mentioned earlier, Alex and Towadrose, had mentioned how the summer holidays were three months long, and they struggled with keeping themselves entertained. It was also extremely important to introduce the beneficiaries to one another, as previously they had been unaware of the other children involved in the scheme. It seemed to be a great way of increasing the children’s confidence, and also seemed like it may encourage them to talk more about their problems.

Alex and Towadrose had both lost their parents at a young age, and had both ventured into the city form the countryside in a bid to find work. Both of them had spent a long period sleeping on the streets, and had to ‘hustle’, selling chewing gum to make any kind of living. Alex had previously been supported by the ‘Kindu Trust’, and for a while had stayed at their centre for street children. They both spoke fantastic English, a sign of their determination to get on in life, and had both managed to attract sponsors who were currently supporting them by funding their Tourism course, which would enable them to find employment, as well as helping them with their living costs. We spent a lot of time with these two, and really grew fond of them. They have had such a difficult start in life, but are working incredibly hard to further themselves, and find a positive way out of their troubles. They were an absolute inspiration, and I look forward to visiting them again next year, when I’m back in Ethiopia.

On that note, after finishing our time in Gondar, with the ‘Kindu Trust’, we headed down to Addis Ababa, to drop by and say hello to EEF (Ethiopian Education Foundation), where I would be spending at least 12 months from September this year. They are a charity who have achieved an incredible amount in the six years they have been active. Having started by supporting one young man through his studies, the organisation has grown to support over a hundred boys and girls, and their success rate is incredible. I will be writing an entire blog post dedicated to them, and their work, so that is all I shall say for now. Our time with them was fantastic, if not marred slightly by me having been struck down by illness. Our welcoming party, coincided with the Year 12 leaving party, and really it was another fantastic and inspiring night. I am looking forward a huge amount to being back there in September, and helping to develop their work further.

After Addis, it was time to head south, and into Kenya along the infamous ‘Worst road in Africa’ from Moyale down to Isyolo. This would prove to be another incredible experience.

I will leave you with a few extra photos from Ethiopia...

Goodbye Sudan; Greetings Ethiopia

2011-07-21T07:38:00.001+01:00

Leaving late on Thursday night we had the town of Gadarif, near the Ethiopian border in our sights, and with the car seemingly having overcome at least some of its previous ailments, the ride was smooth and easy. We had become firm fans of the roadside truck stops as places to spend the night, and with our sat nav indicating that we were just 20 miles short of our target, and our clocks reading 3am, we decided to once more sleep outside on the beautifully crafted string beds.

Again woken by the sun rising early in the sky, we were up and active at 7am, and back on the road by 8. We only had a relatively short distance to reach the border town of Gallabat, and from there we had a further 200 km to reach Gonder, and our partner charity 'Kindu Trust'. The drive to the border was straight forward, and before too long we approached what was the least formal looking border post thus far. The scenery had begun to change slightly along the way, with some trees appearing out of the baron desert, and round Ethiopian huts, replacing the square Sudanese architecture, but nothing could prepare us for the transformation once we entered Ethiopia.

The border was relatively straight forward, although time consuming, and we were there for a good three hours before eventually managing to pass through into Ethiopia. The fact that we had arrived on a Friday (Islamic Sunday) didn't help on the Sudanese side, and then hitting the lunch break on the Ethiopian side delayed proceedings further. Once through, however, we were immediately struck by the sheer beauty of Ethiopia, and the journey that was to follow will sit in our memories for years to come. From the hot, baron desert of Sudan, we had entered into the lush, green, mountainous regions of Ethiopia. The drive was complicated by a lack of Petrol at gas stations, and twice we were saved from the brink of an empty fuel tank at the very last minute. Firstly we managed to find a man who had seven litres in a jerry can, and then finally, and just when we were running out of hope, we found someone else who had 30 litres - enough to get us to Gondar. With lightening in the sky, and cries of 'you, you, you' coming from children everywhere, it was like driving through a disney film.

We eventually arrived in Gondar late, and after speaking with Kassahun, our contact at the 'Kindu Trust', decided it was better we find a cheap hotel for the night, and meet the team in the morning. It didn't take us long to find a suitable place, and after a quick bite to eat, we were more than ready for bed. We would be meeting Kassahun and the team early doors, so again our sleep would be too short. In the morning, still half asleep, I was taken aback to discover that our hotel was guarded by a vulture named Franco. Ethiopia had already given us enough of a sensory overload, and it was set to continue.

Real Way Down: Behind the Scenes (Part 9- Turkey)

2011-07-02T15:52:00.003+01:00

New 'Real Way Down: Egypt - behind the scenes', courtesy of Philip Wright

Making of : Real Way Down documentary (Part 9 - Turkey) from Patchwork World on Vimeo.

2011-07-02T15:40:00.000+01:00

The following morning, after a quick breakfast, we were whisked off to the Ethiopian Embassy, where we filled in the necessary forms, and were told to return the next day. We then headed with Ali, St Vincent’s photographer, to enquire about photo permits, which again we were told we could pick up on the Monday. After a quick chat at the SVP HQ, to discuss are programme for the next couple of days, we headed back to the seminary. It was Sunday, and thus we wouldn’t begin filming to the following morning. Phil decided to use the time to crack on with some editing, and I decided to pop over to the ‘Blue Nile Sailing Club’ (a famed campsite in the overlanding world) to see if any of our ‘road buddies’ had arrived… (a decision I very nearly ended up regretting).

The next two days were spent with John, Tony, Ali, and numerous other SVP employees visiting various projects supporting mainly displaced people from South Sudan, Darfur, and the Nuba Mountains. We saw orphanages, training workshops, medical centres, baby feeding programmes, and agricultural initiatives. The major issue dominant throughout, however, was the impending secession of South Sudan from the North, and the mass migration, which was in progress as a result.

Many of SVP’s employees are originally from the South, as are a great deal of their beneficiaries. With the official date for independence set for July 7th, and with a huge amount of volatility and concern still present, virtually the entire 3 million population of southerners settled in the North are migrating back to the South. Many who we spoke to were in a great rush, and had a serious level of distrust towards the Northern government, and in particular the dictator behind much of Sudan’s recent terrors, including the Darfur genocide, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. Many felt that the new South Sudan offered them freedoms, and potential that the North had always sought to take from them, but also were concerned that the North’s attitudes to Southerners in the North would become worse as a result. Jobs, human rights, property rights, and any other freedoms they felt may be taken from them if they were to stay.

This situation was one of huge concern with regard to SVP's work in Khartoum. Although, as mentioned, many beneficiaries from South Sudan were also heading back, many others from Darfur, and the Nuba Mountains etc would remain, and thus the support network somehow had to be maintained. I should mention at this point that John Ugu, who is currently in charge of SVP’s work in Khartoum, is a great guy, who is working tirelessly to address the issue. He is rarely out of his office, or away from programmes, and when he is, he usually has to be. It is encouraging to see the right person in the right place for this crucial time. In addition to the necessity to fill jobs in the North left by Southern Sudanese moving back South, it is also a key issue to ensure that SVP and other organisations work to help support those returning to the South with very little way of supporting themselves. A mass migration on this level, is certainly going to require careful and intense management in the early days of South Sudanese independence.

As a result of the above-mentioned issues, it was difficult to really learn enough about the programmes in Khartoum. Many employees were absent, and also all members of staff were called into an emergency meeting with UNICEF at the last minute on Thursday, meaning that our proposed filming had to be cancelled. The programmes are, however, without doubt of great importance, and provide vital assistance to people displaced and affected by Sudan’s bleak history of war and suppression. One of the most complex parts of the secession is the existence of ‘Southern’ regions (African traditionalists and Christians) geographically in the North, whom may still suffer severe oppression at the hands of the fundamentalist Islamic government in the North for years to come. We hope very much that South Sudan’s status as an official independent state will give them security from the international community, but also it is imperative not to forget the other long suffering regions.

Our departure from Sudan was delayed slightly after I had managed to misplace a bag of important documents (UK government style) at the Blue Nile Sailing Club, after my visit to see Andre, Arno, Pete, and Jill. When we first returned to check if they were there, we were told no, and thus a near two day long police search ensued, with buses and taxis stopped and searched en mass. We were only reunited with the bag when Phil and myself decided to check one more time at Blue Nile Sailing Club, and were handed over the oh so important bag of documents, which would allow us to continue our journey. Needless to say, they have now been re-filed, and stored in a safe place. Being stuck in Sudan currently would not be clever, and would have presented huge problems.

We eventually decided to leave on Thursday evening after a brief altercation with security forces for filming UN planes, which were arriving at Kharotum’s International Airport at an astonishing rate. The entire SVP team had been tied up with their urgent UNICEF meeting all , and with the situation becoming increasingly unstable it just seemed sensible to cut our losses and head to the border. Our time in Sudan, and particularly Khartoum was incredibly interesting, and we have to think the entire SVP team, in particular John and Tony for being such warm and kind human beings. Also, a big thank you to the priests at Encounter, where we stayed, for great hospitality and intriguing political conversations at meal times. Both Phil and myself felt an attachment to Sudan, and are both keen to return in the near future.

With our car fixed (again), we hit the road once more with Ethiopia in our sights. We would break the journey up into two chunks, the first on Thursday evening, and the second the following morning, and hoped to arrive at the ‘Kindu Trust’ in Gonder by Friday. Ethiopia is one of the countries I have been most looking forward to seeing, and with my impending move to Addis in September, I was keen to see for myself the place I would soon be calling home.

Khartoum (Car-Tomb)!

2011-06-29T22:24:00.000+01:00

Being woken up by nature's best alarm clock was becoming commonplace, and we decided that an early start was in order. The first stop would be Dongola, and then onwards to Khartoum. We were running a little behind schedule, and were keen to get things back on track. Before we left, we saw a familiar vehicle arriving on the horizon, it was Pete and Jill, and their beautiful Red Land Rover truck. They stopped to say 'hi', and then carried on their merry way. We knew we would see them again before too long.

The road to Dongola was easy. Again we followed the new tarred road all the way along the Nile, and the Landy was eating up the miles. Soon it was time for us to test out the British built bridge, and see what Dongola had in store for us. It was another, what I can best describe as 'western' towns. Not in the developed world sense, but in the out of a cowboy movie sense. Dusty streets, with sparse development, and a sun baked feel. We parked the car under a tree for shade, and headed off to find refreshment.

On our return, we were greeted by the familiar sight of Andres, Arno, and Don (their little beast of a car), and after they grabbed some food, we decided to hit the desert road together. All was bliss, and with both yellow machines eating up the road, we were well on our way to Khartoum. We stopped occasionally to take in our surroundings, and to stock up on water, but soon the km posts counting down the distance to Khartoum were signalling our imminent arrival, and the mood was one of optimism.

That was until, out of the blue, the car began to show signs of struggle yet again. I looked at Phil, and he looked at me, and exasperated I said 'it can't be, not again'! It was, the car proceeded to deteriorate, and as soon as we saw a truck stop we realised we had to cut our losses. After much persuasion from myself and Phil, the Amsterdam duo reluctantly continued on, and we were left to once again to seek support fromm our partner charity. John Ugo answered the phone, and immediately jumped into action. It would be another night spent sleeping out in the desert, but in the morning they would send someone to tow us into Khartoum, where they would source a mechanic to do the work.

Again the sleep was lovely. Despite the constant movement of traffic in and out, there is just something so incredibly relaxing about sleeping outside in the desert. In the morning, we were given breakfast by some friendly officials, and soon after Tony, who we would soon learn is 'always the man for a difficult job', and our tow arrived. We headed off to Khartoum in the luxury of an air conditioned car, whilst the poor old landy rode in on the back of a truck. It is the fourth tow we have received so far, and certainly the longest. After an hour or so of driving, we reached civilisation is epic fashion, arriving in Ondurman, on market day, and the sights and scenes were just mind blowing. After crawling through the traffic for what seemed like an eternity, we eventually arrived in Khartoum, and at the office of St Vincent de Paul, or charity partner in Sudan.

After a quick rest and brief introduction to their work, we headed to our accommodation, which was at a local seminary, and the car was parked outside for the mechanics to fix on location the following day. We met up with John and Tony again in the evening for a quick guide around town, and an introduction to 'Tweety Juice', which blows all other juice related competition out of the water. Before long we were back at the seminary, tucked up in bed, in a room complete with air conditioning, ready to crash out in preparation for a busy day on Sunday, where Ethiopian visas, photo permits, and vehicle repair topped an ever growing list of things to do.

Desert + Breakdowns = hot and bothered

2011-06-26T21:29:00.001+01:00

Once we arrived in Wadi Halfa, Sudan, we had to wait another day for the car. As soon as we stepped off the ferry, the heat was just relentless, at a novel 46 degrees, and the crush to get on a bus to passport control was just splendid. Eventually we got to town, and after finding the first three hotels to be full, we eventually managed to get rooms at what can only be described as a basic little place, next door to a juice bar, which is where we would spend the majority of the next two days. Not having the car with us was actually a welcome relief, and although we had managed to get it on the barge, I still had concerns that all was not quite right.

Juice bar kid in Halfa

The next day, the eight of us, four groups of two, headed to the ferry port to be reunited with our cars (and in Ferdy and Katherina's case, their dog), and although we had prepared for a frustrating day, it really did go beyond our already low levels of expectations. First we sat in the heat for several hours, as the barge, and our cars sat just out of reach, and then we had to join in the cargo clearing operation to access them. Unpaid manual labour in 46 degrees heat in the North Sudanese desert is not in any way shape or form advisable. We did, however, eventually manage to get all of our vehicles off the ferry, and after a juice and some falafel we decided to head to the relative calm of the desert for the night.

Desert Camp

The next morning at around 7am, Arno, Andre, Phil and myself agreed to begin making tracks towards Dongola. Both teams were in a bit of a rush to get to Khartoum, and so we left the others behind, and hit the nice, new, Chinese produced road down to Dongola, a small town approximately midway between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum. It wasn't long, however, until my worst concerns proved true, and not only did the car overheat again, but this time it was a complete blow out, with 'mayonnaise' dripping everywhere. 'It's a goner' was quoted by both our Dutch travel companions, and as I stared into the milky abyss, I felt my back begin to rupture, and it just seemed that we were being given no room to rest, to enjoy, to appreciate our journey. As me and Phil sat and ate cereal on the car bonnet waiting for Ferdy and Katherina to come to our rescue, I shed a little tear. It was hurting, what can I say? Relatively it is nothing, but right there and then it was hurting.

Engine Blows!!!

Once more, however, we were blessed, and not only did we receive a tow back into Halfa, but also Halfa just happens to be full of old Land Rovers, and thus was one of the only places on the planet that had a spare cylinder head ready to be dropped straight into our car, and be ready to leave the same day. It was a long day, and both Phil and myself were feeling drained from the last few weeks, but still we had to be thankful. Initially we had expected a two or three week wait, and rather it was 7 or 8 hours.

Phil having a snooze at garage

Our saviour

Eventually we were ready to hit the road once more, and after a quick visit to the local market for water and fruit, we were off on our way, once more down towards Dongola. We managed to get in a good three or four hours driving, and after deciding that the banks of the Nile were home to a few too many insects, we opted instead for a bed outside a truck stop approximately 200 km short of Dongola. It was nice to lie down and see so many stars above us, and again be thankful that somehow are car was still in one piece, and that our journey could continue.

Getting a stubborn Landy to Sudan!!

2011-06-26T20:51:00.000+01:00

So again too much has happened in too little time, and in a hot internet cafe in Khartoum, I have to somehow remember the sequence of events. Our main logistical job in Aswan was to book our ferry tickets to Sudan, and this had to be done via the infamous Mr Saleh. This entire process is famed for being a little arduous at the best times, so when our car overheated on the way to the ticket office, it was untimely to say the least.

Luckily we managed to get the car to 'The Brooke' head office, and there we were introduced to Ahmed, a Sudanese guy, who is one of the sweetest, most genuinely lovely guys I have met. He quickly revealed that it was the head gasket, and after a short time had once again replaced it. After a quick test, however, all was still not well, and off came the cylinder head again. This time Ahmed noticed that the freeze plugs were leaking water, and thus had to come out and be replaced. Arno, one of a Dutch team of two, driving from Amsterdam, Holland to Amsterdam, South Africa, had kindly stuck around all day, and so Ahmed, Arno, and myself went on a mission to find freeze plugs.

After a good hour or so of looking, it soon became apparent that nobody had the correct size in stock, and thus we had to go to a garage to have them specially made. This process took one expert machinist approximately two hours, and at a cost of 4 british pounds. We headed back to the car, and Ahmed completed a twelve-hour day, by hammering in the new freeze plugs. This time, the test drive proved a success, and soon, and just in the nick of time, we were ready to load the car onto the ferry the following day.

Arno, Andrees, Phil, and myself drove down together towards the Traffic Police the following morning, to complete all of our necessary paperwork, and once again, before we arrived smoke begin pouring out of the front of our bonnet, and again it was a crawl to 'The Brooke', and Ahmed. THis time it was deemed to be faulty electrics, and all was fixed in a matter of hours. We had agreed with the man down at the port that we would load the car onto the barge the following morning, and then hop straight onto the ferry. This time the journey was a success, and soon the car was on the barge, and we were on the ferry, along with Arno, Andrees, Ferdy, Katherina, Pete and Jill, and this was a success within itself.

Egypt had been an incredible experience, extremely frustrating at times, but also incredibly positive at others. 'The Brooke' are not only doing fantastic work with animals, but also were so kind in helping us with our car, and it's many ailments. I will write up more about 'The Brooke' when things have calmed down a little.. inshallah!

Onwards in Egypt

2011-06-15T13:53:00.000+01:00

After a rather hot, but welcome nights sleep at the Rezeiky Camp in Luxor, we headed back to The Brooke’s head office to spend the morning with their mobile vets. On arriving at the office, Dr Ghais Soliman immediately gave us the good news that the car had been fixed, and we could collect it whenever we were ready. This was a massive boost, and one which meant that all of our minor car issues had in fact cost us no time. Despite being stuck in Amman for a week, and thus having to delay the Nile ferry to Sudan, as it so happened this ferry was postponed for a week anyway, and thus we would have been held up regardless.

Having spent the morning with Dr Moustafa and his mobile clinic team, in two locations near Luxor, we headed to the mechanics to pick up the vehicle. The Mechanic had in fact hand made two new Head Gaskets for us, one as a spare, and the car was back to running as smoothly as when we had departed Cairo. We paid him fifty english pounds, and a little extra for the yard boys, and headed off onto the road to Aswan, which was approximately three to four hours away. After stopping for a quick bite to eat off the main agricultural road, we were soon in Aswan, and it didn’t take us long to locate Adam’s Home Camping nearby.

We arrived once more in the dark, tired and ready for bed. Mohammed, who had been living in Kent until recently, welcomed us and introduced us to a German couple and two Dutch guys also heading to South Africa. After a quick Nubian lesson from Mohammed and a quick jaunt into the village for refreshments, we erected the tent and settled down for another much needed nights rest. It is now Wednesday and we are in Aswan centre. We popped in to see the infamous ‘ferry fixer’ Mr Saleh this morning, who assured us that the ferry would indeed be leaving on Monday. After a quick bite to eat, we are now in a nice and quiet internet cafe doing some chores. Tomorrow we will once more be with The Brooke, here in Aswan.

An 'interesting' few days in Egypt!

2011-06-13T14:03:00.001+01:00

So, where to start? After two months on the road as a team of three, the RWD crew was reduced to two last week, as Cindy left to return to Brussels. It is a terrible shame that we have lost such a vital member of the team, but as is the nature of such projects, things don’t always, or even often, run 100% smoothly. The reasons behind Cindy’s departure are personal ones, and she will update the blog herself to explain her reasons shortly.

In the meantime, the journey has truly entered into ‘expedition territory’. On a personal note, one of the benefits I was most looking forward to throughout this project, was being ripped away from my comfort zone, and challenged on a number of different levels, and challenged we have been. Firstly, just a side note, the Egyptian people are lovely, and the roads great. It is often discussed about how policed the roads are in Egypt, with checkpoint after checkpoint. This is true, but we have found them to be more of a help (I’ll explain later) than a hindrance (maybe a sign of the post-Mubarek era), and have certainly felt no level of frustration towards them.

On Saturday we spent the day with Ahmed, the Communication’s Officer for ‘The Brooke’ in Cairo, and a mobile vet team, at the pyramids in Giza. The working animals in Egypt, as well as their owners have suffered a huge amount of difficulty since the January 25th Revolution began. With tourists avoiding a newly ‘unstable’ Egypt, it has been extremely difficult for them to make any kind of decent living, and with families to feed, the animals are losing out. In reaction to this, ‘The Brooke’, throughout Egypt, have been working on a free food programme, to help both the owners and the animals during this difficult period. The only thing I can say to anyone reading, is please do continue to visit Egypt, it is really extremely safe, and in many areas so reliant on tourism.

After this, our plan was to drive for a few hours on Saturday evening, to at least begin to make inroads into the mammoth journey from Cairo to Luxor, as we had to be with ‘The Brooke’ in Luxor by the Monday. We were initially held up by a complete lack of traffic control just south of Cairo, but soon were on our way, and driving through amazing riverside settlements. The way of life here really was the definition of basic, with farming seemingly the only industry. Driving a night in Egypt is an experience in itself, with people opting not to use their lights, but rather to flash them quickly when about 20 yards away, and the picturesque riverside settlements only added to this further. I would not overly recommend driving in Egypt at night, however as long as you stay aware, it is an enchanting experience. Eventually we stopped at Beni Suef, and wild camped outside a roadside café, for an early start the following morning.

First thing on Sunday morning, we headed to the Desert Highway, which is the fast road between Cairo and Luxor. It is a great road, but can be quite challenging, with extreme heat (45-50 degrees), and mirages on the horizon, making it hard to see ahead. Also, a note to anyone else taking this road; there is not a single petrol station for the duration, approximately 250km, so make sure you are well stocked. Luckily, both our Jerry cans had been topped up earlier in the day, and once we left the highway, we filled up a four fifths empty tank for six pounds! With a major lump out of our trip achieved by lunch, we stopped briefly in Asyut for food and money, and continued onwards, with a plan to picnic once we were out of the city.

Some of the little villages we passed on the way out of Asyut, were really something else. I’m not sure how to quite describe them, but they were beautiful, and intriguing places. Eventually we stopped to get drinks, and decided to ask the shop owner if it was okay to cook under the shade of his veranda. What happened over the course of the next two hours is a bit of a blur, but it involved me being watched as a cooked up my vege pasta specialty, by approximately thirty people. It was incredible, and the children were a delight, if not a little to enthusiastic at times. We will soon be posting footage of my cookery class for you all to see.

After this, we hit the road again for the final 200 miles to Luxor, and it would be a long 200 miles. The car that had been running like a dream since Amman, begin to stutter, and soon overheat. We pulled over immediately to allow it to rest, topped up the water and rested ourselves too. After 45 minutes we continued, but the car was stuggling, and when white smoke began pouring out of the exhaust my heart sunk. HEAD GASKET!! I popped open the hood, and my fears were confirmed. We were 40 km short of Luxor, and with a Head Gasket problem, it was crap. We thought we had overcome the car issues for a little while at least, and here we were facing problems again, one week on. The gasket should have been replaced when the engine head was checked in Amman, and clearly wasn’t. It was a 100 % avoidable situation, and one which could potentially leave us, stranded for another fortnight in Egypt.

I took the decision to remove the lid to the overflow tank, and thus minimise any further damage to the engine, and try to make it to Luxor. As we headed off, the car was clearly unhappy, and having been on the road since half seven that morning, so were we. Eventually we accepted defeat, and grinded to a halt outside a small village outside of Asyut. As the children rushed up to greet us, I asked for ‘Baba’, and then requested that we could camp for the night on his land. With a nod, and a handshake, the deal was done, and after moving the car, we set up camp for the night, or so we thought.

Things are never so easy it seems, when you’re on the road, and soon the police were mentioned, and after we tried to decipher what was happening for half an hour, we just said ‘we sleep now, wake us up when you have to’, and settled down in the tent. After an hour, we were woken by a local policeman, and told that it was too dangerous to camp there, and that we must go with him in the car. We tried to explain that the car was broke, but to no avail. As the car struggled to move, and eventually refused to start, we had to be towed out of our little camp spot, with no idea where we were heading. After about 20 minutes or so, we arrived at a checkpoint, and were told we could sleep there for the night, and that we would e guarded. Tired, confused, annoyed, and half asleep we nodded, and settled down for a night in the car.

The following morning (Monday), we woke up and began to work out how we could possibly get out of our current predicament. We had policeman with machine guns over their back poke around at our engine, in the hope they could fix it, despite me pointing to the head and signalling a big explosion. Eventually we called our contact with ‘The Brooke’ in Luxor, and we were saved. He leapt into action, and soon we were being towed to a garage in Luxor, by one of their mobile clinic Hilux cars. We didn’t even need to pay and Baksheesh, whch I’m sure we would have had to, if they weren’t around. Once the mechanic had looked over the vehicle, and run a quick diagnostic test, he confirmed it was indeed the head gasket, and that he would be able to make up a replacement and fit it by tomorrow, for only 65 pounds. It’s not ideal, not having the original part, but we can only hope that he is a skilled machinist, and our delay will be kept to a minimum.

We are now in The Brooke’s administration office in Luxor, and having filmed for a few hours, are now ready to retire to a nearby campsite for some much needed food and rest. We will be with their mobile clinics again tomorrow morning, and will then head down to Aswan for Thursday, where we will again spend time with ‘The Brooke’, and, inshallah, catch the ferry to Sudan the following Monday. We are fatigued, anxious, hungry (haven’t eaten all day), hot, and ever so slightly dehydrated. Our bites from Sinai have, however, all but gone, and we still feel blessed as after every dip we get an incomparable high, and with a project of this scale, perfection is not in the offing.

Photo Updates!!

2011-06-13T13:10:00.002+01:00

The last few days have been jam packed with drama, adventure, ups and downs, and bizarre happenings... but before I tell you about all of that, I wanted to add some much needed imagery to the blog. More will be coming soon from the more gifted snapper, Phillip Wright. Enjoy!

In the Sinai Desert, Egypt

Matt with Ahmed, where we stayed in Sinai

Phil at the pyramids, in Giza

Phil and Cindy with Raf, who was our room buddy for over a week, and who Matt will be rowing the Atlantic with in 2013

Phil having a dose in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (we hadn't slept much)