Day -4: 4 more sleeps...

Mega excited today......as there's only 4 more sleeps (4 MORE SLEEPS) until we head off to Tanzania. Looking at the Webcam its a really nice day today and for the first time you can clearly see
Mount Kilimajaro (as well as the the zebras...getting a little bored of them to be honest..I'd like to see some more animals....) I am thinking my camera will get heavily used..



Look at the pretty mountain.....arrrrrr...oooohhh

 On a side note and completely unrelated, its Halloween this weekend so I have decorated my desk accordingly!!!

Day -5: Getting REALLY excited now...

The atmosphere amoungst the "travellers" is really hyping up now....walking around the offices and speaking to the rest of the team there is real mix of excited people - humming, looking at pictures of the web cam, talking about the trip and postman delivering the last minute bits and bobs....Yesterday for example I received a "shipment" of sleeping mats which I ordered for Harry, Katie and myself - they are really cool little camping beds which are semi-inflatable so hopefully that will be money well spent and we'll get some good nights sleep!!! Today I have some spare bits for my camera arriving including an extra battery....oh..there will be LOTS of photos I think!!

Most of our conversations now start with ...."This Time Next Week We Will Be....." so to continue the tradition...This time next week we will be starting our work at the school after hopefully having enjoyed our first night in the tents at camp and (if I know most of the group) having enjoyed some local beer and sung some campfire songs...something I WILL be encouraging!!




Campfire (the previous group...we'll be singing of course)

 Also today we have received our electronic tickets for the flight next Tuesday and Jan is checking us in so we can all hopefully sit together....for those interested...and those that find airplanes slightly interesting...we are on:-

• Flight KQ101 from Heathrow to Nairobi on Tuesday 2nd Nov 2010 @19:00
• Flight KQ6722 from Nairobi to Tanzania (Kilimajaro Airport) on 3rd Nov 2010 @ 10:35

And.....this is what our plane will look like!!!

Airplanes are cool.....

Day -7: Check out the Web Cam of Kilimanjaro

With only a week to go before we'll be heading off to the airport to start our 3 week adventure (well, 3 weeks for most of us, 2 weeks for those who for many reasons can't take part in the safari bits) I thought it was worth showing the link to the webcam which is updated every hour or so showing some of the wildlife near and around where we'll be working for the 2 weeks.

http://www.maasai.com/webcam/kanzi.jpg


If nothing else....you'll see loads of Zebras and it make you want a holiday!!

Day -8: Shipments sent to Base Camp

Well....with just over a week to go before we set off to Tanzania, we are today, sending out to the
Base Camp a mass pile of sports stuff that we'll give to the children of Uwa school.....


Thanks to some incredibly generous people, we now have great collection of sports kit to take out including

• 130 football shirts
• 64 pairs of shorts
• 32 training tops
• 3 footballs.

Many of us are also packing in our bags crayons, pencils, colouring books etc for the children (or for us if we get bored in the evenings!)....

Day - 13: Visa's are back

Well, we are now doing the final preparations before the trip....after most of the group sent off their passports and Visa applications away only 6 days ago, everyone has now received theirs back...I have just got back from the emabssy itself in London and will be picking up my "approved" visa tomorrow....

No excuses now....we're going....just got to go shopping now to but hats, trousers, tee-shirts and lots and lots of mozzi spray!

Day -25: A bit more about the Project.....

Since we have a pre-departure meeting tonight and as such thought it would be worth giving you a bit more information about where are going and exactly what we'll be doing...now that we know we are working at Uwa school...


Project Location:The Uwa Primary School project is located in Uwa, about 60km from the nearest major town and nearby to Arusha in the rural north of Tanzania at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest peak in Africa.


Temperature and climate:We are travelling to Tanzania in November, which is one of the best times for travelling to this a specific area of the country. Average day-time temperature will range between approximately 16 and 36 degrees Celsius. Night-time temperatures will cool significantly to approximately 15 degrees Celsius.

The project site, Uwa is located in the Sub Saharan region of Tanzania and is located among coffee and banana plantations. The plan-tation creates a micro climate of damp atmosphere and low level cloud which tends to burn out in the after-noon to allow the vital sunshine to sear through. The top soil in the area is a deep red and very dusty when dry, this then turns to muddy terrain during the rainy season.


Project Work Overview:Education in Tanzania is compulsory for seven years, until children reach the age of 15 years.

The elimination of tuition fees in 2002 has led to massive increase in the number of children  who are enrolled in primary schools. However, schools are now faced with a lack of resources for additional teachers, classrooms and books.


The School:Uwa Primary school was first built in 1971 as part of a government initia-tive. Then in 1997 Alex Shiyo, Head of the HeadTeachers in the ward, in-structed for the second building to be built, also as part of a government scheme. His name is still inscribed in the wall today. Since 2007, when Childreach International first started work on the project they have built a kitchen with energy efficient stoves to eradicate the problem of hunger within the school. Childreach International has also renovated 3 classrooms, the nursery building and built a playground for the children.


The Project:Knowledge is power. Power to build brighter futures for the children we are working with, so that they can seek employment and self employment and support both them-selves and their families. This school was affected by poor performance, attendance and even enrolment rates. It was due to many factors, not least of which the staggeringly poor state of the toilet blocks, the inadequate facilities to prepare food for the children and the damp, under resourced and uninspiring condition of the classrooms. In a meeting of parents and the school committee, the majority of attendees agreed that its bad environment had led to a huge dislike of the school by teachers, and the parents sending their children to school due to the lack of nutrition for their children and risk of getting ill. This affected teachers morale, standards of teaching and the number of children that would actually show up to class. Uwa has since been supported by Childreach International and conditions have begin to improve, children are starting to come back to school and take pride in their school environment and actively seek an education. We are now going along to carry on this good work.


Our Work:The school right now is a stark contrast between reconditioned classrooms and bare frames. We desperately need to instate a universal standard to these classrooms and the school at large so that the children attending and the teachers educating in it feel of equal importance in the school and the community. Right now we are concerned that the inequality in the classrooms will effect the fragile self esteem of the developing children. Whilst none of the RM Future Building team are experienced builders, we committed and enthusiastic and  will be working as a team alongside local craftsmen and labourers. Our typical tasks are likely to be assisting, mixing concrete and plaster, carrying materials, assisting plastering walls, painting and decorating.

There will also be opportunities for us to integrate with the local community, pupils and teachers. Activities will be arranged during the day and evening and may include games of football, local language lessons and walks in the surrounding area.

Day -27: Change of Mission

Update: 6th October
We heard today that last week, Childreach International (who are running the charity event) had to make the difficult decision to effect a project site swap for the RM Future Building Team
Childreach have been monitoring Ayaingi School during the past few months since they have been experiencing high water levels in their nearby river. Part of the RM Future Building project was for us to fund and assist in the construction of a vital bridge for the children of the school. This was going to involve us (and the local staff) being in close proximity with the river for extended periods of time in order to get the work done. Upon Child Reach's progress site visit last week, they had to reassess this risk and have since decided that this risk is to high for this particular project to continue at this time.
So what does that mean? Well, Uwa primary school is another school that Child Reach have recently been working on that also needs some real dedicated work to finish the job so the village can cut the ribbon on their school.
Uwa is an area rich with plantations, situated 60km from the nearest major town. The village live off the earth - coffee and bananas plantations.
Uwa has roughly 1,100 houses, with four people living in each, so approximately 4,400 people in the local community. Ironically, in costrast, this village is struggling with a severe clean water shortage at present.
The RM Future Building team will now be working at Uwa Primary School, who Child Reach have been working with since 2007. To date, Child Reach have carried out work building kitchens and toilets and a recent group has made a significant dent into the development work. What is left is a stark contrast between the complete and incomplete classrooms. The RM Future Building team will be returning to this site and completing the school to an equal level for all of the 429 attending children.
We will be:
- Refurbish two offices
- Refurbish two classrooms at hill level
- Reburshing 4 classrooms on ground level
That’s 8 rooms in total -  A lot of work!
We remain excited and motivated as we'll now be working longer and harder and making even more of a difference to this community...