Durham Zambia Theatre Project 2013

16/07/2013

WE MADE IT!!!

After 600 miles of grueling but very beautiful cycling, Tom and I have finally made it to Samoens. There have definitely been highs and lows, low points involving roadside crashes into ditches and high points featuring being invited to join a big family lunch by a group of french farmers in the middle of the countryside. After being plied with amazing food and A LOT of alcohol, that afternoon of cycling was probably the most hilarious/precarious.

I am so grateful to everyone that has sponsored me, and the thought of your support really helped me getting over some of the tougher mountain passes. Whilst I have hit my original target, the project is still open for funding, and every little helps so please do still donate!

I have added some photos so that you can take a look at our cycling adventures.

Much love and gratitude,

Hannah xxxxx

 

01/07/2013

Hello lovely people that have taken the time to visit my fundraising page!

I am writing to ask for your help and support for an exciting project with which I am fortunate to be involved. Let me explain…

As you probably know I am currently a student at Durham University. For a number of years the university has been working with an organization in Zambia called Sport in Action, a charity that has been incredibly successful in introducing and encouraging sport in Zambia schools and communities. Please take a look at their website: http://www.sportinaction.org.zm/.

Very recently Sport in Action has chosen to build upon their success by expanding to introduce drama and theatre based activities to teaching. The idea of this is to work with young people in Zambia, using performance to work towards a dialogue on subjects such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and gender based violence, and discovering how best to harness the medium of community theatre to convey positive social messages around these issues. In order to help establish such a program a small group of students from Durham University has been selected to spend 7 weeks working voluntarily with Sport in Action in Zambia this summer. As one of these students I feel incredibly privileged, excited and honored.

Before I can make the trip to Zambia on the 27^th July however, I must raise £1000. So far I have been raising the majority of the money through organising bake sales in churches across the north east, a feat that feels a particular achievement given the limited culinary resources that as a student I have access to! I am also organising a bring and buy sale in Hampshire at the moment. However, I am still a long way off my target. I have therefore decided to use the time I have prior to going to Zambia to raise the outstanding funds by undertaking a sponsored bike ride between Keyhaven, a village on the south coast of England, and Samoens in the heart of the French Alps.

The 650 mile journey will be done entirely by bicycle (apart from crossing the North Sea!) and without a support team. Fortunately I will be cycling with my good friend Tom Vose, who is also a student at Durham, and will hopefully be able to see me through any emotional and physical trauma (yes Tom, I hope you are reading this.) We will be leaving on July 7^th and hope to complete the trip in 10 days. All being well this should leave a few days to recover before heading off to Zambia!

In order to achieve the targets I have set myself, over the last few weeks I have been trying to do as much training as possible on the side of the end-of-term University mayhem. Now I am back home the final push is about to take place, and I am mentally and physically preparing myself for not being able to sit down comfortably again for quite a while!

If any of you would like to sponsor me in doing this I would be incredibly grateful. Since the project we are going with is very new it is not yet a registered charity, I am unable to set up a justgiving page. However, this is an almost free alternative.

Thank you so much for your support and for taking the time to read this message. If you would like more information about the trip and what my role is as part of it, please send any questions to [email protected].

Much Love,

Hannah  xxx