Help send Simon to Zambia!

Hello!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Simon Lynch and I'm currently a student at Durham University. I've recently been lucky enough to be given the opportunity to travel to Zambia this summer for seven weeks with Durham Student Theatre and Experience Durham to work with many children across the regions of Lusaka and Livingstone.

The project aims to use drama as a communicative tool to teach positive life lessons to many local children, as well as raising aspirations and providing a creative and fun outlet in the process. Whilst out there, new networks will be forged with local partners so as to ensure that this project will continue to enrich and benefit Zambian communities long into the future. 

Further information can be found here:

www.dur.ac.uk/experiencedurham/theatre/zambia

And this is one of the incredible groups I'll be working with when I'm out there:

www.barefeettheatre.org

Zambia only provides free schooling for children up until the 7th grade (the end of primary school), with many therefore leaving school with only a basic education. This trip will highlight the positive impact that drama can have on Zambian communities as a medium to develop motivation, self development and self reliance.

The cost of the trip is approximately £1500 (turns out flights to Africa and injections are fairly expensive!) - although I am  fundraising to off-set some of these costs, any donations that you can provide would be hugely, HUGELY appreciated - by both myself and the children I'll be working with. However, some of the money that I manage to raise will be going straight into improving the facilities and the project whilst I am out there. 

On the 23rd June I'll be running the Great North 10k race to fundraise for this project. As most of you know, I'm not normally considered as being blessed with the running gene, so doing this race (in hopefully a fairly decent time) marks a big step and I'd be eternally grateful if you could donate.

I can assure you, the benefits of this trip to the children and communities are enormous, and I feel incredibly privileged to be given the opportunity to go out there and help make a difference. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any more questions about the trip or the fundraising process ([email protected]).

Many thanks, and ZamDram Love, 

Simon.