From left to right: Niall Southwell (Simons Group), Andy Powell (Moss Birmingham), Helen Stoddart (CARE International), Richard Vale (COINS), Steve Jones (COINS), Sue Cooper (Connaught), Tim MacLeod (Multiplex), Paul Costa (Multiplex), Dave Huxley (Kier Wallis).

A trip to Tanzania to visit some of CARE International’s projects was organised for the beginning of December.  It was a thank you to those who had raised the most money from this year's COINS Three Peaks Challenge and for those who have supported and contributed the most to the event over the years.  Among the nine who went, was COINS Commercial Manager Richard Vale.  Here he reports back on his eye-opening trip.

On Sunday 4th December, shortly after our plane hit the tarmac at Dar es Salaam, we were straight on the road for a 4 hour drive to the Mikumi National Park. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to see lions, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes and many other wild animals in their natural environment.

We returned to Dar on Monday evening and on Tuesday we commenced our first set of field visits to CARE projects in and around Dar.

In the morning we visited the Tumaini HIV/AIDS project. This is a project supported by CARE, which is a joint venture between the military, police, prisons and religious groups to deliver treatment to AIDS sufferers, in particular children. AIDS has reached pandemic proportions throughout Africa and the scale of the problem is hard to take in. Several other projects exist including education and prevention but the Tumaini project is about screening and delivering the best possible care and treatment to those already infected.

In the afternoon we visited the Hajukwama Water and Sanitation project located at several communities in the poorer areas of Dar. These communities have no piped water, drainage or sewage, therefore sanitation is a challenging issue. The project funding targets a number of different initiatives, many of which were instigated by CARE’s support. These are now self-sufficient and thus a great example of CARE delivering on its promises.

On the Tuesday night we flew to the island of Zanzibar. This flight, on a commercial passenger jet, took just 10.5 minutes much to everyone’s amusement! The next day we drove out from Stone Town, where we were staying, to the Jozani-Chwaka Bay Conservation Project. This project has a focus on a sustainable approach to environmental protection. Jozani comprises a tropical forest which, apart from being an area of outstanding natural beauty, is the one and only home of the endangered, Red Colobus Monkey. CARE had instigated a project in Jozani to engage the local inhabitants in protecting the environment. Formerly the villagers were inclined to kill the monkeys as they were responsible for damaging trees and crops.

We then went on to meet the people of one of the local villages who, with CARE’s assistance, have founded a cooperative bank. Villagers, who can afford to, can invest and buy shares in the bank. Other villagers who need funds for business investment can present their case to the bank council who will then issue a loan to the applicant on approval. This was an illuminating example of how a small amount of education can make a huge difference to the wealth and prosperity of a community.

On Thursday afternoon we flew back to Dar. Our flight back to the UK was scheduled early the next morning, so we gathered in the evening at an Ethiopian Restaurant, to talk about our experiences. The belief that we had all been privileged, to witness what we had at the various projects, was unanimous. If I were to choose one adjective to describe my experience, it would be “humbling.”

One of the nine who went, Andy Powell (Moss Birmingham) sums it up:

“Tanzania was a trip of a lifetime, it certainly was a revealing insight into a completely different world from what we are used to. The projects we saw provoked a complete spectrum of emotions, from the lows of the HIV/AIDS program and the sanitation/waste problems in Dar, to the inspiration of the Rainforest and coop project in Zanzibar.”

To read more about the trip from CARE's Helen Stoddart, please visit www.challengeseries.org.uk