Taking part from Thursday 7th to Sunday 11th October 2010 the challenge will take in some of France’s most scenic countryside. The route incorporates roads that are established cycle routes and busy roads are avoided as much as possible.

After an early ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg there will be a a full afternoon of cycling that begins as soon as the ferry arrives in France. You will then have another three full days cycling, covering a total of 200 miles. Cyclists can stay in Caen on the Sunday night for a celebration meal or there is the option to get the ferry back to Portsmouth on Sunday night in time to return to London that evening.

The Normandy countryside is stunning and you will meander through many typical French villages stopping regularly for lunch and breaks. There is a combination of both coastal cycling and cycling through the countryside. There are a limited number of hills and most people will be able to complete this challenge with a reasonable amount of training prior to the event. So what are you waiting for?

All meals, snacks, accommodation, luggage transfers, support vehicles, and First Aid qualified guides are all provided.

To find out more or to book a place on the trip please contact Victoria Crook or call 01743 2463176.

Peter Bristowe and Friends

Although the sun was shining, the team were faced with several challenges including punctures and a broken bicycle!

Peter and his team still managed to triumph and were able to celebrate by taking a dip in the sea at Tynemouth after three hard days of cycling up hills, through villages and through the centre of Newcastle.

Everyone at Build IT International would like to say congratulations to Peter and a massive thank you for a fantastic fundraising effort!

Using sign language at Donata School

Nationally 10-20% of Zambians have some form of disability, yet children with disabilities in Zambia have practically no access to education and training and will likely grow up with no opportunity to work. Within developing countries such as Zambia, it is estimated that between 2-7% of disabled children receive any sort of education.

After being given notice on their rented rooms the school was granted 1.5 hectares of land by the local Mkushi Council to build their own school.

Making a difference

The Ministry of Education has agreed to supply qualified teachers, trained to work with children with disabilities, once the school has its own infrastructure, which will lead to a better quality of teaching and better grades and the potential for a better quality of life for the children. The new location of the school also has much better access meaning that more disabled children from the area will be able to enroll. 

How you can help

We have managed to secure 50% of the funding for the building of the new Donata School.

We still need to raise a minimum of £23 000 to enable us to make a real difference to the lives of disabled young people who, without the school, may receive no formal education.

Children at Donata School

To contribute to our fundraising please contact Victoria Crook on 01743 246317 or victoria@builditinternational.org or alternatively donate via our website.

The BBC’s Jo Figen tells us how we could all learn a great deal from the Zambian’s about forgiveness and turning the other cheek. Read the full story here.

Kawama Community School 2010

Building work has been completed at Kawama Community School and Resource Centre.

Final work is now taking place at the building all being funded by COINS including:

• Electricity being installed and wiring taking place
• Provision of water to the ablution block
• A wire fence erected to maintain security at the site
• The provision of classroom and library furniture and books

Work is due to finish by October 2010 when the new school building will be ready for use.

Trainees making blocks at Makangwe

Good progress is being made at Chainda and Makangwe where trainees have been selected and training is underway. Following applications and assessments a total of 31 trainees were successful. The trainees comprise of 10 men and 5 women at Chainda and 11 men and 5 women at Makangwe. 

Charity Lubingo, our Zambia Programme Co-ordinator, visited both sites where workshops in tile and block making have now begun. Theoretical training has already commenced at Chainda and is due to start soon at Makangwe.

Trainees in classroom at Chainda

Trainee candidates at Makangwe making frames to fix tile moulds

The Makangwe community has been hard at work preparing the site for construction to start. Heavy rains until mid-April hampered this work but the weather is now good.

Charity Lubingo, our Programme Co-ordinator reports that the following works have been completed or are in progress:

• The community has gathered about 50% of the sand required
• Aggregate is coming by truck from a site 20 km away because the local source had too much clay in it (thisis for block manufacturing)
• Enoch and Simon have set up the block making facility and are now producing soil blocks
• Initial interviews have been held for trainees and 18 are now under-going practical exercises to test their aptitude for physical work and block making
• Architects drawings have reached the second draft stage and are currently being finalised before a detailed bill of quantities and budget are drawn up
• Mabutu Zulu has been appointed project contractor and will be on site be the end of May (he previously worked on Butempa school)
• A programme of work has been outlined with completion anticipated for November

Atacama desert in Chile

“The Atacama Crossing is a 250km foot race across the Atacama desert in Chile which is the driest place on earth and a landscape that bears the closest resemblance to the surface of Mars of any place on earth.  Temperatures range from below freezing at night to over 40 degrees during the day and the altitude ranges between 2500m to 3500m above sea level making the air a tad thin.  The terrain ranges from a rock strewn dry seabed like stretches, to coral like salt flats, to crud resembling a ploughed field to the obvious soft sand dunes.  The race involves crossing all of this and attempting to run some of it as well as climbing what seems like endless escarpments, crossing rivers, descending huge powder like sand dunes and well as navigating a dark mining tunnel with a strategic rock to catch you out half way!  The first four stages are more than 40kms and the long day is 77 k m followed by a little 10 km to finish but it is the back to back nature of it which is a killer.  The main challenges are hydration and nutrition a managing to stop ones feet falling apart quite apart from sheer exhaustion.  Competitors carry all their own food for the whole race and are only provided with water rationed to nine litres of cold a day for drinking and hot water for the fried dried food that everyone lives on and find a struggle to get down by the end.  Washing with the water rations is forbidden! 

Taking on the challenge!

The whole thing was a huge challenge for me but an amazing experience in the most incredible landscape and it made me realise how lucky I am to have what I have in my normal life.  It was so important for me to choose the right charity to raise money for and I thought a lot before choosing Build IT who are building a sustainable future for the people and especially the children they touch. I must be truly mad but I hope to compete in my next 250 km challenge with Racing the Planet in Nepal in November 2011 when I will also try to raise more funds for Build IT”.

Everyone at Build IT International would like to say a massive congratulations and thank you to Angus. By taking on this amazing challenge he has helped raise vital funds for Build IT International. So far Angus has raised over £4000!

 You can still donate to Angus via Just Giving or contact Victoria Crook on victoria@builditinternational.org or +44 (0)1743 246317  for other ways to donate.

Melody Chimese

Melody Chimese grew up in the Luapula Province, Mansa District of Zambia. After training to be a teacher, Melody started to work in 1990 at a local basic school near her home. She stayed at the school for 17 years before moving to Mikumlia school in 2009, following the encouragement of the diocese, who support the school.

In February 2009, whilst building a school in nearby St. Agness, we were approached by Mikumbila Community School, in Central Province, Zambia, with a proposal to build a two classroom block to help them cater for the growing number of children. The school comprised of a building two classroom building to accommodate the children up to grade 7, with an extra temporary building. In the temporary structure grades 6 and 7 were taught in two sessions and poor facilties restricted extra curricular activities being to be offered to the children. The children had no furniture, and, therefore, sat on stones on the floor, balancing their notebooks on their laps, affecting their concentration and their handwriting.

In July 2009 the building project at Mikumbila began. The building project cost £26, 000 and was completed at the beginning of 2010.

Community schools currently receive negligible support from the Ministry of Education. Schools in Zambia are graded based on key criteria. These include: number of teaching staff, enrolment infrastructure and academic performance.  Community schools are not a government funded and so do not have a grade. The status varies from community school to grade four, which is a basic government school, then grade 3, grade 2, grade 1 and super grade 1.  However, if facilities are upgraded with quality classrooms at pre-agreed schools then support will follow and the grade may be changed. A permanent classroom and teacher’s house will generally lead to a qualified teacher being allocated and additional teaching materials provided by the Ministry of Education.

 Since the expansion of the school to 4 classrooms there have been a number ofother positive changes:  

• School capacity has doubled and the attendance role has increased to 291. This has increased from 268 in 2009 and 204 in 2008
• The School grade has chaged. As a direct result of the building work, the school now has a grade 3 status. The building structure and number of children at the school has allowed for this change to take place
• The government have given more funding to the school, and we hope that the amount will rise in the future. The funding paid for materials for literacy for grade 1, 3-7, story books, teacher’s pack for grade 1 literacy and a sentence maker. The government are providing three teachers to work at the school, allowing for smaller class sizes and less classes merging to be taught

“For the teachers the work load will now be less as the classes are decongested. They can now concentrate on a simple grade. Even just a change in environment motivates the teacher to work extra hard for the standards to match the environment.”

 Melody Chimese, Acting Head, Mikumbila School, March 2010.

Kawama School with new roof

Kawama community’s new classrooms and resource centre are close to completion after seven months hard work. The new roof was finished at the end of March and it looks fantastic. It was made from over 8,000 micro-concrete roof tiles manufactured on site by the local trainees. A specialist roofing team completed the work.

 At the moment, plastering, glazing and drains are being finalised. From May fitting out work will include furniture, electricity and lighting and a new water system for the school compound. All paid for by the COINS Foundation. The school should be ready to use from July 2010.

One of the spin-off benefits of the project is that Kawama Widows and Orphans, the local community organisation, is planning to continue making and selling soil blocks and roof tiles. With a large urban market nearby and a great demonstration building, they have every justification in believing they can generate income for the school.