Tag: October 2004

Back in January 2004 Martin Wright, one the club’s most
sociable regulars at the London Meetings, royally entertained
a packed Crown Court with tales of his marathon cycle ride to
Australia! Many in that audience will remember his great
photos, distinctive narrative style and his thirst for
adventure. Well Martin is at it again – this time he’s go
back to the land down under to ‘pick up his bike and have a
look round’. I think too many cold winter nights provided the
motivation to get back on the road! This is the second in an
occasional series, based on Martin’s emails, and charts his
offbeat approach to the road ahead.

21^st June: Arrived in DENMARK early this afternoon after
a great few days of cycling to reach here.  Even with
the bloody wind in my face it was still enjoyable.  Less
traffic and big bloody road trains to deal with and of course
less of the grey ghosts towing their bloody caravans! 
At any caravan park you are likely to see grey ghosts
arriving during the course of the day and some of them are a
real source of amusement.  Most of them cannot reverse
their caravan into a bay so drive around the park looking for
a way to drive in – sometimes they have to get other people
to move vehicles or get another driver to reverse the caravan
for them!  I think anybody towing a bloody caravan
should take a driving test to prove they can reverse into a
space.  If they can't do it they should f*** off
around Australia on a bus or better still stay at
home…  My bicycle is in good shape now I’ve had a
few minor repairs completed.  Should be in Perth in
about in about one week and will write again from
there…

20^th July: Have finished with the south west corner and
am now heading along the west coast.  Am at present in
Kalbarri, a small town about 500kms north of Perth but will
have to get a move on now as I will need to be in Darwin by
mid September as my visa will be at an end and I will need to
fly up for a renewal.  I spent far longer in the south
west corner of the country than I intended – the weather was
not at all good but the area is so beautiful I stayed an
extra day almost everywhere I visited.  The big tree
country around Walpole is breathtaking – I visited the tree
top walk which gives a real idea of just how big these bloody
trees are.  At Pemberton I climbed the Gloucester Tree,
which is used as a lookout for bushfires and at 61 metres
above ground you can see for miles!  Don't climb it
if you are afraid of heights as one or two people went about
10 metres up, became stuck and it took a while to bring them
back down.  Nannup was wonderful and I stayed at the
'black cockatoo' backpackers which was run by an
interesting man whose fridge told his story…  It was
here I met the three young ladies who teased me somewhat and
left me very frustrated.  Visited Augusta for a spot of
whale watching which was breathtaking and tried to hook a few
but the line kept on snapping…

1^st August: Reached sunny Exmouth on Friday.  The
journey up to Carnarvon and on to Exmouth was delayed by
unseasonal heavy rainfall, which left me with a few short
days of cycling.  As a result I had to camp wild or stay
at rest bays, which were usually full of caravaners but I did
meet a few interesting and generous people along the
way.  On arriving at Nerren Nerren rest bay I was
approached by an Aussie man, John, who presented me with a
can of whisky and coke.  After putting up my tent John
called me over to sit under his caravan awning where I was
given another drink as we chatted about Aussie rules football
or aerial ping pong as I prefer to call it. The next course
of cheese and biscuits along with nibbles and dips ensured we
then got on to talking about cricket, whilst soon after
John’s wife Heidi appeared and presented us both with steak,
sausages, vegetables and mashed potatoes; totally
delicious!  Somewhat better than the two day old sausage
sandwiches I was going to eat…

The following day I was held up by rain yet again and was
plied with coffee from a 72 year old lady who has been
travelling around Australia for the last five years with her
pet shitzui.  For the next couple of days this lady
passed me on the road and at the next rest stop would pull up
and have a cup of tea ready for when I arrived.

I finally arrived in Carnarvon last Sunday and found that the
roads were flooded in places and I had to wade through 18
inches of water.  At the caravan park I met a Dutch
couple and together we visited the pub for a few beers –
luckily they served Guinness, which was a welcome relief from
the Aussie beer.  The ride onwards from Carnarvon was
again interesting! I’d camped in the bush one night and was
woken first by a truck pulling up at around midnight. 
Soon after I was woken by voices and a torch shining on my tent – after this there were no more disturbances but I did
not sleep at all well! 

Visited Coral Bay, a beautiful beach resort but the caravan
park was expensive and noisy.

The next day took me to the very flat and uninteresting
countryside of Exmouth, which is thankfully surrounded on 2
sides by the Gulf of Exmouth and the Indian Ocean.  On
the ocean side is the CapeRangeNational Park and the Ningaloo
Reef.  Yesterday I took a bus to Turquoise bay and hired
a snorkel, mask & flippers and visited the underwater
wonderland.  I saw a variety of colourful fish - 
some big, some small and some which frightened the living
daylights out of me!  I saw a turtle, a manta ray and a
bloody great big leopard shark – indeed I spent far more time
swimming than I realised and a great day was topped off by
sunburn on my back.

Another rest day today and then tomorrow I am heading back to
the highway and on to Karratha, which I hope to reach by next
weekend.  Should have more news by then…

Which countries are represented by these flags? For the
answers, see at the end of the eNews.

1	2	3	4	5

Discuss this article and give feedback in our online forum

When Tanganyika – as it was then – gained its independence it
was praised for the devotion and priority it gave to
education. Its then president, Julius Nyerere was known as
Mlimu (teacher) and 40% of GDP was devoted to
teaching. Things have changed with the passing of years and
now Tanzania spends the least of all sub-Saharan countries on
primary education.

The provision of all levels of education is woeful and
unfortunately wealth and geography all too often act as a
barrier. The standards of teaching are on the whole terrible
as the teachers are poorly educated, trained and motivated as
a result of extremely low salaries. This is exacerbated by a
lack of teaching resources, textbooks and classrooms,
laboratories and other facilities. For example only one
school in Mikindani has an adequate, year round water supply.
As a result of all of this the levels of education achieved
are very low.

Mikindani as a political entity is made up of five ‘wards’
each of which has its own primary school. These are in theory
free but actually are not. The nearest secondary schools are
in Mtwara city, one of which is a fee paying state
school  and there are also several private schools with
higher fees and lower entry requirements. The catchment areas
for theses schools are huge and the number of places
available are very few in relation to the number of potential
pupils. As a result of these factors and poverty not all
children go to primary school and very few go to secondary
school or beyond.

To try and rectify this there are three separate charities
working in Mikindani and co-operating under the umbrella of
the Mikindani Education Group (MEG). These are the Danish
Schools Project (DSP), EdUKaid and Trade Aid – partly via its
Gender Equality Project (GEP). Trade Aid has always supported
the three main primary schools in Mikindani by volunteers
teaching, the tree nursery and other projects.

Beyond this MEG is responsible for the sponsorship of
individual pupils and supporting the schools directly.
Primary school sponsors are asked to pay to provide essential
items for pupils to go to school as well as providing
building funds, resources etc for the schools. DSP have
sponsored pupils and the primary schools of Mnaida, Singino
and Mchuchu for several years. EdUKaid have just started
supporting the outlying wards of Lwelu and Mitengo and their
respective primary schools.

The cost of sending a child to secondary school is relatively
high and so the three MEG members are also addressing this by
paying for fees, desks, uniforms, transport, books etc. All
have come from different viewpoints but the result is that
all graduates from the Mikindani schools are guaranteed a
place at secondary school. EdUKaid are responsible for all
pupils from Lwelu and Mitengo, Trade Aid’s GEP deals with all
female graduates from the three Mikindani schools whilst DSP
deals with all the boys from there. Confusing with so many
acronyms but it works fine on the ground under the
stewardship of Mr Namadengwa, a teacher from Mikindani who
acts as liaison and general worker for the MEG members.

We are still a long way from our respective aims but the
benefits are already being felt and the gratitude of the
pupils reflects this. If you would like any more information
or are interested in sponsorship please contact us at the
following:

• DSP: Aase Joensen via www.mikindani.dk
• EdUKaid: me via tim.dench@edukaid.com
• GEP: Matt Maddocks via tradeaid@netcomuk.co.uk

Country Statistics

Source: www.nationmaster.com

Discuss this article and give feedback in our online forum

Sally left the UK around two years ago to start a new life in
Portugal.  She lives in a suburb of Lisbon, close to the
sea and is now a TEFL teacher, teaching English to Portuguese
children and adults.  So, if you are interested in a
career in teaching English as a foreign language, here is an
account of some of her work.

My children are still the same except one has now gone up a
class so I am left with three – to be honest if I could shed
this class I would, as it is not as enjoyable as teaching
grown ups due to the fact that Portuguese children are not
taught to read or write before the age of six – so, in a way
I baby sit them twice a week.  We are making slow
progress as Jorge (the four year old) tends to be disruptive
when he is with one of the girls but fine with the other
one!  I had to send him out of class to sit with the
receptionist one week because he was so naughty.

Nuno, my other student, is still great fun.  His English
has come on in leaps and bounds and he now proudly displays a
sign in the front of the taxi he drives on Sundays in Lisbon,
to say he speaks English.  He loves it when he gets an
English passenger – he had one from Birmingham last Sunday so
he had great fun chatting to him.  He is a Sporting
Lisbon fan and very knowledgeable about them.  He is
also very interesting and told me all about his upbringing in
Cacem.  Cacem is not a very pretty place – mainly high
rise flats and a lot of black people (I am not being
politically incorrect – this is what they are called
here).  He remembers it before all of this and is quite
upset about the way it has become.  He lives in what was
his parents’ flat (they died a few years ago) with his
wife.  He went to university in Lisbon and did what all
students did, i.e. drink and behave badly but still managed
to pass his exams.  He is a strong family man and found
Christmas quite trying and he still misses his parents and
says although Christmas was at his aunts, it was not the
same.  He is also very interesting about his childhood,
playing in the cul-de-sac with his friends but says that he
has lost quite a few to drink or drugs which has made him
sad.  He is about 29/30 and still out of work although
he has had loads of interviews – very like the UK, half the
time he never gets a reply to either application or a reason
for not getting a position.

I have also got two/three other students.  One, Senor
Manuel, is a Graphic Designer who is going on a cruise on 21
March so needs some English to get by on it.  He has
French and reckons he had no English but as usual he
understands quite a bit.  We are getting on quite well
and I think he will manage OK.  The other one/two is the
husband of the Ambassador for a Caribbean country, and his
daughter.  Both are lovely.  He has decided that he
has to get his English sorted because his best friends over
here are the UK Ambassador and the US Ambassador.  He is
making swift progress.  His daughter just needs help
with the reading and writing.  I teach the pair of them
for two hours on a Saturday morning.

My Portuguese is coming along and I find that watching the TV
helps.  Television is still dire but I am now slowly
watching bits and pieces of Portuguese TV.  I got hooked
on their version of Who wants to be a Millionaire – very
entertaining as the presenter often gives them a clue! 
I have been trying one of their telenovelas (soap operas) but
it was so atrocious (think the UK’s Crossroads but worse
acting and wobbly scenery) that I had to turn it off.  I
am also getting much better at understanding the news. 
Last week there was a wonderful piece on at lunchtime about a
group of OAPS who had raided a disco in Abrantes (Pego Power
Station) dressed up in glitter wigs, men dressed in drag etc
etc to protest that dancing was for all ages and not just the
young!  Some of the old men had grabbed very young,
nubile young ladies and were swinging them round the dance
floor much to their horror.  Good on ’em I say. 
Great footage too of all the snow that has hit the north of
the country and brought parts of it to a standstill. 
Lorries trapped at the Spanish border, people stuck in cars
for seven hours etc etc.

If you would like to ask Sally any questions about living in
Portugal or teaching English as a foreign language, Sally can
be contacted on: pethybs@hotmail.com

Discuss this article and give feedback in our online forum

Over the last few years it has become increasingly obvious
that travellers (from all backgrounds, ages and levels of
intelligence) come under two main divisions, those who are
organised and those who are not.

The former group are well versed in what they need to take
with them to keep alert, safe and healthy, whilst the latter
group always leave you feeling rather edgy, concerned, and
often uttering those immortal words: 'I don’t believe it
!'

The teenager who is about to depart for several weeks to the
Amazon with her partner and has just run out of her
Contraceptive Pill, the man who is leaving the next day for
Kenya who had no idea he would need antimalarials for that
destination, or even worse the person who 'never'
gets bitten by bugs so wont waste money on pills that will
only put him off his beer!

The list of the great unprepared is too vast to attempt.
UNPREPARED is described in the dictionary as: Having made few
or no preparations; Not equipped to meet a contingency; Not
steeled as to face a shock and there will be plenty of shocks
for those who do not seek out the wealth of advice available.

The Governments FCO site (www.fco.gov.uk)
will give you superb guidance on those who can supply Travel
Insurance, Embassies to contact if in difficulty, doctors
surgeries for those with medical problems, and security
information such as places to avoid and measures to take to
protect your belongings and cash.

There are lists of FCO partners who supply information on
vaccinations and antimalarials if appropriate to your
destination, local disease problems, equipment such as
medical packs, mosquito nets, useful travel medicines, and
very often a voice on the end of the phone should you wish to
discuss anything.

As part of Travelpharm we will offer our help and support
whenever possible as well as a range of the items just
listed.  If we cannot answer your question we will find
a man or woman who can.  Please don’t become one of the
great unprepared, there is simply no excuse ………..!

Paul, a pharmacist can be contacted on: info@travelpharm.com or
alternatively, take a look at their website: http://www.travelpharm.com

Discuss this article and give feedback in our online forum