A guide to your journey..
Tanzania Kilimanjaro WELCOME PACK
Welcome to Challenges Abroad Welcome to Challenges Abroad and your Summer Challenge of 2021. I am delighted to present your Welcome Pack for your trip next summer. Working with local and rural communities, Challenges Abroad relies on our volunteers like you to help sustain the ongoing work at the projects. The sustainability of local communities is a top priority for us and for our volunteers and we are proud of the fact that we are committed to meeting the UN goals for sustainable development, helping disadvantaged people around the world have a brighter future. This experience overseas would give you the opportunity to become a global citizen with the first hand understanding of the challenges of global development and how you can contribute towards solutions. This pack has information on your in-country programme as well as other integral components of your challenge in summer 2021. Please read through the pack carefully as it contains important information about flights, visas, travel insurance, DBS/PVG checks and your programme! Thank you for joining the challenge and I wish you all the very best with your fundraising! Best Wishes,
Prakriti Prakriti Malhotra Director Challenges Abroad
Supporting the . . .
Tanzania
Programme Overview You will take the most challenging 6 day hike, going off the beaten tourist track, and up the alternative Machame route. You start your trek at Machame Gate and the first section of the trail takes you through lush tropical forest where you will see exotic birds and monkeys. Climbing Kilimanjaro requires exceptional determination and is a huge personal challenge, made all the more rewarding when taken on as a group. The permanently snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest free standing mountain in the world. This is your opportunity to conquer Africa’s highest peak! Despite the influx of tourism to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania remains a very poor country where international volunteer projects can make a real difference. You will get to visit the projects where we work to see where your money has gone!
Cambodia Key Focus In Tanzania, we work with children and communities based in Arusha and the surrounding areas. These are mostly low-income families who have limited access to education, health services, and valuable life skills. The focus of our programmes are in school development initiatives that help us increase our impact through a variety of projects. This is where all your hard work in fundraising will help make a difference. Projects such as creating vegetable gardens so that the schools can eat off the land and sell produce. Supporting a football programme in order to keep children off the streets after school and teaching them about health, nutrition and exercise. Also improving school classrooms and play areas are just some of the fantastic programmes are volunteers have undertaken in the past year.
programme overview
Trek Itinerary: Our trek takes you to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro (5, 895 meters) via the Machame route, often described as one of the most scenic routes to the top. The six-day trek starts with gradual ascent through forest and tall grasslands through to wide views of the moorlands and finally to Uhuru peak on day 5 before descending back to return to return to the town of Moshi in time for a celebratory dinner on day 6 evening. Your schedule for the trip and trek will be as follows: Day 1: Depart from UK Day 2: Arrive in Moshi. After settling into your hotel, you will receive your incountry induction, health and safety briefing and pre-climb briefing along with a chance to hire any equipment needed. Day 3: Today you start climb at Machame Gate to the first camp (5-7 hours) Day 4: Trek through grassy moorland to Shira camp (5-7 hours) Day 5: Crossing across Scree slopes and a river valley to Baranco camp (6-8 hours) Day 6: Enter the Alpine zone and climb up Baranco wall to Barafu camp (7-8 hours) Day 7: The hardest climbing starts at midnight for the summit Stella Point, so you can see the sunrise Then the descent to Mweka camp (13-15 hours) Day 8: Continue the decent back to Moshi for your celebration meal Day 9: Relax Day 10: Visit Project in Arusha and a chance to visit the Masai Market to buy souvenirs Day 11: Free day Day 12: Depart for UK or onward travel
IN Country Information Accommodation Your accommodation will be in a local hotel/hostel before and after your climb that we use for our volunteer groups, you will have everything you need for a simple but comfortable stay. You will be in shared rooms with shared bathrooms. Sheets, pillows and pillowcases are all provided for you. Please bring your own towel. After your trek you will travel to Arusha and stay at our volunteer house for two nights while you visit our projects and explore Arusha.
Food Breakfast: A typical breakfast on Kilimanjaro will be eggs/porridge/bread with various spreads and fruit. Hot drinks such as coffee, tea and chocolate will be served and usually with powdered milk. Lunch: Prepared at breakfast and carried in your day pack. The packed lunch often consists of a boiled egg, some sandwiches and fruit. Tea will be prepared in a flask and carried by your guide/porter. Afternoon tea: Is served with snacks such as biscuits, peanuts and popcorn. Dinner: Usually begins with soup. The main course includes chicken or meat, a vegetable sauce, some vegetables/ rice or pasta. If your porters have brought up some potatoes, these will usually be eaten on the first night as they are so heavy!
Contacts and Thailand Visa Support
Throughout every stage of your Challenges Abroad journey there are members of staff available to support you. Different people will be able to answer the different questions that you may have. Your Challenge Leader and SEM can act as your first point of call for most issues, but there is also in-office support who are there to deal with more specific queries.
First point of contact Contact your SEM first for queries about your programme, vaccinations, fundraising advice and any other little queries you may have: Lizzie George: Lizzie@challengesabroad.co.uk Your SEM then may direct you to the In-office support team who can deal with more specific, bigger queries: Support@challengesabroad.co.uk - 01635 285666 for queries about flights, visas, and medical/allergy/dietary requirements, extension trips, DBS/PVG, general programme information and any changes to your personal information. Support@futuresensefoundation.org - 01635 285669 for queries about your fundraising, if you’re struggling with fundraising events, donations, VMG pages and extra merchandise. Out of hours emergency: +44 (0) 7741311855
What to do next Flights Regarding your trip dates, arrival / departure times etc. then please contact support@challengesabroad.co.uk or call the office on 01635 285666. Â For your trip to you must make sure that you arrive into Kilimanjaro Airport on the Saturday by 2 pm. When departing your programme, please ensure your flight is after 12 pm.Â
Insurance We require for every participant to have travel insurance and as each participant has different circumstances we let individuals sort their own. Please do ensure that you are with a reputable provider. If you need any further help on this then you can always contact us at support@challengesabroad.co.uk. Once you have received your insurance policy then we request that the following details are sent to us; What Insurance company, your policy number, and the emergency medical assistance number.
What to do next Vaccinations We recommend that you visit your GP and tell them the country you are travelling to and the areas you will be situated in so that they can give you suitable medical advice. Please refer to the following link: https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/home  For more information on vaccinations for travel visit: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/travel-vaccinations/
Fit to Travel For anyone that has a severe allergy, or medical condition then we must require a fit to travel form from your GP. Most surgeries have their own format for paperwork, but in case they ask you to supply your own, let us know and we can provide you with this. You should receive it in an email from the Support team anyway.
ThailandVISA Visa Tanzania
All nationalities will require a visa. For more information please go to https://www.gov.uk/foreign-traveladvice/tanzania/entry-requirements. If you are asked for the address of where you are staying in-country, please use the following address:
Where does my Thailand Visa money go? Clarity is extremely important when you are fundraising, both for you the participant and those that donate money. As such, the information below details how your fundraising total is used by Challenges Abroad and The FutureSense Foundation. Each participant is required to raise £2,350 towards their trip. This amount is split between the costs of your actual trip and fundraising to support the charity as follows:
Programme Costs - £1,350 We believe that our programme costs are extremely competitive compared with any other similar programme. Within these costs we cover the expenses for your: Pick ups and drops at every point Accommodation in country Treks All other transfers in country Meals during project time 24/7 support from in country and UK Teams Planning and delivery of your entire programme
Fundraising - £1,000 The fundraising contribution goes towards supporting the work of The FutureSense Foundation and the programmes that we run for disadvantaged communities worldwide. The charity prides itself on keeping its overheads low, with the aim of ensuring that 90% of income being spent on overseas programmes rather than on administrative costs.
The FutureSense Foundation The FutureSense Foundation work to support over 8000 beneficiaries across Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, Tanzania and Peru. Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, our programmes focus on improving education, livelihoods, and health in some of the most disadvantaged communities overseas. To give you an example, 617 million children in education are not learning. We inspire children in our partner schools to aspire and achieve, so they are able to progress with their education and improve their livelihoods. As a grass roots organisation, we are committed to keeping our cost per beneficiary low, ensuring that every penny makes a difference and ensuring your fundraising money will go further in supporting our ongoing projects. We are 100% dedicated to sustainable and ethical volunteering which is why our volunteers are at the heart of what we do. This is where you come in. Our volunteers play a fundamental role in supporting our in-country teams delivering our long-term programmes in our partner schools and communities. To find out more, please visit www.futuresensefoundation.org.
How your money can help
£10 per month
£50 per month
provides a child in Cambodia with supplementary Education, books and a medical check-up.
enables us to provide children at school with clean drinking water.
£250 donation
£1000 donation
enables us to build a hand washing station at a school in a rural community.
provides running water for children at a school by installing a rain water harvesting system.
Thailand Visa WHAT TO eXPECT To fully prepare for your programme, you can expect to hear from us at various points throughout the year, providing you with further information about your programme, as well as requesting further documentation from you. Below we have outlined what you can further expect over the course of the year. Key:
Challenges Abroad Contact
What you can expect from us Receive welcome pack and invitation to join Facebook group from Challenges Abroad
FutureSense Foundation Contact
What we expect from you Join facebook group Create and Personalise VMG Page
Receive welcome email from the FutureSense Foundation Receive T-shirt within 14 days of registering Fortnightly email with hub updates and fundraising Ideas Receive monthly emails from CA Support Pre-departure briefing 8 weeks prior to departure
Attend team meetings and socials Hit monthly fundraising deadlines Complete DBS check 5 months prior to departure Send Flight and Insurance Information 5 months prior to departure Motivated Volunteer!
An Incredible experience! To stay connected with your team, your Challenge Leader will organise various socials and events throughout the year so please do try to go along to meet your team! The Futuresense Foundation will also be in touch regularly to chat to you about your fundraising. We will also hold fundraising workshops and team meetings. Please keep in touch and reply to any emails within the time frame requested to ensure a smooth journey with Challenges Abroad! We look forward to having you on our programme!!