Sabre News
Reg Charity # 1105489
June 2011 issue seven
Akwaaba
Bus Run
Summer is finally here, bringing with it our annual bout of outdoor fundraising activities. From now through until August you can catch up with the Sabre UK team at a variety of events, each one geared towards helping us achieve our goals and raising our profile.
For three weeks from 3rd May, ten intrepid travelers drove overland through seven countries from Gibraltar to Ghana. Beth Warnock described the adventure as “a trip of a lifetime” and a longer account of their journey can be found on our blog.
The last few months have been something akin to the calm before the storm as we prepare for another busy summer of school expeditions to Ghana. These will see 225 kids and their expedition leaders visit the KEEA Municipality and get involved with projects in a host of rural communities. We have already had something of a pre-season start when Batuvia High School visited Ayensudo over Spring Break. There’s an excellent account by one of the US students of the trip on our blog that is well worth a read and shows the impact of what such a trip can have. We are also entering into our busy volunteering period as well and we look forward to welcoming everyone coming to help over the course of the summer. School is still in term until late July and afterwards we will once again be encouraging a summer school over the school holidays. Construction volunteers will be able to really see progress on the Ayensudo kindergarten build, as they help us to complete it by the Autumn.
Ghana Athletics Tour The Athletics Tour to Ghana was a huge success, with the two sets of young athletes forming a really tight knit group over their 14 days in Ghana. Under the watchful eyes of UK Coaches Nana and Joshua from Let’s Get Fit For Sports, and local coaches Mr Bonnie and Timo, the students were really put through their paces with a warm weather (warm for the UK athletes at least!) training camp that worked on core muscle groups and event specific techniques.
performances amongst the UK tourists. In addition to their training, the athletes worked on a long jump infrastructure project at Edinaman Senior High School, building a jump pit and run up track, which will leave a legacy for future aspiring athletes in the district. This tour would not have been possible without the financial support of Jamie Procter’s Foundation, and we would also like to extend our thanks to Alison Eastman and Storm Trentham who were instrumental in preparing and managing the tour, and everyone at Stumble Inn who looked after the athletes so brilliantly in Ghana.
The tour culminated in a competition day, where the athletes’ progress was clear for all to see, the majority of events were won by the Ghanaian For further information on athletes, but there were also some notable standout the tour see our blog.
Container April 5th saw our container packed full of educational resources arrive in Takoradi. After a long process of bureaucracy and managing to obtain tax exemptions from Customs and Excise, we were eventually allowed to offload it on 18th April. The resources are destined for a variety of local schools within the KEEA District over the coming weeks.
UK Diary June 12th - Marlow Town Regatta Dragon Boat Festival June 23rd - IPFA Quiz June 25th - Reigate Priory Community Festival July 2nd - Café Africa Charity of the Month launch July 22nd - Reach Cambridge Community Day