Cycle Across Wales (photos)

September 18th, 2007 by mas | Filed under Africa & Overseas, Courses & Events.

Heres a few pics from the cycle across Wales. We cycled roughly 150 miles taking a windy route from Chester to Anglesey. Along the way we stayed at campsites in Hendre (near Mold), Towyn, Penmaenmawr, Bangor and finally Red Wharf Bay.

The money we raise will be used to support the work YoMo are doing overseas - currently this is with the Grace Orphan & Disabled Care Group in Malawi.

The Grace Group support children and young people from 13 villages near to Zomba in the south of Malawi. When we visited them at the start of this year they were meeting on some log benches built outside of a mud hut (someone’s house). They had no facilities to meet or to safely store their equipment.

Since then they’ve acquired some land and secured the lease on it, made arrangements to have power and water supplied to the land and began to fence it off. The next stage is to build a meeting place along with some storage and a place for Ernest (who is managing the group) to live.

Our role with them is to provide support and where possible some ideas and inspiration to help develop programmes thaqt will enable the young people to become involved with the development of the group so that ultimately the project can be sustainable and the children, the group itself and the local community all benefit. Its very early days so there’s much to do and our relationship is very much a two way affair - we learn just as much as we give and are under no illusions that we’re somehow ’saving the Africans’. If the project is to be a success the majority of the effort and solutions will need to come from local people.

Later this year some of us will be traveling to Zomba again and plan to help the group look at potential ideas for developing business and development plans. The funding we raise will be used to help provide facilities for interest free loans for development schemes in addition to the small amounts required towards running a few activities with the members of the group and organsing a xmas party!

Congratulations to everyone that took part in the years cycle and especially to Becky for her efforts to organise it. More photos can be seen here.