A Proven Track Record

The primary goals of the T2T expedition are to 1) expose people to information that will make them #SeeAfricaDifferently 2) make a sustainable difference by planting 45 school food gardens along the way and 3) explore and offer alternative measure of poverty.                               

Food security was what we chose to focus on in terms of making a difference because we believe that all other efforts relating to education, health care, economic development and even democracy are futile without this. Inadequate nutrition is linked to delayed brain development, an impaired ability to learn and a lack of academic achievement. Attaching a means of addressing this issue in a long-term and sustainable way to institutions of education thus seemed a logical link. Achieving a successful and sustainable garden is not as easy as simply arriving one day, planting some seeds and leaving...we know because we've done it before.

In 2005 the T2T team became involved with the Nkanyezi Stimulation Centre for children with multiple disabilities in Soweto (South Africa). The centre's major issue was a lack of funding and this affected everything from the crafts that could be done, state of the buildings, adaptive equipment available and even quality and quantity of  food served. We started where we could with what we had available which was land, a few seedling donors and some willing hands. After consultation with the staff, parents & volunteers we established which space would be best to use (so as not to impact on any of the centre's other activities  as well as what sorts of fruit and vegetables would be most desirable. We then spent some time doing a bit of research and speaking to a few experts to establish which of these would grow in the environment we were in. Once this list was created we took a Saturday to clear the ground, a Saturday to prepare the ground and another Saturday to plant the seedlings. These pics are from the seedling planting day in 2005:

Once the garden was planted the easy bit was done! Now that seedlings were in the ground we needed to set up a network of volunteers, a task list and then match the volunteers to the task list. We then had to add timelines so everyone knew when they had to do what and here's where the secret ingredient was added: love. The group of dedicated volunteers - young, old and from all walks of life -  tend to the garden daily, water it and carefully watch for any changes before then educating themselves on what these could mean and how to best deal with them.

Fast-forward to 2013 and the garden has flourished! It is now 4 times the size of the one first created in 2005, has a Green House (kindly donated by the City of Johannesburg) and creates enough produce to provide food to the centre on a daily basis . The garden yields peas, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, pumpkins, lettuce, beetroot, spinach, potatoes to name a few!

So why am I telling you this? In October this year we will be heading off from the southernmost to northernmost points of the African continent and as we pass through the 24 countries en route, create 45 more gardens like this. To this end we are currently crowdfunding for seedlings, hosepipes and organic fertilizer on Africa's very first crowdfunding platform Thundafund (www.thundafund.com/t2tafrica). Since we're asking strangers to back our venture we thought it only fair to provide a little more background to prove our credentials. If you would like anymore information or even to visit the first garden featured give us a shout! We'd love to hear from you

By Tracy Angus-Hammond (@T2T_Trace)

Crowdfunding

Let’s start with a definition: the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.

What started out as a 17^th century Subscription business model has now taken the fund-raising world by storm. In the current economic climate the more traditional funding sources are tightening up and potential investors drying out. This age-old model combined with the internet has revolutionized the way in which people attempt to realise their dreams. Crowdfunding creates a platform where the public has the power to decide which ideas will come to life without the fiery hoops of traditional funding models. People can help fund ideas and projects that they believe in whether it be it to make a movie, start a business, save an endangered sturgeon, or in our case drive across 24 countries in Africa planting school food gardens along the way (45 gardens in total).

 

Crowdfunding success stories are countless for example Matthew Inman's $1.4m people-powered crowdfunding campaign to build a Tesla museum convinced the New York state government of public interest in the project to the tune of $850,000 in matching government funds. As we speak James Franco is using crowdfunding to raise money for his next movie. Hopefully the Tsitsikamma to Tatouine Expedition will be one of these success stories.

  

Their now exists over 450 different crowdfunding platforms. With choice aplenty, it was important for us to find a platform that speaks to our philosophy and shares our beliefs. We then heard about the launch of Africa’s very first crowd-funding platform and knew we’d found our people! As such our Tsitsikamma to Tataouine Campaign has chosen the Thundafund (www. thundafund.com) platform as our crowdfunding home. It is an online crowdfunding cafe for creative and innovative projects that will have a strong, positive social and economic impact – “Together; we can make great things happen”. 

Through their support we aim to raise R225 000 to plant 45 school food gardens, across 24 countries in 165 days. Each milestone that we reach will allow us to better equip each school with the range of seeds, tools and fertilizer that they will need to make this venture truly sustainable.

Check out our campaign where for as little as R50 (or as much as R5000), you can be apart of this incredible journey: 

www.thundafund.com/t2tafrica

By Ishtar Lakhani (T2T_Ishtar)

(Images courtesy of http://thechrisvossshow.com/how-crowdfunding-works-infographic/)

Our new route – out of the CAR, into the Congo!

Those of you who have been following our expedition for a while might have noticed that the planned route has been taking us from South Sudan, through the Central African Republic (CAR) to Cameroon.  But in recent months there has been a coup d’etat in the CAR, and a detachment of South African soldiers was involved in a fierce gun battle with rebels as the former president fled the country.  As South Africans, the team members have now found it very difficult to get visas for the CAR, which when added to the lawlessness and instability the country is now experiencing would make it almost impossible to pass through.

So where does that leave us?  In the old days of African overland expeditions there were not many options for getting across central Africa.  One route went northwards and through Chad, northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria, but that route is also not advisable for us for security reasons.  So the only real option remaining to us is to go through the Democratic Republic of Congo.

From Juba we’ll head southwest to Yei (Yay!) before crossing over into the DRC, where the first stop is Garamba National Park, now running again after many years of war.  Then we head south to the Ituri forest and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, which is back up to full strength after a rebel attack last year.  The chance to see one of these incredible animals in their natural habitat is a fantastic fringe benefit of what is going to be a very tough route.

(Photo courtesy Chicago Zoological Society)

From Ituri we make haste for Kisangani, the great inland port on the mighty Congo river.  Our plan is to put the vehicle on a barge heading downriver, before spending at least two weeks on what is essentially a floating town drifting slowly down a river that is a mile deep in places.  The trip has been described as life changing, rather than pleasant, but we can’t wait!  Our destination is Brazzaville, where we rest briefly before heading towards the Congo Republic’s second city, Dolisie.  Running parallel to the coast we head up through Gabon and into Cameroon, where we rejoin our original route.

This route is about 7,000km longer than the other one, and it will take us a bit longer, but most of that extra distance will be spent on the river.  It adds two extra countries to our total, as you might have noticed on our social media profiles and website.  The chance to see the Congo river in so much of its raw glory is something that makes us feel privileged, if slightly nervous!  There is so much to see and experience in the Congos and Gabon, look out for Tracy’s Travelers’ Tuesday infographic tomorrow!

By Matthew Angus-Hammond (@T2T_Matt)

What does $1.25 a day mean to you?

Living under $1.25, isn’t that the definition of poverty? Yes, according to the World Bank this is the definition of ‘extreme poverty’ with under $2 a day being defined as ‘moderate poverty’. This is a definition that is held by the majority of states, private, educational and civil institutions around the world. This statistic informs global policies (such as the Millennium Development Goals), national priorities all the way down to civil society interventions. But what does this statistic actually mean?

Percentage of population living on less than $1.25 per day, 2009

Using the purchasing power parity can only take us so far. The poverty line of an individual shifts depending on the country, area, cost of living, their family circumstance, cultural practices and access to social capital. For example survival in rural South Africa cannot be equated to survival in urban South Africa. Also, this statistic hinges on the idea of monetary income as the universal indicator of wealth and subsequent well being, this is not always the case.
I spent a year living in India, surviving on what would be defined as ‘moderate poverty’. This was extremely challenging in the city, having to negotiate transport, ration water, hustle the cheapest food (note the cheapest, not necessarily the most nutritious or balanced) and overhauling completely what I thought to be my priorities (little did I know that I could in fact survive without cheese). However, I also spent time in a rural village where I did not spend a cent in a week. I lived in a communal family dwelling, spent the day working in the rice paddies which earned me a meal from greens harvested in the community garden. The river was used for water, washing and ablutions (I recommend you research the uses of neem, it will change your life), dried cow dung for fire and the local drunk uncle was the entertainment. Needless to say if I had $1.25, I wouldn’t have known what to spend it on. 
Choosing a definition for poverty is tricky. Is poverty an absolute or relative condition? What is a decent standard of living? Is income the most important factor to take into account? How is it that individuals, families and communities ‘make a plan’? These are some of the questions we are hoping to explore and make real for ourselves by living on $1.25 a day in various major cities in Africa. How do we construct a definition that can speak to the reality experienced by millions?  

                                                                  Urban Ahmedabad

Rural Panchgani

By Ishtar Lakhani (@T2T_Ishtar)

Where it all began...

Remember when you were young?  I do.  I remember a time of dreams and expectations, and above all, a time of promises to myself to live a life less ordinary.  To achieve something truly exceptional before its all over.  One moment that has remained lodged in my memory was from a cold winter night in Grahamstown in the nineties, when I was a brash young first year student at Rhodes University.  I was having coffee with one of my residence mates, it was about 2am and we had been talking shit for several hours.  It was then that I noticed, for the first time, that my friend had a large map of Africa on his wall.  I had seen maps of Africa before, but this one was different.  In addition to the usual basic national borders this map featured a level of detail that I had never seen before.  This map had roads, and these roads led directly from places I knew all the way to places I had only read about and even to places I had always thought were fictional, like Timbuktu.

I was hooked.  I returned to that map many times that year, following the thin, winding tendrils of road from the Johannesburg I knew to places that became the growth points of my dreams.  Places like Ouagadougou.  Tambacounda.  Bangui.  Morogoro.  Tataouine.  Yes, Tataouine – where Luke Skywalker grew up.  But more on that later.  I resolved during those bold, dreamtime days that I would venture up those winding roads, explore those mysterious places for myself and live the exceptional life I had been craving for so long.

Rhodes was a great university for honing my newfound interest in the glorious continent to the north, as it was a popular choice for students from places like Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.  I got to know many of them and never tired of asking them about the places they came from.  In time I started going to visit, and I’ve been discovering Africa ever since.  By 2006 I was engaged to an irresistible force of nature named Tracy Hammond, and we were looking for wedding venues in Malawi and Mozambique by driving there in our Honda Jazz.  It turned into an epic three week adventure that I will write about next week.

By Matthew Angus-Hammond (@T2T_Matt)

African Events & Festivals

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By Tracy Angus -Hammond (@T2T_Trace)

5 Things to do in Nairobi, Kenya

From 2008 to the end of 2009 Matt & I lived in Ngong just outside of Nairobi, Kenya. On our very first weekend in Nairobi we excitedly got out our guidebooks to find our very first adventure in our new city. We were a bit baffled to find that all of the various brands of guidebooks not only had very little information on the city but in fact were rather disparaging of it! One said, and I’m paraphrasing here, that there is no point visiting Nairobi other than as a stop off point to get somewhere else in Kenya, but if you do get stuck there’s nothing to do so go to the mall and watch a movie! Having spent as much time as we did in Nairobi I can say with absolute confidence that this is complete nonsense – the city is packed with all sorts of historical, cultural and wildlife experiences. Here are my favourite 5:  

1) Kitengela Glass

It's a long and rather rough road to get to this magical wonderland but worth every second of the trip! You know you're getting close when strange but beautiful statues made of glass, metal, wire, tyres and more start appearing in the landscape. The first thing that makes the trip worth while are the spectacular views of the Nairobi skyline en route and then you arrive in a make believe surreal world ideally set in the Kenyan bush...

Here you can wonder around the property filled with quaint, straight out of a story book sort buildings -  some filled with shops, other workrooms and even some accommodation; visit the actual hot glass workshop as well as get some fabulous deals at the factory shop. For more visit Kitengela's website or follow them on Facebook.

2) Tradestar Exim Agencies

Not only an amazing empowerment project completely locally run but also the place that offers the best variety and quality sisal woven handbags in the entire city. Located on Mbono road, parallel to Thika road near Muthaiga, it can be a little tricky to find but the weaving women usually sitting outside working in the sun should help. The best part of supporting this initiative is that you can pick your own handles, style, colours etc. for your bag and have it made while you wait! You will also find beaded belts, sisal & beaded wine holders, beaded necklaces, sisal place mats among many other unique gems not available in the local markets. Contact Charles at tradexim4@yahoo.com for more.

3) Olorgesailie Pre-Historic Site

A 90 minute drive from Nairobi straight down to the bottom of the Rift Valley is this prehistoric site with fossil findings still in their original spots, excavations in progress open for viewing and wide, open, quiet spaces in one of Kenya's most unique landscapes.  Located on Magadi road, Olorgesailie has excellently preserved biological and cultural evidence about the evolution of man and human tools are the most prominent of all fossils found here. In fact it is currently on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites tentative list and so will soon be considered for full status.  It is very hot on the Rift Valley floor and there is no shop at the museum so be sure to take plenty of cold drinks and water. There are camping facilities available too, but again be sure to bring everything you may need with you. A great lunch stop 20 minutes away from Olorgesailie is Ribs Village, a local spot with the best Nyama Choma of any we tasted in Kenya! For more information visit the National Museums of Kenya website or the UNESCO site

4) David Sheldrick Rhino & Elephant Orphanage

This incredible centre on the outskirts of Nairobi looks after orphan elephants and rhinos, ensuring that they are able to be re-introduced into Kenya's national parks. Each elephant or rhino is assigned a keeper who stays with them for the duration of their stay at the centre. Their role is to hand rear their charges, even sleep next to them and most importantly accompany the orphans into the Nairobi National park each day, thus ensuring they spend as much time in their natural environment as possible. Once a day for only an hour the public are allowed to witness feeding time and get up close and personal with these sweet personality filled creatures. For more visit their website or follow the centre on Twitter

5) Giraffe Centre

A 15-20 minute drive from the David Sheldrick Rhino & Elephant Orphanage, here you can interact with, feed and even kiss a giraffe at eye level on raised platforms. This very special and rare experience is enhanced by excellently informed and multilingual staff always close at hand to teach you something or put nervous visitors at ease. The centre also has a great restaurant right next to the raised platforms, nature trails, accommodation, one of Nairobi's best priced and greatest variety gift stores and some very entertaining, very fat warthogs to boot! Best of all every cent of profits goes towards conservation and education so not only fun but sustainable & responsible tourism too! For more information visit their website or find them on Facebook. 

By Tracy Angus -Hammond (@T2T_Trace)