A Dream Starts Here

I have always dreamed of driving across Africa, ever since I had my first four-wheel drive at the age of just fourteen. Africa has an allure unique to itself, be it the cultures, the colours, the languages, the wildlife; it is something so profound, yet so inescapable, yet so difficult to describe.

They say Africa gets in your blood. They say that once you step into Africa, it’s a place that one can never depart from. I have some experience of this.

I first visited Africa, or more specifically, Kenya, at the tender age of nineteen. Back in 2013, I helped to build an orphanage for the organisation that gave our adventure its name, Shoulder to Shoulder International. Shoulder to Shoulder International is a non-governmental organisation helping to support street boys in the Mombasa area, as well as providing education for those who otherwise cannot afford an education in the Port Reitz area.

I did many things back in the day with Shoulder to Shoulder International, from laying foundations to brick laying, from plastering walls to helping share my experiences of the developed world to local children. A huge amount of information can be found here (https://staffskenyaproject.wordpress.com/ ) from articles I wrote all the way back then.

So what is our trip about?

In January 2020 we will be travelling over three-thousand seven-hundred miles in eight weeks across Africa from Walvis Bay, Namibia to Mombasa, Kenya using a 1980 Series III Land Rover, which will be supported by a 2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE. The aim of the trip is to raise funds to support the Onesimus Good News Boys Centre in Kikambala, near Mombasa, Kenya, which was built by Scouts from across Staffordshire between 2013 and 2016. The Centre is for street boys, and provides care and education for twenty-five to thirty boys, regardless of religion, ethnicity or background.

So what do we aim to achieve by this?

We have two key objectives:

1. We aim to raise the profile of Shoulder to Shoulder International in the global community. We plan to achieve this by driving across the breadth of the African continent, through promotion in local news outlets and on social media.
2. We plan to raise as much money as possible on behalf of Shoulder to Shoulder International, through direct financial donations via our Just Giving link (https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/s2soverland-3) and via association with Shoulder to Shoulder International.

We are indebted to your help, and through the assistance of our sponsors and supporters, from lubricants to camping equipment. Quite simply, every penny raised goes directly to Shoulder to Shoulder International, and for that we are most proud.

Thank you