What we put back is as
important as what we take away
EXTREME EXPEDITION CHARITIES
At Extreme Expedition, our goal is to give our clients an unforgettable journey of a lifetime.
But perhaps more importantly, when you take back your priceless memories, mementoes and photographs, we want you to be content and rewarded with the knowledge that you left behind more than you took away.
Our business is committed to supporting the local communities by employing local people and using local suppliers for hotels, camps and provisions.This all adds to the authenticity of your safari, and the welcome and care Tanzania affords to its visitors is legendary.
The national symbol for Tanzania is not the lion, elephant
or rhinoceros but the giraffe. The giraffe symbolises quiet strength and humility, grace and gentleness and you will see this reflected in almost everyone you meet on your trip. Perhaps this is why Tanzania has not suffered the internal strife that has hit many of its neighbours. Sadly, this stability has not translated into economic prosperity, and many Tanzanians live below the World Bank poverty line, although this may gradually be changing.
We take so much out of Tanzania – so much excitement, astonishment and love for the people, animals and land – that it is only right that we put something back. To do this, as well as employing local people and suppliers, Extreme Expedition supports two key charitable organisations: the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and the Mdawi Orphans.
LOCAL CHARITIES
Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC)
In March 1971, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), located in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, was opened by the Good
Samaritan Foundation, which had planned the hospital and raised the large funds needed to build and equip it.
KCMC is now a referral hospital for over 15 million people in Northern Tanzania. It is a huge complex with up to 800 inpatients in 630 official beds. Clearly, 800 people cannot fit into 630 beds, so as you walk around the hospital wards it is a common enough sight to see two patients to a bed.
This includes the maternity wing, where you will often see two women, large from being about to give birth or just having done so, lying back to back as if they have just had a falling out – actually falling out, literally, is also quite likely.
The inpatients might not even be in wards, for in the same way that there are not enough beds for the patients, there are not enough wards for the beds, so invariably patients, two-up, lie parked along the corridors.
For many years, one of the founders of Extreme Expedition, Colin Dobbyne, has worked with the hospital to support the surgical team in the delivery of laparoscopic or ‘keyhole’ surgery via the establishment of a telementoring link that unites surgeons in Tanzania with their counterparts in the UK.
Thanks to his work, the surgeons at the hospital are now able to carry out this surgery themselves, and KCMC is a growing centre of excellence for the whole of East Africa. Colin Dobbyne continues to support the hospital with new projects to improve the quality of healthcare in Tanzania.
The full story, ‘The Link – An Adventure in Africa from the Inside Out’
is available to buy
Colin Dobbyne continues to support the hospital with new
projects to improve the quality of healthcare in Tanzania.
Mdawi Orphanage
Despite amazing improvements with healthcare and education, Tanzania remains a country with a relatively low life expectancy. One of the main reasons for this is HIV, which has left millions of young children without mothers and fathers.
The Mdawi Ophanage was set up by Allen Lekey, a former driver at KCMC, who turned his coffee farm into a children’s home. A new foundation was created, the Mdawi Tanzania Assemblies of God Orphans Care, to act as infrastructure for the project.
Pastor Lekey, as he is now, has a simple philosophy – to provide the orphans under his care with a trade so they will be able to support themselves. He does this through a scheme of sponsorship - $50 for a primary school child and $100 for a child of secondary school age. Two hundred and fifty children are currently being supported in this way at the Mdawi Orphanage. Big
Extreme Expedition supports the orphanage with financial donations, and also bought the children a minivan, co-funded by the “Friends of Mdawi” from Cambridge, England.
Thank you to Sammy Gonsalves and Colin Dobbyne for the beautiful images used throughout our website.