TUK TUK TRAVELS
Not long ago, at the Adventure Travel Show we bumped into these guys and boy were we impressed with what they were planning. Capturing the true meaning of adventure as well as rising money and awareness for a good a cause, we thought we’d let them explain what they’re up to.
The Challenge
In September 2012 we're setting out in an attempt to drive around the world in a tuk tuk, in doing so breaking the world record for the longest journey in an autorickshaw. The purpose of the trip is to raise as much money for charitable, educational development projects around the globe, & as much awareness about the Global Campaign for Education, as possible. This purpose is informing our route: we are driving through areas that are lacking education (in particular Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia & Latin America), we’re going to visit charitable projects set up to try & alleviate this problem, & (when we return) we’ll be talking at schools & universities throughout the UK & the US about the development issues we’ve encountered. Through the medium of blogs & video-blogs, our aim is to set up a form of interactive giving, whereby followers can donate to specific projects we visit on route. In reality, even our fundraising target of £1million will barely dent the surface of the extra US$16billion needed annually if the education Millennium Development Goal (to enroll every child in primary education by 2015) is to be realised though, which is why raising awareness is so important.
The Cause
Education, according to Nelson Mandela, is the great engine of personal development, it’s the greatest weapon with which you can fight poverty & change the world. Since the adoption of the MDGs in 2000, significant progress has been made, 40 million extra kids now have access to education; 68 million are still out of primary school however, many of them ‘at risk’ or ‘vulnerable’ groups: girls, children with disabilities, ethnic minority or indigenous groups, children affected by HIV/AIDS. Worryingly, with the current economic situation, this number is predicted to rise to 72 million by the target year of 2015. ActionAid is our major charity partner, though we will be supporting a number of smaller educational charities & NGOs on our way, helping to highlight the valuable work they are doing & raise all-important funds to further develop their projects & initiatives (100% of donations go straight to charity).
If you'd like to find out more then checkout the website www.tuktuktravels.com