Thanks for taking the time to visit the Nelson and Straughen JustGiving page.

Somehow, we are hoping to get through all 26 miles of the Paris marathon in early April. We’re raising money for a small inspirational rural development charity called the North West Zambia Development trust  www.nwzdt.org

Why support this charity?

There will always be natural disasters like the tsumani in 2004 and what has been recognized more in is that underlying poverty exponentially exaggerates the impact of such natural disasters on the local people. Unfortunately tackling poverty is a long term, complicated process that rarely attracts the news – until such natural disasters.

What we like about NWZDT is that it is one of those often small and little known charities that are committed for the long term to improving the lives of a particular society. The people behind NWZDT are all very much connected to the area – a mixture of Brits who have been in the area for generations, and local Zambian professionals who have escaped the cycle of poverty.

Their goals are in improving infrastructure, education, health and stimulation of small businesses and industry. The first barrier they tackled was a lack of energy – most of the trees are now cut down in what was a very beautiful place (the source of the is nearby), and the national grid is 300km away and will never reach it. It is often overlooked in countries who take electricity for granted how important it is – it is a fundamental building block in development. In 2004 work started on a hydro electric scheme and against all odds for a small charity with no track record or official funding, in 2007 the Zambian Minister for Energy, standing in for the President, opened the $2m, 700kw scheme which now serves a hospital, schools and about 150 families. It is seen as a model across sub-Saharan for community led development.

However there is a still a critical need for funds – the scheme runs at only 20% capacity and there are hundreds of families to be connected – the powerline goes past them but until it is in homes the benefits are only indirect. Apart from helping small business like welding shops and grain mills get going, one other main focus of the NWZDT now is to get a pineapple processing facility going in the area. Large numbers of pineapples are grown but the nearest town is 600km away on terrible roads – fresh produce will never efficiently get to a market. So the plan is to develop a dehydration and packaging plant to sell nationally – this will provide direct employment, but more importantly in an area with almost no formal employment, since anyone can grow pineapples, it allows anyone to get some guaranteed income.

So please support us! 

NWZDT only charges an affordable $100 to connect a family when it actually costs anywhere from between $300-500 depending on how far they live from the main lines.

Finally, NWZDT is run completely by volunteers who also cover expenses - so every penny donated goes directly to the projects in NW Zambia.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

IF YOU ARE A GS EMPLOYEE, PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO USE YOUR GS GIFT MATCHING ALLOWANCE! Go to https://www.easymatch.com/GS and follow the steps. IT TAKES TWO MINUTES. CHARITY DETAILS YOU NEED TO INPUT ARE:

Echoes_of_Service, 124 Wells Road, Bath, BA2 3AH
Charity Registration No 234556

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO IS KIND ENOUGH TO SUPPORT THIS WORTHWHILE CAUSE.