Hello and welcome to the VSO PNG fundraising page!

You may have heard that we completed the the 3 Peaks Challenge a couple of weeks ago. The weather was miserable; rain, rain and more rain, plus 50 to 60 mph gusts of wind on the summits!!! Unfortunately, we were a little outside the 24 hour time, but we were one of a few teams to actually summit on all 3 peaks. But as a team of former VSO Papua New Guinea (PNG) volunteers and friends, we had great team spirit and this kept us going!

Now we're on a mission to hit our fundraising target. There's not far to go, so hopefully your generousity will help.

So what did the 3 Peaks involve? Well, climbing the highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales in 24 hours. It involved 3,407 metres of climbing, over 23 miles of walking and 400 miles of driving!

 Why would we want to contemplate this, I hear you ask. Well, having spent 2 years working in PNG for VSO, they're pretty close to our hearts. Alex and Hiran worked as doctors at the rural Koinambe Health Centre. They helped run a rural health post, carried  out HIV and AIDS awareness work, and trained their local colleagues. By sharing their medical skills they directly improved the lives of people in a remote region of theHighlands .

Piers, Pratish and Phil all worked as teachers. They shared their teaching skills to raise the standard of English, IT, Maths and Science in rural secondary schools. This supported the PNG government's expansion of secondary schools. Until 1997, PNG only had 4 secondary schools teaching the equivalent of 6th form. Thanks to VSO's support, there are now over 50.

Andrew worked with the Division of Education conducting research into teaching in poor and isolated rural communities, and how to improve the quality and relevance of education. Finally there's Paul. He's a social worker and VSO supporter and going to walk with us. 

So how will your money be used? Well, with the money we raise, VSO will be able to send hundreds more volunteers like us to share their skills and experience with people in developing countries. They could be anything from maths teachers, midwives and management advisors to surgeons, speech therapists and social workers (come on Paul!). For more information about VSO go to www.vso.org.uk. 

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Voluntary Service Overseas will receive your money faster and, if you are a taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you. If you can't do this then please send a cheque made payable to: The Lord Mayor's Appeal, c/o VSO, 317 Putney Bridge Road, London, SW15 2PN. Please write our team name on the back: VSO PNG.

So please sponsor us now! And for traditional PNG music, photos and other interesting stuff visit our MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/vsopng_3peaks

Many thanks for your support.

Piers, Phil, Pratish, Paul, Andrew, Alex and Hiran