We are currently volunteering with Africa & Asia Venture as assistant teachers at Ilkidinga primary school, Tanzania,  and  have decided to climbKilimanjaro in 5 weeks time! We want to raise money for our school, so we need your help please! We're paying for the actual climb ourselves, so any money donated through ‘Just Giving’ will be spent on the school. 

We will be climbing with African Spoonbill tours, www.africanspoonbilltours.com, and are doing the 7 day Machame route, which involves 5 days climbing up, and 2 days climbing down. The penultimate day involves a good 13 hours walking, starting at midnight, as conditions are too cold to stay up the mountain for too long. It will be a struggle but we are all determined to reach the top! 

The school we are teaching at, and raising money for, is very basic. There are 1600 children and 22 teachers. Most classes are of 100 children and upwards! Classrooms are very dirty and cramped, desks have to be shared between 4 or 5 children, and one textbook usually has to be shared by 10 children. They have no equipment for sport, art or music, so there are no extra curricular activities when AV volunteers aren't here. The children we teach have very hard lives, some have to leave school to look after their sick relatives, and others walk for miles to get there, and they live in very poor conditions.  Education is the only way to make a better life for themselves, but with limited funds, the school can’t support the amount of children. Desks and textbooks are limited as the school can't afford them, therefore the education the children receive is somewhat limited. 

The money we raise will firstly be spent on desks as they are really desperate for those, then textbooks, sports equipment and paint for the classrooms. One classroom is missing part of a roof, so if enough money is raised we want to try and get that repaired! All the money we raise will be spent by us whilst we are here, so we can ensure it is spent in the best way possible to really benefit the children. 

Please give what you can, even if it's just a couple of pounds. Your money will go a long way here and can really help to change lives! 

If you are a UK taxpayer an extra 28% in tax (Gift Aid) will be added to your gift at no cost to you!

If you would prefer to donate by cheque then please make it out to "AV Foundation",  write ILKIDINGA PRIMARY on the back, and post to Africa & Asia Venture, 10 Market Place, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1HT.

Thank you for reading this and we are extremely grateful for any donations.

Anna, Celia and Jess