Wanted to notify everyone that in 18 months I will be going on a life-changing experience trip to Swaziland as part of a World Challenge with my sixth form college.

To give you an idea of what I will be doing I will be in Africa for a couple of weeks with a group of people from my college and one other and working jointly on a community project. Different country, different continent, the harsh realties of a very different culture! I will be integrating with the community, especially the children; learning about their culture and them learning about mine! Whilst there, we will have to cook our own food and plan our own time; as well as graft our butts off to achieve a tangible project which will provide some help to the local people. We will be holding activities with the children there and will be completing practical work that will benefit them. We will also be trekking through one of Swaziland's many reserves and acclimatising to the Swaziland environment; eating local food and sleeping in places that will be far from what we are used to!

Between now and then, in order to enable me to complete this challenge, I will have to raise a significant amount of money (just short of £3, 000). This is the initial stage of the challenge! followed by cooking and living for ourselves on a budget, with no iphones, no luxuries and no cretaure comforts. ( mum....can you come too!!!!????!!!!!)

I am currently using a number of methods to raise the money such as babysitting and applying for temporary jobs left, right and centre! It's a case of what can be done should be done as along with my A levels!!!! This will not be easy but I am delighted to be doing what I am and believe it will be more than worthwhile!

Overall, I believe this will be a fantastic and hugely beneficial experience for me. I am really looking forward to it but as has already been mentioned, I will need to raise the funds required to go on such a marvellous trip. This is where you come in! I would be extremely grateful for any contribution whatsoever as every little bit would take me one step closer to Swaziland! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask myself (or my Mother!)

Thanks for reading

Dan