114
? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ?
115
? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ?
patients with rhd abroad for life-saving heart valve surgery.
simply not compatible with the basic management of a sick
Huanglong is a coal-mining and industrial town: as we
experience. Macmillan is a great charity which provides an
uk. It
child in low-resource settings. We have recommended a
descended the water being thrown up by the bikes turned
enormous range of medical, nursing, financial and emotional
is an easily preventable disease. It is therefore a disease
simpler strategy for managing these children that might be
grey and then to black. By the time we wheeled wearily into
support to cancer sufferers and their families. Fundraising
that is intimately related to poverty and reflects the gross
applicable in low-resource settings throughout the world.
a bar in the centre of town every one of us was black from
and individual donations make up 98% of their funding,
ow Society and the Bevir
head to toe. The road we were to take out by bus to Xian to
and so such events are a crucial source of income to
Trust has been of great benefit in helping to understand and
see the Terracotta Army was blocked by trucks, and so we
support their good work. The total raised on the Shaanxi
treat this disease in the Third World.
had to squelch our way past the long line of waiting vehicles.
expedition was over £200,000. We are extremely grateful
No-one said a word on the four hour journey to Xian …
for the support of the Bevir fund in helping us to reach our
Rheumatic heart disease does not exist in the
divide between the health of populations in the West and
the Developing World. From our work we concluded, that
the current guidelines for the diagnosis of
rhd fever are
The support given by the
Overall, the trip was very rewarding and a fantastic
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?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [ ? ? ? ? ? – ? ? ? ? ] ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [ ? ? ? ? ? ? – ? ? ?? ]
A
t the end of September 2008, Jamie Hepburn and
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? [ ? ? ? ? ? – ? ? ?? ]
the heavily overcast weather that turned to rain on more
David Hepburn took part in a 7-day, 680 km cycle
fundraising target and making the expedition possible.
than one occasion.
ride through Shaanxi Province in north-central China
on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support.
They raised over
£6,400 for the charity.
As the weather deteriorated, the terrain became more
grueling and the nights a battle to keep out the rain. But in
these conditions the hot evening meal and the Great Wall
S
ince the beginning of last September I have been
day. Despite having relatively little material possessions
working for a Non-Governmental Organisation
in relation to the Western world, community members
(ngo) called the Sabre Charitable Trust based
made me feel extremely welcome the moment I set foot
Fifty-eight of us (aged 18–65) set off early from the
red wine and Tsingtao beer was usually enough to keep
in the central region of Ghana in West Africa. The Sabre
in the village, with a tiny old lady welcoming me, insisting
fortress at Yulin on the Great Wall on a bright and fresh
spirits up. The towns we passed though were a constant
Trust is a small charity working on a big issue; education.
on taking my huge bags and hoisting them onto her
morning. We had pitched our tents the night before beside
source of interest, both for us and the locals who came
With the help of the local education authorities, Sabre’s
head to carry them into the guesthouse. Everywhere I
the road, promptly causing traffic jams as the locals stopped
out in large numbers to watch and ask questions. David’s
primary objective is to make school
walk in Besease, people greet me,
to inspect the unlikely invasion of cyclists from the other side
Mandarin skills made these stops an entertaining break
a better place for Ghanaian chil-
asking me how I am.
of the world. Having assembled our bikes we headed for a
from the saddle. In one town, word of our arrival had
dren and encourage them to stay
even taught me a little of the local
local restaurant for our first Chinese banquet and spent the
preceded us, and David ended up giving an interview to the
longer in education. Sabre focuses
language, laughing hysterically when
evening drinking Tsingtao beer and chatting with the locals.
local tv station.
on four communities in the
keea
I say I am ‘abrou’; from a fighter’s
They have
The route took us out of the city and into scrub—the
On the fourth day we set up camp near a school. We
district. Established in 2004, Sabre
family !
southern edge of the Gobi desert—before winding down
were welcomed by four teachers who invited us on a tour
has since hosted 140 volunteers
without
into a broad, flat river valley, which we were to follow for
of their school (the pupils were all there on a Sunday at
working as teaching assistants and
‘Mr Will, how are you ?’
the next few days, passing through small villages where the
8.00 p.m.), and we had a chance to meet some of those
construction workers and funded
been invited to attend weddings,
local people lived on small-holdings, growing their own
studying English. They were all very polite, if somewhat
the building of a kindergarten and
funerals and community meetings
vegetables and rearing small numbers of livestock. Our
shy, until the first intrepid child asked for our autographs,
nursery school, a junior high school,
and have been officially accepted
guides went ahead each night to arrange our lodgings, and
after which we were swamped.
a school canteen, a playground, a
as a member of a well respected
local
I cannot walk anywhere
the
children
shouting
I have
we pitched our tents on land owned by these local farmers.
By day five we had begun to climb into the hills,
music room and three libraries.
They were usually quietly curious, and never less than
ascending 15 km stretches at a time. These days were
On my arrival in Ghana I was
and hospitality of the Ghanaian
welcoming and friendly.
the hardest and most physically challenging. Nevertheless,
initially assigned to work as a
people has simply amazed me.
On day three we left the river valley and passed
there was also a great spirit of camaraderie, and if ever
teaching assistant in the government
Besease government school,
through more industrialised areas (along a stretch of road
someone was struggling, it was never long before another
school of the village of Besease.
taken by Mao Zedong and his Red Army), which offered
rider stopped to provide support and a morale boost.
family.
The
friendliness
like all Ghanaian schools, is split into
The village of Besease is home to approximately
three components: kindergarten and nursery, primary
a fascinating glimpse of the contrasts of modern China:
The final day will remain etched in our memories. It was
2,000 people. Sitting snugly in the bush, it is a peaceful
school, and junior high school. This forms a total of 12
enormous state-run gas and petrochemical plants and coal-
especially cold, and raining hard when we set off, climbing
farming community, with rich green farmland in every
classes, and with approximately 800 children attending
mining operations were interspersed with small family-
13 km into the clouds, before descending steeply to begin
direction. Electricity arrived in Besease about four years
the school, it is not hard to imagine the huge class sizes
run industries, individual nodding donkeys, and small-scale
another climb of 12 km. As we went the rain got harder
ago, although few people can afford to pay the bills. Very
and cramped conditions. The two kindergarten classes
quarrying. The landscape was uniform, often dirty and
and, by the time we had made our second ascent and begun
few people are connected to mains water, and instead
cater for a total of 120 children, while the nursery can be
sometimes uninspiring—a feeling which was increased by
the long winding descent into Huanglong, it was torrential.
have to make their way to and from water pumps every
attended by up to 100. Evidently this does not enable the