Our association with Eagle’s Wings began five years ago when we heard about them through Jeff and Simone Younger and Simone’s parents Phil and Naomi Cavil.  In 2015 our daughter Elise, helped out with a fundraising dinner that was organized for Eagle’s Wings and well-supported by our local church, Naringal Baptist.  Elise was fortunate enough to meet Ba Wesley Mazenta, and became very passionate about the work Eagle’s Wings is doing in Zambia.

A couple of years ago, I started thinking about how I could challenge myself physically and mentally.  I wanted to achieve a goal, raise some money for a worthwhile cause and hopefully set a good example for my children.  Whilst not much of a cyclist, I had the idea that I could attempt a big bike ride for Eagle’s Wings, and set about training.

It's here!  Day 8. Most of us have lost count of which day it is throughout the week, but today we all know. Final day!  There's a sense of excitement but also some mixed feelings that our team will be going our separate ways. We've grown together as we work, ride, sleep and eat together in very close quarters. 

Both teams are on their way to Milford Sound. Team 20 left first this morning and Team 27 followed behind by an hour or so.  This way they will arrive at the end together.  Support crew have been organising tonight's dinner and we will soon be on our way also. I know there will be many photos of the final destination this afternoon.

"The strength of the team is each member.  The strength of each member is the team".  Phil Jackson.

Here we are in Te Anau.  The last three days we have had little or no internet, so apologies for no blog.  

The excitement of Day 3 began just before midnight on Day 2 when we were evacuated from the Youth Hostel due to a fire alarm. It was a great fashion parade of pyjamas, although most looked less than impressed. 

I decided in the morning that this would be the day I highlighted "A Day in the Life of the Ground Crew". There are many obvious tasks such as cooking, cleaning, hauling luggage, driving, filming...but there are many facets to these tasks.  Cooks have to work out the available cooking facilities to determine what they can physically cook and then search the local shops for possible options that fit the budget.  The media crew not only film but figure out interesting angles, take up various poses on banks, under bridges and in the middle of overpasses. Then they sit up till all hours of the editing.

There is an African proverb that says:  "if you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together."  Today was about distance .....the longest day of the ride...well we hope it is. Breakfast at 5.00 am and dinner at 9.00 pm  and a full day of riding in between.  Those riders who did the South Island three years ago were delighted to see the sun out as they travelled  through Arthur''s Pass. They got to see the views that were covered in mist last time. A highlight was the viaduct where we rode or drove under the huge pipe and waterfall. 

230 kms with approximately 1400 metres of climbing does not add up to a fast day, but it does add up to a day of "going together".  We watched in awe as Team 27 powered up the hills.  We watched in greater awe as those new to riding persevered and struggled as others encouraged them with a hand on their back...riding together.

Riders woke up this morning to drizzling rain and very cold conditions.  Nerves were on edge and excitement was evident. The navigators had practised their run out of Christchurch so the day started smoothly. There was quite a long, flat stretch of beautiful scenery which helped teams settle into a rhythm and calm nerves. 

Our support vehicle  caught up with Team 20 after their first decent climb. They were hungry and cold but pleased with their effort. It's amazing how quickly a team spirit develops, which spurs them on and encourages each member that they will complete the day. Team 20 are expected to average 20 kms per day.....which doesn't  happen without cooperation. 

Coming home:
We started the final day somewhere between Inglewood and Warwick. Kelvin did the daybreak shift and got us into Warwick - a novel experience coming across traffic lights, stop signs and roundabouts for the first time in a week! We had the rider change-over at the Roadhouse on the eastern side of Warwick - El was up for the range... that's the Great Diving Range... on a fixie!! She was great, climbing like a pro, then loving the descent.

Navigation was a bit interesting on the final day. Most of the way across the country, we haven't had too many options. Now, coming back into built-up areas, there are multiple options, all with their pros and cons - shorter distance, less hills, less traffic, wider shoulder, etc. It's a challenge (that we accepted) to make the 'right' call. In the end, it was Andy who stuck the following into Google Maps:
From: current location
To: Thornlands
Method: Bike

The 'night-shift' was 6 x 2 hr rotations shared between 3 riders. A few navigational points: Head East to Cobar, North to Bourke, East towards Walgett. Teamwork got them through.

Meanwhile the night-crew shot ahead to a camp spot about 40km east of Bourke (we're no longer in the Back of Bourke!!), to a campsite on the Bogan River. We were still experiencing strong wind gusts at midnight, so we ditched the gazebos and just slept on stretchers under the stars - absolutely magic! We awoke to the message that the riders had gone past, so after a few photos of the sunrise (who knew that the Bogan River could be so pretty?), we were packed up and chasing the riders down.

After a restful night, Reid took the first shift out of Broken Hill this morning, it was still pretty windy, with gusts up to 50km/h. He didn't stop for food or a drink refill, just punched out 100km in 3 hours (technical average of 33.6km/h).

Dan, Andy, Kelvin and I chased him out of town, looking for a quick morning coffee en-route. We saw a Hungry Jacks drive through at the edge of town - quick, turn in. We rolled through in a bit of a rush...
Nat: "quick guys, what's your order?"
Um, ah, "2 large flat whites, 1 small cap, Kelvin, anything, anything to drink? No, okay..."
Once we pulled up at the pay and collect window, he wanted one... too late buddy. On reflection, we didn't really prepare him for his first drive through coffee experience... it must seem odd shouting a coffee order at a box on the side of a driveway. But no-one was offering to share their coffee, fortunately I'd made a Milo in my travel mug before we left... that'll do (for Kelvin).

Wednesday saw the crew awake to another awesome campsite, with views of Horrocks Pass. We certainly had a loo with a view!

Horrocks Pass, which auto-corrects to 'Horrible Pass' as I type, was a nasty climb. Big A was doing the final 5km of his 106km shift. It was a This climb was at an average grade of 5% with a final kicker of 11.8% let's just say things got a bit emotional at the top.

What a difference a sleep makes!

Inspired by Big A's 183km all-nighter on Sunday night, Reid and El teamed up to do a 300km team effort from 8pm Mon to 8am Tues. This was in 4  x 3 hour stints, of 75km each.

Right, where were we...

Sunday night's dinner stop was just at the start of the 90 Mile Straight, an iconic piece of Australian highway. We have the luxury of 240V power on the road, running the Tough Power gear, provided by Intelliquip (thanks guys!). This meant we were able to blitz up a banana and Milo smoothie for the riders as one prepared to go, and then as the other recovered. Apparently this hits the spot.

Yesterday (Saturday) saw us having a tasty roadside dinner of Spag Bol in Ravensthorpe. For about 20 mins, all 11 of us were in the one spot. With the constant moving and switching of riders, crew and bikes in and out of the different vehicles, I'm surprised we haven't left anyone on the side of the road (though it's only Day 2)! On that, a few of us have been guilty of leaving a blanket, pillow, hoodie or cycling shoes in the wrong place. I think we'll have ourselves sorted in a week.

By 2am Sunday morning, all 4 riders had done 2 x shifts each. El and Kelvin headed out after dinner, punching through the night to join the newly relocated base camp in Dalyup. The night rides are tough, lonely and quite different to how you would normally ride at home or train for an event. I hope our offers of chocolates, bananas, home baked goodies (thanks Jill!) and boiled eggs on the side of the road, are a welcome sight to the riders.

If I could go back in time and repack for this event, I would put in way more warm clothes. Friday night/Saturday morning were freezing! The cyclists struggled to drink their water (El's started to freeze), or eat their food (numb and fat fingers with thick gloves on). The ride support crew stayed in the car as long as possible, before jumping out at each stop to shiver their way through a bottle refill, sanity check-in or cyclist changeover. With temperatures around zero overnight, the 'base camp' stayed put inside the ute, rather than setting up camp in the dark.

El started off at 5am on Saturday, and witnessed a frosty first-light with a spectacular sunrise - though she had to wipe the ice off her glasses to see it!

The Assembly
After months of training and what feels like only weeks of planning, checklists and long-winded emails... the team all met in Perth today.

We come from different stages of life, different professions and different states. We've had 1 drive from Brisbane, 2 fly from Sydney, 1 finishing holidays in Perth, 6 fly from Brisbane and 1 fly from Zambia... that makes 11. Quick head count 1, 2, 3...11 yep, we're all here.

It’s hard to really picture what this event is going to look like once we hit the road. Will the crew be leap-frogging with the rider, will we be cooking and camping on the side of the road (yep), how often can we shower, should we take a shovel? There's probably no such thing as a "typical day" in a 24/7 event… our latest motto is “Over-prepare, then go with the flow”. This event can’t happen without a willing support crew - each member of the crew will be contributing to make sure that ‘all’ the riders have to do is turn their legs over. Shopping, washing, fuelling up, cooking, setting up tents, chatting to the locals and the media, keeping the riders safe on the road, adjusting plans, filming, navigating, updating social media, playing card games, working on our tan… all in a day’s work. Let us introduce the 2016 Fixin’ Poverty Crew.

Laith Beveridge
Head Spanner and Owner of Cranks Bicycle Garage

In our last blog post, Reid gave us the WHY of the ride. This post is all about the HOW.

If you’re wondering what all the talk about “Fixies” or “Single Speed” is about… our team mechanic and member of the support crew, Laith puts it in simple terms for the non-cyclists out there. Thanks Laith!

Sometimes I questions myself as to WHY on earth do I, and others like me, do dumb stuff (riding fixies across Australia is not smart – adventurous, but not smart) to raise money for those living in extreme poverty? I don’t think there is a straight forward answer to that question. It would be a whole lot easier if people just gave generously and I stayed home. Man that sounds good right now!

Here is what I have noticed over the 16+ years I have spent raising money around poverty based issues. People rarely give or give little when you rock up and talk to them about poverty and how they can help. Sometimes you win big, most times you go away with loose change. And I get that. If I hear someone I don’t know speak about their mission in life I myself rarely give. Not sure if I ever have to be honest! So I understand.

I am humbled to share with you a little bit of a story of my life. My name is Kelvin Lufwandika, I am 25 years old and I work as the Computer Manager, Network Administrator and Computer Teacher at Eagles Wings Christian Community School in Zambia. I am married to Barbara and we have two daughters, Fiddes and Dorothy.

In my childhood I was attending a poor community school in my compound but my twin sisters heard that they could get money by begging in town. My sisters were beaten many times by the older street children, so I started escorting them to town after school each day, and by the age of 11, I was fighting for our survival on the streets. During this time, I met Ba Reid and Ba Lackson from Eagles Wings. My sisters and I started going to a Government school and experiencing the generosity of Eagles Wings in Zambia.

Well, just on 6 weeks to go until we embark on this crazy adventure riding from Perth to Brisbane – 4 cyclists, 4 Single Speed bikes, 7 days, relay style! We can do this!

For those who don’t know me, I am new to the Eagles Wings - Challenge For Change Team and at times I am questioning my sanity the night I met up with Reid, Big A and Hedgy to hear about this ‘adventure’! The guys explained their plans and asked me what I thought, “I’m in!”, was my reply all the time thinking how do I go home and explain to family that I’ve decided to ride across Australia!

My association with Eagles Wings (EW) is coming up on 10 years. Numerous cycling adventures throughout Australia and NZ and even a semi-famous Backwards Cycling Guinness World Record have left me wanting to do something special in 2016.

“Hey Reid check out the link I sent you on two guys riding fixies across the Nullarbor…”

It’s funny how things start out. Í have many ideas for raising funds through slightly challenging, come ridiculously hard events. Many die a natural death and never get past first base. One year we seriously considered having a race from Sydney to Brisbane between Kayakers and runners. It seemed like a very good idea. But it died. Then Andy wanted to ride his bike across the Nullarbor…backwards. I tried to explain to him that there is no way we would get a permit to do that! The conversation went like:

Up nice and early for the last day of this years Challenge For Change. Yet again another cold morning for this bunch of warm blooded Queenslanders.

It would be remise not to pay tribute to our support crew. Graham, or Hedgy to his friends, leads the team and is the perfect man for the job. No task is to hard or to small. No request from either rider or cook is insignificant. If something needs to  be done, he will find a way to do it. The support crew is divided into two teams. The road crew who drive with the cyclists and the ground crew who look after washing and cooking. Wesley travels with either of the teams, helping and also getting to know the riders, as does Rihanna, our videographer. There are eight road crew, two per vehicle and two vehicles per team. The road crew keep our cyclists safe on the road. They manage the flow of traffic as it passes the cyclists and at each rest stop they are there helping the cyclists with heir gear, keeping them fed and topping up their water bottles. The ground crew are amazing. the prepare all the food, supplying food for the riders to take on the road, a snack when they arrive in the afternoon, breakfast and dinner. The conditions that they sometimes have to cook under can be challenging. However, every meal is nutritious and full of flavour. You hear no complaints, just people asking for seconds. In addition, they wash all the clothes over night, ready for the riders to wear the next day.

Back on the road and back into the countryside. We leave the city of Wodonga behind and are heading to Bright. Once again rolling green hills and pastoral vistas. The wattles are in full bloom and in every creek bed there is a weeping willow. The sky is clear, the sun is shining and days are warmer. We have left the cold weather behind, well almost. The mornings are still very cool and by the end of the day we will be heading into the Victorian snow fields. We are in Victoria which is the land of coffee drinkers. For every coffee drinker there is a good barista. And what do all good cyclists like to do, drink good coffee. There are two coffee stops planned today. The first in the small country town of Yackandandah and twenty-five kilometres later, a roadhouse in Dederang. These two towns have been reconnoitred to ensure the quality of the coffee is good. In both towns, not only good coffee but good service. Yakandandah also provided giant cakes. Both teams are traveling well today. As usual Team Twenty-seven left first soon followed by Team Twenty. You may be wondering how the teams got their names. Team Twenty-seven are more experienced riders. They are disciplined in their riding and average twenty-seven kph. Team Twenty, while also strong riders, average twenty kph. Team Twenty-seven arrived into Yackandandah, ordered their coffee and enjoyed a short break. Just as they finished and were climbing onto their bikes, Team Twenty rolled in. The happy barista had just finished making the first teams order and had to start again. The same happened in Dederang. As Team Twenty-seven were leaving, Team Twenty rolled in. It shows the strength of Team Twenty to match the pace of the Twenty-sevens. It was also a good time for some brief but positive interaction between the two teams.

Today we leave the country town of Colac Colac and head for the regional city of Wodonga. 157kms across country to Lake Hume and then following the shore line into Wodonga. There were a couple of big hills, however, for every hill that went up, there was a hill that went down. After the first big hill climb for the day, Jonathan, one of the Team Twenty riders said “I enjoyed that”. The riders are getting stronger. The temperature was warmer, the sky was clear, the sun was shining. Team Captain Paul mentioned that the whole team enjoyed todays ride. Our riders were provided spectacular scenery when they reached Lake Hume. An old disused railway has been converted into a bikeway. The riders were dropped on the opposite side of Lake Hume to ride the bikeway. This included crossing the lake via a long bridge, giving them a 360-degree vista of the lake. What a great way to finish a day’s riding. The riders met up with their road crew for the final ride into town and their accommodation. 

Our ride continues in earnest today as we leave the alpine region. It was a day of contrasts and a day off firsts. The contrast of leaving overcast snowy conditions into clear sunny weather. It was the first day we crossed into Victoria and the first time a bunch of Queenslanders tried to attach snow chains to the wheels of their cars.

We woke this morning, looked out our windows and saw the surrounding paddocks covered with a white blanket of snow, kangaroos hopping through the snow, grazing on the grass beneath. A postcard winter wonderland. However, this is spring and we have a job to do. A mini snowman was built on one of the picnic tables, all before breakfast. As the sun rose higher our snowman watched the rest of the snow dissipate clearing the way for todays ride. Our goal today is to ride up Kosciuszko as far as Perisher Valley and while the day started in snow we had relatively clear skies. The good news is no one got wet. It was definitely chilly and as predicted colder than yesterday. a thirty-five kilometre climb and then a thirty-five kilometres down hill rush. Our riders were able to ride up at their own speed. No bunch riding up the mountain. Each one was able to ride within their own ability. While it was a hard ride, reaching the end was a great sense of achievement. The team dynamics are also starting to develop which is preparing the way for the longer rides over the next few days.

Kosciuszko Challenge 2015 

The second last day for the clinic. Actually it is the last proper day for the clinic as tomorrow we will see returning patients and then at lunch time we will close the doors so that we can pack up the clinic. The word of us leaving must have been passed around as today was crazy busy. We took our last bus full of patients to the two hospitals and picked up our last order from the pharmacy. We had one lady that was so sick, Darryl had to accompany her to the hospital. We did remember to pick Darryl up on our way home. A few days ago a man was in the clinic unwell. We referred him to the hospital and today he returned to say he was feeling so much better and to say thank you. We are starting to plan for the pack up. I was going to say wind down, however that is not true as we have been going flat out. We know tomorrow there will be a lot of people waiting for us. We know it is going to be hard to turn people away.

The day has arrived. The day that Barbara has been planning for. The day of the community health presentation. Barbara has been working with the school Drama Club on a play about good nutrition and Darryl has been working with some older students, who have had first aid training, on a first aid demonstration. At two o’clock, (14hours as the Zambians say) we close the clinic and head out to the lawn outside the primary school. The students have set out chairs and there are over a hundred people from the community already seated. 

The play showed a family at home preparing the evening meal. They said that if you eat nshima (maize meal), vegetables and chicken you will be healthy and strong and can go to work and earn money. Even though chicken is expensive, it is good for you. Junky food is cheap and tastes good, however it will make you sick and you will miss days from work and not earn any money. The students dressed up as the three different foods, others dressed up as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, and one as aches and pains. After the play the students sang a song that they wrote themselves. 

Another bus run to the hospitals with patients that have been referred there. This time we also had to refer a patient to an ophthalmologist. We had to look up the address on Google Maps to find it. Mean while there was a police checkpoint, checking drivers licences. Ivan from MMM was driving the bus. The policeman had never seen an Australian / Tasmanian drivers licence before. Once Ivan explained what it was he said “OK”. However, the police checkpoint was positioned such that it was blocking our turn so we had to drive around the block. Pot hole management is not a high priority in Zambia but we made it in the end.

Power shedding continues in Ndola. We woke without power and it stayed off until just before lunch. The clinic continues to be busy ranging from minor scrapes and ailments through to some very sick people. At the close of day on Friday we had seen over 1000 patients. Health education is a very important aspect of this years clinic. Barbara has been preparing for this all week and has been busy every day. We have a big presentation tomorrow afternoon and we have involved some of the school children. We will close the clinic for this time as we want as many people as possible to come and participate. The presentation regarding nutrition involves the school drama group and a rubber chicken. There will also be a first aid demonstration. I’ll let you know all about this tomorrow.

It is Monday morning and all of a sudden we realise we have only one week to go. Plans for this week include a community health seminar on Wednesday, plus we have to pack up the clinic on Friday afternoon. We want to see as many patients in need as we can in the time that is left. Today we continued to see many sick people. With Chipo gone Alex is doubling both on the door and helping on the triage desk. Darryl is seeing quite few patients returning for a review. He is praising God to see so many wounds that are healing.

Friday has come and our first week of the community clinic is over. Today is just as busy as ever. We have arranged another bus to take patients to the hospital, however, before the day starts we are arranging a lift for one lady who has an early appointment at the hospital. Later, after lunch we call a taxi for a very sick baby who urgently needs to go to the children’s hospital. A highlight today for Rachel is two sets of twin babies. At the triage desk Rachel gets to hold all the babies as she weighs them before they see a doctor or nurse. Today we say goodbye to Chipo as he has to return to work in Lusaka. Chipo enjoyed his week and a half with us. He said it was good stress relief from his job and a blessing to be able to serve the community.

Steve has spent the whole day working in the toilets. Ben and Corey have abandoned him. He has cleaned and repaired every toilet in the school. We see him marching in with a toolkit in one hand and spray bottle of disinfectant in the other. Talking of marching, it is interesting to look out the window and see Steve marching across the paddock with half a dozen children following him.

We woke up today with no power and no water. What, no tea/coffee with our breakfast? Darryl saved the day by re-igniting the coals in the brazier and boiled a pot of water (bottled water).

Steve left early today to hook up with the boys. We arrive to see Steve bent over the bonnet of the dying Eagles Wings vehicle. He starts tweaking and the next moment we see the biggest black cloud coming out of the exhaust. Today is also Steve’s happy day. We see the new tank being filled with water from the new pump and Steve chasing some of the children with the hose. Well done Steve, Ben and Corey.

Wednesday, somebody said hump day but how can you have a hump day when you are serving the community around Eagles Wings school. Hump day is looking forward to the weekend. We are only here for two weeks, so little time to serve this community.

Our friend Alex is looking after the door to the clinic, guiding the people who are waiting into the clinic to be seen by the medical team. Alex is an elder in his church and cares for his community. He wants to make sure nobody is missed. Chipo sits on the triage desk with Rachel, recording patient details. We also have several Zambian nurses helping look after the patients; Vwtiwe, Dorothy, Rita and Joanna. James’s wife Gift is also helping as a translator.

Another busy day for the medical team. Today two of our workers are in bed unwell. Dr Narelle says “do not wash your toothbrush under the tap, use bottled water.” Even with two staff down we still saw another 180 patients. Another busy and fulfilling day. The ailments range form aches and pains that can be treated with analgesics up to some seriously ill people. Darryl conducted about eight malaria test and fortunately all were negative.

Steve, Maureen and Kathy joined the team on Sunday. We collected them from the airport after church. Unfortunately Steve and Maureen's bags were not on the aeroplane. Today we ventured out to the airport and after filling in forms and checking the baggage on the latest flight, all four bags were found. Steve was very happy and called Maureen who was busy working in the clinic to give her the good news. Ben, who came with us, was also very happy. In Steve’s suitcase was a bunch of tools for Ben, including a brand new circular saw.

Our first day of the clinic for the community. We woke this morning full of expectation and the day did not disappoint. Over 180 patients were seen and a lot of contact with the community. One of our success stories is that Barbara had the vision of extending the health education by way of a mini expo. She recruited the local ladies that she was teaching on the last visit. At first they were hesitant not knowing what was involved. Barbara has set up a series of static displays along the veranda where people queue. The ladies grasped the concept with enthusiasm, showing the community people the steps they can take to maintain good health. The community people were able to take home pamphlets to remind them of the things they have learned.

A couple of builders from Australia are visiting Eagles Wings for a few months to help with building and maintenance. Ben from Brisbane and Corey from Sydney. Steve has joined their team. Today they spent some time in town looking for a new pump. The money was kindly donated to buy the pump. They hope to have it installed and up and running in the next couple of days.

Friday, the last day of the week and the last day for us to see the children and staff at Eagles Wings school. We open the clinic to the community on Monday. Today was busier - almost 200 patients - yet it ran smoothly. We were able to establish a routine after our first day. Improving on the things we did right and changing the things that went wrong. There were a lot more children to see, however, triaging them more efficiently removed any chaos. Monday we will triage differently again as instead of seeing whole classrooms of children in one go, we will be seeing adults one at a time. Once the word gets out there will be a lot of people to see.

A busy day of routine left little time for adventure to report. On our walk this morning we again crossed the creek by the old railway bridge. Less adventure and a less stressful way to start the day. The last day of the week so the last blog until Monday. The weekend to ourselves, however, still time for running errands. Saturday will be shopping, lunch out and a restful afternoon. Personal shopping, souvenir shopping at market stalls, plus a trip to the pharmacy to top up our supplies. Sunday is church and then off to the airport to pick up the rest of our team. I will report back on any weekend adventures in Monday’s blog.

Today is our first clinic. These first few days we will see all of the school children as well as the staff and there families. Helping us are Chipo who has travelled al the way form Lusaka for a week, just to help in the clinic, Joanna, a local nurse and Rose, a year 12 student. Rose’s ambition is to be a doctor. She is helping with translating and other small jobs. Children were steaming through the door all morning, a lot more to come tomorrow. School children throughout the world must be the same. As they congregate together, queueing in there class groups, you hear laughter, see kids jostling for space, and generally mucking around as any good school child will do. Every child is checked. There are a couple of sick children who needed extra care, most were given a clean bill of health. One staff member had a check up and was concerned about his vision. We have had over 300 pairs of second hand glasses donated to us. We had not yet unpacked the donated glasses, however we found the perfect pair for him and he walked away a very happy man with a big smile on his face.

We were privileged to be onsite during school assembly. lIstening to the children singing was a joy. This included them singing the Zambian national anthem. After which, Daniel called the team up in front of the assembly to sing Advance Australia Fair. Geena and Julie finished with Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. The kids thought this was hilarious.

Before any big venture can begin, there is a lot of work to be done. The day begins with shopping. So far the team has been together every day (the big exception is that three of our valued members, Steve, Maurine and Kathy, have not yet arrived. We pick them up from the airport on Sunday morning, just in time before the start of the clinic proper , more about that later). We eat together and then we go shopping, together. First stop the pharmacy to pick up all the medicines that were ordered while we were still in Australia. Half the team go in and start checking off boxes and boxes of the drugs and supplies that we will need for the term of the clinic. While the other half head out, change some money to the local currency and then off to the supermarket. When we are picked up we have to fight our way onto the bus to find our seats, climbing over boxes and boxes of pharmaceuticals. we spend the rest of the afternoon fitting out the classroom, turning it in to a community clinic. What a long day we think as we wearily walk home. The reality, however, it is not what we did today to get ready, but the long months planning for this trip, from as early as last year.

Barbara’s Story

Zambia Medical Team

We have arrived. After our long flights (and longer waits in transit lounges) we have arrived in Ndola. Waiting to greet us at the airport was Ba Lackson. At last a friendly face and warm welcome. Welcome to Zambia say Ba Lackson. A drive through town and onto Monkey Fountain and the MMM guest house. Only a short drive. We pass down the Main Street of the city. Busy. Lots of people. Dry and dusty. Geena is snapping photos out of every window of the bus. 

After settling in we are off the Eagles Wings school to see the lay of the land. Daniel, the school principal, along with Lackson show a couple of different rooms we can use. Mean while we meet up with some old friends and for some of us some new friends. We find Ben and Chris working hard finishing off the new science labs, Nicki is with a bunch of local kids and James, who was in Australia last year, meets with us after school finishes. Our team members who have been to Zambia before, greet old friends. New friends for us newbies. Tomorrow is shopping and setting up. Wednesday the fun begins. Who will be patient number one?

Today is the day the medical team sets off for Eagles Wings in Zambia. We leave Brisbane Airport this afternoon for the long haul flight to Ndola (Brisbane - Perth - Johannesburg - Ndola). There are eleven of us in the team ranging from doctors down to handy helpers. I'm not a medical person, so I am a helper. We will be in Ndola for three weeks looking after the Eagles Wings children and staff as well as the local community. We will spend more time with the local community. We will also be setting up a mini medical expo to help educate with hygiene, nutrition, back care and this year we have a mid-wife to help with child birth education. Over the next couple off weeks I hope to bring you the stories of the people who make up this team as well as some stories what happens in the clinic each day (minus the gory bits).

This is my first time to Zambia. I have been involved with Eagles Wings for several years, blogging for Challenge For Change. The computer gremlins have merged all my previous blogs with all the other bloggers as SuperUser. What grand name. So to start afresh, a new adventure, new beginnings and new stories to tell.

NZ Challenge 2014 - North Island

Kaitaia to Cape Reinga

Another Challenge for Change draws to a close. Today is the last day. Our plan today is to ride to Cape Reinga, the very northern tip of New Zealand. We did not have to pack our bags before we leave as we are returning to the same accommodation. A later start, a later breakfast and a bit of a sleep in. Well only a little bit. We still have to ride 140kms today. 

NZ Challenge 2014 - North Island

Dargaville to Kaitaia

NZ Challenge 2014 - North Island

Thames to Dargaville

NZ Challenge 2014 - North Island

Rotorua to Thames

NZ Challenge 2014 - North Island

Turangi to Rotorua

NZ Challenge 2014 - North Island

Wanganui to Turangi
Day two and a rhythm is beginning to emerge. An early start as we have a lot of kilometres to cover today. 173kms and a few big climbs. We started the day hearing about life in Zambia from Ba Lackson. He was telling us about blind beggars in Ndola. They use young children to guide them around and to beg for them. Lackson tells us that it is wrong for these children to be used this way. They should be in school, receiving an education. Providing for their future. Without it they will end up on the street themselves begging with no prospect for employment. These are the children Eagles Wings are taking off of the streets and placing in school. Your contributions do count. Helping these children reach there God given potential.