African Adventure24 November 2013 by Claire Gillman
In the New Year of 2014, I (together with my husband) am setting off on an amazing adventure. We are going to drive our 16-year-old Toyota Landcruiser from the top to the toe of Africa. We’ll be passing through a dozen different countries and we are travelling for four months, sleeping on the roof of the vehicle in a safari roof tent.
Mid-life crisis? Act of madness? Some might think so. In fact, it is a case of practising what I preach. Having just witnessed our younger son heading off to university this September, I am now looking at getting a better life/work balance into my lifestyle. Over the past 20 or so years, we have invested all of our energies into raising our family and working hard to provide for them. Now we wish to celebrate the fact that they have reached adulthood as fine, healthy, decent boys on the threshold of their lives by doing something for ourselves.
However, to simply have a long holiday felt rather too self-indulgent, so although we are looking forward to a break from normal routines and to the whole adventure, there is an additional dimension to our trip. My husband is the CEO of a charity called Henshaws that works with the visually impaired (VI) and the blind. During our voyage, I will be narrating our experiences and our discoveries, creating an audio, as well as a written blog. Our aim is to not only to update people on the progress of the trip, but also to give those that have a visual impairment a taste of what can be seen in Africa, and hopefully to bring the continent to life for them. We have been trained by staff at Henshaws to describe what we see in a way that will include those that have never had any sight at all. And we are also raising awareness about the invaluable work of Henshaws and raising funds.
Doing something for ourselves as a couple and doing something that will benefit the blind and VI community will be exciting and rewarding in equal measure. I will be calling on my years of experience as a professional journalist and writer to communicate our experiences to others. Yet, I will also be adding another string to my bow as I move from the written word (which comes so readily to me) to the spoken word of the podcasts. How wonderful to be learning new skills after being in journalism for over 30 years.
Many people think we are lucky to have this opportunity and we are indeed grateful for this chance. However, what I would add is that we have made this happen. Both of us are returning to our jobs, having made the request to our employers for an unpaid sabbatical. Many companies now understand the importance of having satisfied and fulfilled employees and, if you want to change your work/life balance (albeit not as drastically as in our case), you may be surprised at how receptive your employer will be to your suggestions. As long as you acknowledge the implications it has to the organisation and offer solutions to any problems your request might create, your bosses may well be supportive. After all, if you are an asset to the organisation, they would rather have you back after a sabbatical or working shorter hours, for example, than to lose your services and experience altogether.
In our case, we are also offering added benefit to my husband’s organisation. Not only are we fund-raising through the trip and raising awareness of Henshaws’ work, but we are also visiting and forging relationships with charities and organisations that work with the blind and VI community in many of the African countries that we are visiting.
And those countries are numerous. We start our trip in Egypt. Then, following the Nile south, we will move through the deserts of Sudan into the highlands of Ethiopia. In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania we will travel through a number of big game reserves before moving into Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia. Revisiting one of our favourite places Botswana, we will then head west through the Namibian desert to the Skeleton Coast and finally head south to Cape Town in South Africa.
By using our website, www.noteveryonegetstoseeafrica.org, Twitter, and an audio blog, we aim to open up our journey to the blind and VI communities across the world and include them in our exploration of the African continent.
Henshaws provides expert support advice and training to blind and VI individuals, with the aim to increase confidence, improve communication skills and encourage independence. They use a variety of modern technology, including iPhones and iPads. Communicating these opportunities to others, both here and in Africa, will in turn open the doors to many other types of exploration.
I believe that a desire to be the best that you can be, both in the workplace and in your leisure time, and to bring as much joy into your own life and the lives of others as possible are some of the greatest motivators when it comes to doing something out of the ordinary. If you do something that enriches your life – whatever it may be – and also enriches the lives of others, you cannot help but see the benefits paid forward in your work and your home life, and in ways that perhaps you cannot foresee. Watch this space.
www.noteveryonegetstoseeafrica.org
www.henshaws.org.uk
www.justgiving.com/noteveryonegetstosee
In the New Year of 2014, I (together with my husband) am setting off on an amazing adventure. We are going to drive our 16-year-old Toyota Landcruiser from the top to the toe of Africa. We’ll be passing through a dozen different countries and we are travelling for four months, sleeping on the roof of the vehicle in a safari roof tent.
Mid-life crisis? Act of madness? Some might think so. In fact, it is a case of practising what I preach. Having just witnessed our younger son heading off to university this September, I am now looking at getting a better life/work balance into my lifestyle. Over the past 20 or so years, we have invested all of our energies into raising our family and working hard to provide for them. Now we wish to celebrate the fact that they have reached adulthood as fine, healthy, decent boys on the threshold of their lives by doing something for ourselves.
However, to simply have a long holiday felt rather too self-indulgent, so although we are looking forward to a break from normal routines and to the whole adventure, there is an additional dimension to our trip. My husband is the CEO of a charity called Henshaws that works with the visually impaired (VI) and the blind. During our voyage, I will be narrating our experiences and our discoveries, creating an audio, as well as a written blog. Our aim is to not only to update people on the progress of the trip, but also to give those that have a visual impairment a taste of what can be seen in Africa, and hopefully to bring the continent to life for them. We have been trained by staff at Henshaws to describe what we see in a way that will include those that have never had any sight at all. And we are also raising awareness about the invaluable work of Henshaws and raising funds.
Doing something for ourselves as a couple and doing something that will benefit the blind and VI community will be exciting and rewarding in equal measure. I will be calling on my years of experience as a professional journalist and writer to communicate our experiences to others. Yet, I will also be adding another string to my bow as I move from the written word (which comes so readily to me) to the spoken word of the podcasts. How wonderful to be learning new skills after being in journalism for over 30 years.
Many people think we are lucky to have this opportunity and we are indeed grateful for this chance. However, what I would add is that we have made this happen. Both of us are returning to our jobs, having made the request to our employers for an unpaid sabbatical. Many companies now understand the importance of having satisfied and fulfilled employees and, if you want to change your work/life balance (albeit not as drastically as in our case), you may be surprised at how receptive your employer will be to your suggestions. As long as you acknowledge the implications it has to the organisation and offer solutions to any problems your request might create, your bosses may well be supportive. After all, if you are an asset to the organisation, they would rather have you back after a sabbatical or working shorter hours, for example, than to lose your services and experience altogether.
In our case, we are also offering added benefit to my husband’s organisation. Not only are we fund-raising through the trip and raising awareness of Henshaws’ work, but we are also visiting and forging relationships with charities and organisations that work with the blind and VI community in many of the African countries that we are visiting.
And those countries are numerous. We start our trip in Egypt. Then, following the Nile south, we will move through the deserts of Sudan into the highlands of Ethiopia. In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania we will travel through a number of big game reserves before moving into Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia. Revisiting one of our favourite places Botswana, we will then head west through the Namibian desert to the Skeleton Coast and finally head south to Cape Town in South Africa.
By using our website, www.noteveryonegetstoseeafrica.org, Twitter, and an audio blog, we aim to open up our journey to the blind and VI communities across the world and include them in our exploration of the African continent.
Henshaws provides expert support advice and training to blind and VI individuals, with the aim to increase confidence, improve communication skills and encourage independence. They use a variety of modern technology, including iPhones and iPads. Communicating these opportunities to others, both here and in Africa, will in turn open the doors to many other types of exploration.
I believe that a desire to be the best that you can be, both in the workplace and in your leisure time, and to bring as much joy into your own life and the lives of others as possible are some of the greatest motivators when it comes to doing something out of the ordinary. If you do something that enriches your life – whatever it may be – and also enriches the lives of others, you cannot help but see the benefits paid forward in your work and your home life, and in ways that perhaps you cannot foresee. Watch this space.
www.noteveryonegetstoseeafrica.org
www.henshaws.org.uk
www.justgiving.com/noteveryonegetstosee