I am a Trustee of Transaid, a small charity which is making a huge impact, where it is most needed on the ground in Africa. 

Transaid makes  an enormous difference despite very modest means and I wanted to make a big contribution to helping the charity make real progress in 2011. Riding around the FTA regions -14 consecutive days and around 750 miles -in the company of lots of FTA freinds  and colleagues seemed a great way to generate some enthusiasm for Transaid, raise some funds  and get fit. 

Transaid is working with local partners in Zambia and Tanzania to help them deliver commercial driver training to internationally recognized standards for truck, bus and coach drivers.  They do this by training driver trainers to make sure that the transport skills passed on are sustainable. 

Why is this so important?  Because in Africa driving is often seen as a job of last resort and there are few well qualified drivers.  As a result, road deaths kill on a scale similar to HIV/AIDS and malaria.  This figure is set to rise to become the leading killer in the next 20 years if nothing is done to avert the crisis.

 

With the strong support of the FTA Regions we are aiming for a target of £50K which will help Transaid to expand its work to tackle this problem, giving people the opportunity for safer communities and improved lives through better transport.  No one else is doing this, but driver education has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to save lives fast!

 

You can visit www.transaid.org to find out more.  You can also watch a film about the Professional Driver Training Project on Youtube by searching for Transaid1.

 

Thank you very much for your support and please give generously!

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