Students have planned to and are raising money for the local community charity that they are visiting as well funds for any additional costs for the trip.

Fundraising plan:

Bake sale - Students are putting together a bake sale for students at Breda Academy to help raise funds

Personal fundraising - Students and staff will pursue personal fundraising with their local friends/family and communities.

Belfast Marathon - Students will be taking part in a team relay of the Belfast Marathon 2024.

Aim of the trip:

Our overarching goal is to ignite compassion and create a new generation of global citizens. We are taking our participants outside of their comfort zones and into unique and vibrant cultures where they can share their skills on meaningful, real-world program.

Details of the trip:

On this program students will be challenged to step out of their comfort zone and think creatively as they spend two weeks in Tanzania. Students will be based in a town called Arusha, located in the North of the country, at the base of volcanic Mount Meru.

Participating in cross-cultural exchange, students will be based within the local community and have the opportunity to visit local schools where students will participate in workshops on conversational English, environment, wellbeing, STEM, and more.

Supported by accompanying staff from the school/college, and in country teams, students will work as a team to share skills with local school children and inspire the communities where we work. Students will need to think outside the box to enhance your problem solving and team work skills whilst communicating respectfully across different languages. Students will have the opportunity to build your understanding of Tanzanian culture whilst visiting local temples and historic sites. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in local language classes held by our Tanzania team!

Words from one our our students taking part:

With the challenges abroad organisation, our group of 15 year 13 students will be travelling to Arusha, Tanzania for two weeks with the aim of participating in a cross-cultural exchange. We will be based within the local community and be given the opportunity to visit local schools in which we will participate in a range of workshops on conversational english, wellbeing, STEM, environment, and more. Over the course of the two weeks we will be working as a team to share our skills with the local school children, and inspire the communities in which we will work. Being given this amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity, we will be given the chance to learn of the tanzanian culture when we visit local temples and other historic buildings, learn how to communicate respectfully across different languages, and participate in local language classes held by the tanzania team from Challenges Abroad. To further contribute to the community and the organisation, each student and accompanying staff member are aiming to raise a minimum of £200 each through many different in school and out of school activities including a bake sale and participating in this year’s belfast marathon.

Challenges Abroad is a social enterprise that was founded in 2012 with the best interests of the people and our planet at heart. To achieve their goal of “igniting passion and creating a new generation of global citizens” they provided structured programmes for groups such as ourselves, to take young people outside of their comfort zones and allow them to share their skills with, and experience unique and vibrant cultures. They are passionate about their purpose, the students that participate in their programmes, and the communities that they help to build and support, working with empathy and integrity to remain genuine in their interactions. They believe that the experience of travelling as a young person is not only a holiday, but also a “profound educational experience that moulds who you are” and that the experience of travelling as a young person can be very impactful on who you turn out to be as a person, your career choices, and the friends you make. Working with Challenges Abroad to support people in communities will give our group the opportunity to challenge ourselves, experience new things, and realise our potential to create a positive change in the world.