A NORTHFIELD teenager is attempting a sponsored swim to raise £1,500 for an Africa trip to teach children IT, language and maths skills.
Dashen Allen, who goes to Shenley Academy, will be making a splash with a non-stop 2.5k swim tomorrow (Saturday) aiming to do 100 lengths of a 25 metre pool in a two hour window.
The 18-year-old will be travelling with his school friend Cameron Andrews, also 18.
Between them the teens need to raise £3,000 – any excess funds from their efforts will be donated to the school where they will be teaching.
Cameron will also be doing a sponsored leg wax and the pair are also hoping to organise a non-uniform day as well as a sponsored school football match.
The teens are also asking people to donate shoes and clothing which they can take with them to give to the pupils at the Mpondwe school, in the Mpumalanga region.
In total, the school has 149 pupils some of which live up to 10km away, many have to walk to school barefoot. The home language is Zulu but all lessons are taught in English.
During their two-week mission the teens will be staying at Spoin Kop lodge near the town of Ladysmith, in the North East of South Africa.
Dashen, who also works at Clarks in the Northfield Shopping Centre, said they just wanted to do something to help, so as well as teaching them basic English, maths and IT they thought it would be a good idea to take something over which the children could use.
He added: “As I work in a shoe shop, I thought of shoes: “I think the world is so small now, with technology, that we should all be able to reach out a hand and help.
“I feel really privileged compared to the children in this part of Africa, a lot of them walk barefoot to school.
“It will also be a great experience to learn about another culture. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to do something like this.”
Visit gogetfunding.com/project/team-africa for more.
