This year Craig David, Ronni Ancona, Lorraine Kelly, Scott Mills, Olly Murs, Dermot O'Leary, Nadia Sawalha, Kara Tointon and Peter White embarked on a 5 day trek across the Kaisut Desert, Kenya. This 100 km mission has raised huge amounts for comic relief and put the celebs through their most grueling challenges to date. http://www.comicrelief.com/news/2011-02/stars-sweat-it-out-desert-trek

Today Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave started their mammoth 37+ hour Radio show and Ant and Dec have been raiding TV shows all in aid of Comic Relief.

Inspired by what the celebs are doing this year? What are you doing?

With Comic relief looming closer, why don’t you get a bit more involved this year and go beyond the usual fundraiser activities? Make a real difference and volunteer abroad with Camps International. Volunteering will give you the chance to get your hands dirty and make that difference yourself and is a perfect way to benefit those communities in need and be able to see the results of the work you are doing.

“I have loved every minute of it and gained a different perspective on life. The best 28 days of my life. Hard work that made a difference, combined with the most fun, I’ve ever had.” – Charlotte Winckley, 2008.

You will find more information on the projects you can get involved with by clicking on any of our destinations:

Camp Kenya

Camp Tanzania

Camp Borneo

Camp Cambodia

and now Camp Ecuador.

The projects in each location will vary depending on the local needs of the communities and wildlife at the time, which means whatever you are doing, the difference and impact you are making is always adding a genuine and lasting value to the people that need it.

That’s got to be better than just raising money without seeing the benefits for yourself hasn’t it?

If you would like more info on our programmes or want to book yourself a place call either Hattie or Linda on 0844 800 1127 or email gap@campsinternational.com

Alternatively, if you want a more immediate response without talking on the phone you can get hold of Hattie via the online chat feature http://www.campsinternational.com/gap-year/index.html (you can see Hattie’s smiling face on the right!)

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Just wanted to re-post Dipesh's project blog about Fridays News article in the Daily Nation.

Great little article, so for those of you who haven't seen it click this link: Camp Kenya in the News!

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As of 10pm Malaysia time (2pm GMT) there have been no recorded increases in wave height in the coastal waters of Sabah 2 hours after the waves were due to hit the nearest point to Borneo (the east coast of Philippines). According the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, this can be seen as an all clear.
 
Indonesia have now lifted their Tsunami Alert. Both Indonesia and Philippines experienced small waves of less than a meter with no reported damage or injury and Malaysian TV has confirmed that the coastal areas of Sabah are confirmed safe.
 
 
  

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Here is the latest update from the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines via their twitter feed:

1318: A tweet from the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines: "From the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council: Waves did not cause any damage to persons or property."

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To All friends and family,

As you have probably now heard, Northern Japan was hit with an earthquake at 14:46 local time (05:46 GMT).

We would like you all to know that everyone is safe here in Borneo.

There have been no tsunami warnings for Malaysia and geographically we are sheltered by the Philippines.

We are constantly monitoring the situation and will update you on any developments as soon as we have them.

Stuart Rees Jones
CEO Camps International

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Many of you will be aware of the Tanzanian government's proposed plan to construct a commercial highway through the Serengeti National Park which would ultimately lead to thousands of vehicles passing through one of the greatest world heritage sites in the world. We blogged about this a few months ago which you can read HERE. Despite all the international pressure against this coming in from Scientists, Conservationists, the Tourism Industry and from within Tanzania, the idea is still in the pipeline. In a bid to keep the pressure on, a movement for a global day is being planned. Below is a copy of the article published by ATTA, which is Camps International is an active member of:

Why does the Serengeti need its own day of recognition around the world? The Serengeti ecosystem (the Serengeti National Park and the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya) is in imminent danger of being lost. A plan by the Tanzanian government will cut a commercial highway through the Serengeti that will bring thousands of trucks a day through a wilderness area critical to the great migration. It will mean the end of the Serengeti as we know it. Holding a special Serengeti Day will focus world attention to this crisis. It will also help bring the facts to the people of Tanzania, who have not been told the truth about this highway.

What is being planned so far for the day?
Many countries around the world have their own organizers who are coordinating activities and helping to publicize the issue. People will be hosting awareness parties, doing letter and postcard writing campaigns, walking to raise funds and awareness, and even bringing this into the schools with a special curriculum. The most immediate issue facing the Serengeti is a road plan that would cut the park in half.

How will this impact the wildlife?
The proposed road will be a major commercial route that cuts across a narrow stretch of the Park near the border with Kenya. It goes through a wilderness zone critical to the annual migration of 1.3 million wildebeest and 0.7 million zebras, antelope, and other wildlife. This will involve extracting a strip of land from the Park itself, resulting in both the fragmentation of the ecosystem and the removal of the Serengeti National Park from the list of UN World Heritage Sites.

The government’s own estimates are that by 2015, there will be 800 vehicles a day, or about 300,000 a year.These will mostly be trucks carrying freight between the Lake Victoria region and eastern Tanzania. Their numbers will steadily grow. By 2016, over a million vehicles will have crossed the Serengeti. By 2035, the volume will rise to 3,000 a day, a million vehicles a year! Experts say these traffic estimates are also underestimated as projections were made on the basis of reduced traffic flow during rainy season. Experts have recently published a sophisticated model simulating the impact of the highway on the migration. But now with the projected traffic numbers, only common sense is required.

The migration will not only move across the highway twice a year, wildlife actually resides in the area for weeks and months on end. Ultimately, though, its not traffic per se, but expanding agriculture and settlement that will unravel it all.

Do you think Tanzania’s tourism industry will benefit from the road? This road will have a devastating effect on tourism, both in the short term and long term as the ecosystem collapses. A survey was done last year among tourism companies that send travellers to Tanzania. The results were clear – building the highway would cause a precipitous drop in tourism. Why? In part because the Serengeti would be damaged goods, no longer protected and respected by the government. But there would also be a backlash of protest. In fact, many tour companies predicted that there would be a call for an international boycott of tourism to Tanzania.

Why do you think the government is pushing ahead with the road in face of so much criticism?
This is the big question. The fact that the President Jakaya Kikwete has recently refused funds from the World Bank for a southern route around the Serengeti, which would actually benefit more people, means that there’s something we don’t understand. It appears that there are interests being served besides those of the Tanzanian people.

How do Tanzanians feel about the road plan?
Many Tanzanians do not know about it. Or if they know anything, they have only heard the government’s version.The President presents this simply as a dirt road, not a highway. And the government has dismissed opponents as “green activists,” even though this includes the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. People certainly do not know what the economic consequences will be, especially for the 60,000 people who directly or indirectly are employed because of tourism.

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