Current Projects


Click on the list of projects below to view further information:

Project Senegal

Kafountine is located in the Casamance region of SENEGAL, approximately 70km south of The Gambia. The region is noted for its fishing and sustainability through each evening’s long boat missions in the Atlantic Ocean. The local boys head out at night with their skippers whilst the women and families wait in earnest for the catch to smoke and salt ready for delivery around West Africa.

With average temperatures hitting 28 degrees Celsius the area boasts huge stretches of white, sandy beaches and local people who are warm and welcoming to tourists. The most popular time to visit is in the UK winter period where the sun’s rays are pleasant but not unbearable. Additionally, due to the cool evenings the malaria-carrying female mosquito is not present, and tourists – albeit in modest droves - are not at threat.

Schooling and education is provided for local children but their mothers, fathers and second generation relatives were not lucky enough to receive such assistance with learning. Jimmy Gamell, a retired Catalan hotelier, has set up residence in the region and commenced the first project to educate adults through assistance from volunteer French and Spanish teachers. To sustain the running of the school, Jummy's vegetarian restaurant boasts four tables and its modest profits cover the overheads of the school and its resident staff. This, however, isn’t enough to fund ongoing projects and FLOAK’s desire is to purchase adjacent land and extend the accommodation and recreational areas to provide an IT room and bed space for residents and tourists. Income from the latter can help boost the coffers of the Project and thus enable the residence to claim sustainable status. In summary, we are looking to achieve the following:
  1. Purchase and register land in Kafountine
  2. Build, develop and maintain accommodation block on site
  3. Extend existing school building for additional classroom
  4. Install solar panels to provide power to the Project
  5. Provide additional teachers to educate local residents
  6. Appoint a full-time project manager (local)
  7. Launch and develop a recycling project in Kafountine and surrounding areas
  8. Develop a recycling philosophy and understanding amongst local children
  9. Build and maintain a Recycling Centre
  10. Introduce the FLOAK philosophy to incoming tourists
On Christmas Day 2008, Mark Gardner, Paul Hill, Liam Walter and Louise Gardner flew out to Kafountine to see Jimmy's project and inspect land for project FLOAK.  During the week long trip we were lucky enough to meet some fantastic people, attend a West African music festival, play soccer against the locals, participate in school activities and, most importantly, view the land that we have purchased for our development project.  To get a better insight into the area view our Facebook page with photos from the inspection trip.
 
So where do YOU come in? In a variety of ways, actually. During February 2010 we will be arranging a FLOAK trip to Kafountine to provide manpower to the project and spin-off tasks in the surrounding areas. Simply coming along will allow us to inject tourist funds into the community to continue the sustainability of the existing accommodations. Additionally, there will be opportunities to volunteer your skills and services through beach cleaning, teaching, football coaching or simply spending time with local families in the region.
 
At FLOAK, we recognise that disposable income and holiday time are at a premium which is why we’ve worked hard in ensuring that the trip encompasses your regular holiday inclusions. The beach is ready and waiting for your towel and sun lotion and the waves are perfect for bodyboarding and swimming. At night, you will marvel at the annual February Festival featuring local musicians and traditional African dancing, whilst enjoying a local tipple for 1970’s style UK prices. The local cuisine is very much seafood based with dozens of daily catches on offer and fruit hangs wildly off every tree, including mandarins, grapefruits and the papaya. A football match has also been set up against a nearby village where we aim to provide a new team strip and training equipment for the local boys. If you also possess a few football tricks and skills then do not hesitate to come on board and assist FC FLOAK in their bravest venture yet!
 
 
Project Nepal
Raising funds to provide sustainable community and educational development in Nepalese villages
 
This Spring 17 brave souls will be taking on the might of the Nepelase Himalaya. On a 16 day trek the team will be heading to Everest Base Camp (5,364m) and summiting Kala Patthar (5,550m) before heading over the high Cho La pass (5,330) and cross the Ngozumpa Glacier to then summit Gokyo Ri (5,360m). This involves 9 days above 4,000m and spending 5 days sleeping and trekking in the extremely inhospitable atmosphere around 5,000 meters above sea level.

Team Members: Paul Hill, John Barker, Hugh Macquarrie, Nick Downes, Amanda Gray, Laveshni Reddy, Chris Soames, Michelle Pugh, Laura Jenkins, Matt Ingle, Richard Hammerton, Anja Schnieder, Dan Bosomworth, Lee Stickler, Clare Leach, Caroline Haines, Steve Hawke

With this challenge the team are raising awareness and funds for the charity ‘Global Action Nepal’ http://www.gannepal.org/. Global Action Nepal's chief focus is on educational and social improvement throughout Nepal.  Photos of GAN projects in action can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gannep al

You can support us by donating to Global Action Nepal via our Just Giving Site:
http://www.justgiving.com/nepalexpedition