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Prince Mufwalera and Wilson Pistoni from the Karonga Prevention Study, introduced me to two victims of Lymphatic Filariasis in Timot, Malawi. Agnes only contracted the disease recently but Franwell has been affected for the last 20 years, since he was 15 years old. It’s affected his marriage, work and his financial status.

The state of Agnes and Franwell’s legs cannot be reversed, but LF can be caught and prevented in its early stages. SCI are setting up a new project in Malawi to help people like Franwell and Agnes so they don’t have to suffer like they have.

Please help them do so by sponsoring me at
http://www.justgiving.com/sci-worldcup-cycle

Now I’m home I’ve managed to upload the videos that I couldn’t whilst in Africa.
Sorry for the delay!!!!
Debrief on it’s way too!

I purposely don’t walk under ladders or step over 3 drains as it’s unlucky. Dickon said the other day that maybe i should, as I still manage to receive more than my fairshare of bad luck.

I’m currently stuck in Joburg-I dropped Laura off at the airport and showed her the lump on my leg (which i thought was a bruise from being slightly inebriated at the football) and thought it best to get it checked out. I normally ignore these things. He kindly took me to the doctor, who said I have ‘cellulititus‘ (nothing to do with the hamburger eating variety cellulite) and if i’d left it 2 days longer I’d have been in hospital on a drip.
Lovely.

Now trying to find somewhere to put my leg up-and catch a train to Durban
If you feel sorry for me or know of anyone in South Africa who may be able to put some of us up then please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated.

Half way in reaching my target to help combat neglected tropical diseases in Africa. You can still sponsor me here
Thanks for everyone who has supported us so far. Not long now….

The charity I’m raising money for, SCI, aim to control and eliminate some of the most prevalent Neglected Tropical Diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. 500 million people on the continent have 2 or more NTDs. SCI works with governments of affected countries towards treatment and protecting populations from debilitating and life threatening consequences.

After crossing the Tanzanian/Malawian border it was only a one day cycle to the small town of Chilumba, on the coast of Lake Malawi, where we were met by  Dr Bagrey Ngwira. A 3km downhill stretch into town allowed us to enjoy the sunset reflecting off the lake, whilst freewheeling at 55kph+ (still concentrating Mum!!) Malawi is a low-income country characterised by a heavy burden of disease. Dr Bagrey works for Karonga Prevention Study (KPS), a programme which focuses on epidemiological research, and is planning to work with SCI’s director, Alan, towards a project to combat NTDs in Malawi.

Lymphatic Filariasis

Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis)  is a painful and disfiguring disease. It’s caused when worms (carried by mosquitoes) nest in the lymphatic system and breed. The lymphatic system is an essential component of the body’s immune system. These worms can live in the human host for several years before any symptoms are shown.

Franwell contracted LF when he was 15 years old. The 35 year-old small-scale farmer used to work on a maize farm, but his condition prevented him from continuing after his leg began to swell, further reducing his household income.”It’s more painful when it rains, and I walk through the fields. The rain makes it swell even more,” he claims. Franwell was once married, but now lives alone. His wife’s parents collected her after he couldn’t afford to pay her dowry.

Agnes

400m down the road from Franwell lives 60-something Agnes. When I asked her age she claimed to be in her 30s. Many people in rural villagers don’t know their birth-date so they often guess, but good on Agnes for knocking off 30 years! Agnes has suffered from LF for 8 years and her left leg began to swell last year. She lives next door to her husband and his new wife. “It’s very painful and I can’t do anything, but it’s fortunate I got it after I had my children,”says the ever so chirpy young lady.

Come with me

His relationship and income may have suffered from his condition but LF hasn’t stopped Franwell from riding his bike. When we were visiting Agnes, Franwell peddled past on his way to church. I called out to him to come with me to South Africa, but he declined!!!

I’m over half way on my target so please keep sponsoring me and help prevent people from getting to the stage of Franwell and Agnes.

If you want to learn more about Limphatic Filariasis please click here

I’ve made a video about Franwell and Agnes, but as you can probably tell I’m getting slightly frustrated with internet connections, so I’m going to upload the backlog of videos in South Africa.

Dear all who’s reading,

My mother and best friends have been nagging me to update my blog. I tried and tried to upload videos and photos to no avail…AND then mylaptop caught a virus. So, spending 3 hours a pop in net cafes whilst the sun was shining and the world was in action,with no results,  did not appeal.

However, now I’m nearing that Cup KO I’m going to catch up. Again, appolgies for any lazy mistakes-but bad keyboards and that egg timer ticking on the screen puts the pressure on my typing tapping mittens. No excuses!!! 

Thanks for everyone who’s still following-I’ll update you in just a tick

As mentioned below I woke up on Wednesday morning and told the group I was going back to Arusha. We left Arusha a week ago, and as it was the weekend were unable to sit in on a case. Subsequently are time spent here was occupied with the Spirit of the Nation, Konyagi, which made me very ill!

Being so close, I decided I just had to go back.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an International court, which was set up by the UN in November 1994 to judge those responsible for the Rwandan genocide. In 1994 almost 1 million tutsis and moderate hutus were slaughtered in 100 days.

I sat in the trial of four seniour govenrment officals. The trial of Karemera et al commenced in 2003, with the prosecution saying that it was going to prove that the accused bore individual criminal responsibility for the genocide and related crimes committed in Rwanda in 1994. I was in the press and public room, which was sectioned off from the court room.

I was sat directly behind the witness Nsengiyumva, already convicted for crimes committed in 1994. The windows were tinted but I could clearly make out his large, unmodest sized character and his bulging neck. His experience in these trials showed through his strong, concise answers. Still denying he was not present at many of the events in question.

There have been many calls and pressure for thr ICTR to produce faster results and complete trials and they may seem frustratingly long but there’s reaons for the extensive period.

The case of Theoneste Bagosora, Ministry of Defence, et al, which came to an end in 2008, took 409 trial days, saw the evidence from 242 witnesses and the Prosecutiona and Defence poured through 30,000 pages of transcripts, nearly 1,600 exhibits, and 4,5– pages of parties of the parties final submissions.

Many of the cases are met with challenges: the accused are often residing in far off places; material is translated/interpreted into 3 languages: French, English and Kinyarwandan and Witnesses need to be brought from all over the world.

I’m now off to pick up my camera-cost $100 to fix-boooo, and catch up with the others. Write again in Malawi-and hopefully the Kenyan boxing and running videos will work.

Peace out club scouts xxx

http://www.justgiving.com/sci-worldcup-cycle

My mum has asked me to inform anyone reading on where everyone’s been and why we’re not altogether.

So….

Duncan left us Ethiopia to catch up with his girlfriend, who’s working as speech therapist in western Kenya.

Dicky and Laura climbed Mount Kenya

John W went to Nairobi early to meet his mum, who was there for 1 day.

John Keyes and I cycled to Nairobi together,and then I went up to Eldoret.

AND….we’ve picked up a new team member, Chris Westwood, who we met in Gonder, Ethiopia, but joined us in Arusha.

The team are back together now-apart from me, who woke up one morning and decided to go back 250 miles to Arusha, to see a case at the International Criminal Triubnal for Rwanda. But, I’ll be back with them in 2 days.

41 days until the World Cup!!!!!

After visitng the magical town of Bekoji and witnessing the humble roots of many Ethiopian champion runners I had to be fair and do the same with their rival neighbouring nation, Kenya.

A popular area for Kenyan athletes is Eldoret, western Kenya, in the Rift Valley. Eldoret hit the head lines two years ago after the post election riots.
Angry mobs doused a small church with petrol and set it alight after they cliamed the votes were rigged, killing more than 30 women and children. Things are much calmer and it was safe for me to visit.

Not many athletes actually originate from Eldoret, but many end up here as it’s where camps, coaches and clubs are based. I didnt’ realise the detour would be so long, 8 hours, this is when it’s a good idea to go the toilet before you set off, especially on an untarmac’d road.

I met my fixer, Meshack Sang, a 30 year-old retired athlete. ” I started running because I wanted to go to university and my father couldn’t afford to pay.” Meshack won a scholership to a Swedish university, from where he competed all over Europe and the USA. ” I was able to send money home to help pay for my younger brothers and sisters to go to school,” the kind and patient aspiring journalist said.

GOD TV

Meshack has started his own sports show on SYR TV, equivalent to UK’s GOD TV. The show is only one month old and has become quite a hit. He was very keen to get me on to be interviewed.  One journalist, at the station, suggested I applied for a job there. When I replied that I wasn’t a strong Christian, could it be a problem, she was flabbergasted and asked me Why? To which I was speechless! ” erm.” Although, the staff were the sweetest staff you could imagine in a broadcast station so I may consider that one.

Phenomenon

Due to the debate surrounding the disproportionate success of certain populations in certain events, in 2004, The University of Glasgow launched a new Research Centre, International Centre for East African Running Science (ICEARS) in an attempt to rigorously study this phenomenon. ICEARS is hosted by MOI Universtiy, in Eldoret. Dr Edwin Anjila, ICEARS Director, says “there are many factors making these athletes great: altitude, poverty, education, role models and genetics.” He also told me that he wasn’t supporting England to win the World Cup, but South Africa!

From leaving Meshack’s at 6.30 am it took 3 matatus (bus), 1 cycle taxi, 1 moto taxi and 5 hours to finally arrive at Mumias athletics stadium, just in time for the 1500m.

Turnout

There was a huge turn out. Taxi cyclists and motos had abandoned their work and bikes were piled on top of each other under acacia trees. We had to squeeze throgh the crowds to find a spot to watch the race.  Although, Meshack managed to get us onto the track. First class viewing.

I met the man behind Kenya’s world class athletes, and recent sweep of the Warsaw World Cross Country Championships,  Coach Letting, and Olympic 800m gold medalist, Pamela Jelimo.Whilst Usain Bolt was visiting Kenya last year he posed the question “why don’t more youths take up sprinting?” Long distancing running is more attractive as athletes see more success in their role models. On my way back to Nairobi I was not aware there was a lack of Kenyan sprinters, as I was a bus full of them. They may not come from the same long distance running region, but they’re around. I gave them an incentive to make the 2012 Olympics- If you come to London 2012 you can stay at mine and come for tea!

Now that’s an incentive for anyone to win a gold!

There is a video for this-after uploading it 17 times in Arusha, I wrote the below instead and will give it another go in Malawi….Oh African internet connections

Kenya is well known for their long distance running. However, there is another sport that has earned them an Olympic gold medal….. boxing. They dominated African boxing in the eighties, winning 8 gold medals at the 4th All African Games in 1987. However, the nation hasn’t seen much glory since this era. In Milan’s World Boxing Championships, last year, the entire ten man team were knocked out in each of their first rounds.

Last year, Women’s boxing was added to the London 2012 program as it was approved by the International Olympic Committee, with several other events. On a very wet  Sunday morning in Nairobi, I  went to visit Kenya’s boxing champing and first ever African female to hold an international title, Conjestina, the hands of stone, Acheing to find out what’s happened to Kenyan boxing and  and the prospects of its women boxers. I took a moto, which got lost a number of times through the rural backyard of Nairobi.  A few muddy dirt tracks and splattered trousers later I arrived at Lucky Summer gym, on top of a hill which could see the skyline of Nairobi as a blur in the distance mixed with a touch of smog.  Next to the gym was the community’s church which had churchgoers spilling out the door, clapping and singing  hymns. Conjestina’s flat was one of 10 above the gym. It’s how you would imagine the roots of a champion, not the home of an existing one.

As mentioned earlier, Kenya wins numerous medals, titles and records for track running. Much funding and support is granted in the industry. There is little money and time spent on other sports. Conjestina has built her own federation from her winnings and is her own boss. “Imagine how great I could be if I had a manager,” she says as confident as you could imagine a boxer saying. The hands of stone missed church  to meet me in her empty gym,  but  she said the federation is normally full with kids,   aspiring to be like her. I asked her if she’d liked to see any changes in her federation. “What do you think?” she replied. ” This isn’t a gym of a world champion!”

I met her 10 year old son, who was running around, between the church and gym, playing with other kids, as the adults listened to their pastor. “Do you want to be like your mum when you’re older?” I asked. ” No, I want to be a doctor!” Conjestina says she wants him to be whatever he wants, and it seems he’s inherited her confidence and assurance.

Articles about the champ covered the walls: posing with president Mbeki, ambassador for Alive and Kicking-anti AIDS campaign, and a threat to fight Laila Ali, Muhammed Ali’s daughter. Achieng says Laila is the greatest female boxer who’s ever lived, and would like to meet her in the ring one day.

The 29 year-olds mother wants the nation to take boxing seriously. She’s won numerous titles on her own accord but could strive to do even better if their was more interest in the sport. As we walked through her village heads would turn and locals would high-five Conje, as they call her. On getting to her gym people asked me to say hi and mimicked the boxing action, when i said where i was going.  It’s evident she’s a sporting celebrity in Kenya. She just needs more support from the government to promote Kenyan boxing internationally.

Achieing can’t compete in London 2012, as she’s not an amateur, but she has some women in mind. “I think we have a good chance, I know of some people who will prosper. I know Kenya can prosper.” I suggested that I’m an amateur and that perhaps I could make it to the ring in 2012 for Britain if she gave me some tips. Unable to even put the gloves on she had her doubts, but continued to give me some good pointers as we skipped around her punching bag.

The Kenyan men may have lost their punch in Milan last year, but with the hands of stone hot on the heels in coaching up and coming females, fingers crossed it could put Kenya back in the ring.

Everyone knows that water in toilets spin one way (clockwise) in the northern hemisphere, and another way (anticlockwise) in the southern hemisphere. This is due to the Coriolis effect. However, it’s rare that you get to witness both movements of the experiment on the same day.

Our friend, John, showed us exactly how the Coriolis effect works on the equator.