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A dry run for money
Graduate students acclimate to sparse levels of comfort, but present and former Fermilab doctoral students Matt Leslie (Oxford University, CDF), James Monk (Manchester University, DZero), and Simon Waschke (Glasgow University, formerly CDF) are reaching for extremes: Taking a 1987 Renault purchased for £100 (US$180) and driving it 3000 miles from Dover, England, to Banjul, Gambia, on the west coast of Africa. The three-week journey, beginning December 26, includes a two-day dash by convoy through the Sahara Desert.
The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge 2006, also known as "The Ultimate Banger Challenge," is raising funds for charities in Gambia, one of many African nations decimated by AIDS. The '05 Challenge raised more than £142,000 (about $255,000). Leslie admits gravitating toward the adventure aspect, but his Team Gila Monster hopes to raise £3000 for SOS Children's Villages. This Austrian-based charity offers permanent homes and stable environments for children who have lost their parents.
"It is a very sobering subject," he says, "but I've since learned a lot more than I used to know about the problems in Africa, and my priorities have changed a little. SOS Children are helping more than 45,000 children orphaned by the African AIDS epidemic, and they need all the support they can get. AIDS rates are approaching 40% in some areas of Africa, which means there are villages with no adults left. When you hear this kind of information, it suddenly becomes very hard to think of a more deserving cause."
Go to www.gmonsters.com for more information on Team Gila Monster, the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge 2006, and how to support the SOS Children's Villages.
Mike Perricone
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