Slinfold scout's Tanzania trip

Maddie Williams, 15, has already begun preparing for the trip which will take place for a month in the Summer of next year.

The five expeditions that will be heading to Tanzania to carry out vital community work such as building medical centres, skills workshops and rejuvenating the Tanzania National Scout Campsite.

Maddie’s expedition will aim to help build a primary school in the village of Madababa and equip the building so they can provide a proper education to children between five and 12.

To do this Maddie and the others on the trip have to raise £3,000 towards the total to help cover the costs of the construction and specialist labour.

The school itself is currently extremely basic and not sheltered. The expedition hopes to provide them with a sheltered, permanent home for education.

She considers herself lucky to be selected for the trip, on which she will be joined by approximately 100 other scouts and scout leaders. The selection weekend took place during November and despite the expedition mainly being from Hampshire Maddie succeeded.

Maddie said she wanted to make a difference to people’s lives:“I believe that this is really important as with education children can go very far, and this will enable them to have jobs in the future and provide for their families, something they may not be able to do with little or no education.”

She added: “The fact that the girls in the tribe have only recently began to be educated has made me realise how incredibly lucky I have been to receive free education.”

The expedition will also see the group do lighter activities such as safari and sightseeing during their month long expedition next year.

At the end of the trip the scouts will donate tents, clothes and other equipment for the Tanzanian scouts.

The group will combine the seven training weekends with fundraising in preparation for this while getting the mandatory jabs. If all goes well Maddie will embark on the trip to provide more education to those in need of it.

She has been with the Scouting and Guiding Association since she was five years old and is currently an explorer.