TriumphRally.org - Triumph Rally

Gemin-i.org and the OLPC

So far, we have only managed to raise 5% of what we were hoping to raise for Gemin-i.org. It’s a real shame, because they do such awesome work. We’ve all been busy with work, exams and job applications of course, but we promise to do some hard fundraising work soon (like driving to Mongolia isn’t gonna be hard enough.. ). In the meantime though, I thought I’d tell you a bit more about what they do.

Gemin-i specializes in developing innovative web based solutions to improve education in the developing and developed worlds. It works at bridging cultural, religious and digital divides between disparate peoples around the world and lends a voice to young people, raising their concerns with policy makers. All the money we raise for them will go to helping school children in remote areas of Mongolia. To do this, they are supplying schools with OLPC (One Laptop per Child) laptops.

The laptop gives learners opportunities they have not had before. Tools such as a Web browser, rich media player, and e-book reader bring into reach domains of knowledge that are otherwise difficult-or impossible-for children to access.

They are also getting schools connected with their Rafi.ki and Reflect online networking communities. Rafi.ki supplies the children with instant messaging, video/audio conferencing, email, forums and blogs. Here you can find lesson plans on important topics like Slavery, Climate Change, Conflict Prevention, Recycling, Modern Foreign Languages, Creative Writing and much more. School-children from all over the world can talk to each other and provide help and support. Currently it is being used in over 80 countries, including the UK. Reflect is an online community for teachers, where they can share lesson plans, ideas and projects, and improve their own teaching.

I strongly believe that the most important thing you can give a child is education, and Gemin-i is doing a fantastic job in bringing top class resources to underprivileged children.

The laptop not only delivers the world to children, but also brings the best practices of children and their teachers to the world. Each school represents a learning hub; a node in a globally shared resource for learning.

If you share this view, and want to help this cause, please visit our Justgiving site.

Not (Even) A Triumph

Well unfortunately the other Triumph mentioned fell through, and there’s a sad realisation that Not Yet a Triumph are not going to be able to go in a Triumph.

As time goes on and we have less and less time to work on the car, the state in which we would need to find a Triumph gets better and better, and more expensive. I asked Karl Dandridge - the guy who so kindly offered to give us workshop space and help in his Triumph workshop, whether he thinks we could find another one at such short notice? I said it needn’t be perfect, or even a herald, just solid; he replied that they weren’t best known for that! And they were getting harder to find. Usually they’ll look much better than they are - something we had already found out the hard way with Tallulah. And we had already spent out what we had for a car - that money has gone, and the only way we can afford to still go is to use the money set aside for fixing up Tallulah.

We know it’s been less than a week since she was stolen, and we would love to find her, but even if we find her in exactly the condition she was in, which is unlikely, we have lost the time we had allocated to work on her - we spent the week visiting scrap heaps and cars and talking to neighbours. We have degrees to finish and full-time jobs, so both time and money are becoming a real issue. The theft could not have come at a more critical time, and the irony is that she would have been safe at Karl’s workshop by now for us to start work on her next week.

So the final contingency plan comes into play now - we had always been offered my brother’s car now he is getting a new one, just in case we couldn’t finish Tallulah in time (the faith our families have in us!). The major advantage to us now is that we could pretty much drive it there tomorrow without any modifications; it’s a ‘93 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.7TD. We’ve had it in the family since new and it’s done (to my recollection) less than 90,000 miles. This model has the Isuzu diesel engine, good for at least 300k miles and even though it’s from the 90’s is still a relatively simple set-up. More space, reclining seats with head-rests and 4 doors all make this a much more attractive option with our sensible hats on. It will have more value in Mongolia too, as the spares for a very common Japanese engine will be no doubt easier and far cheaper to find than a Triumph, and it only has no value in this country because so many of them are sill around and it’s not the newest model.

All-in-all a tough decision, but we decided on the challenge before the car, and as much as we want to drive a Triumph on this once-in-a-lifetime journey, there will be other opportunities to prove the reliability and worth of older cars.

New Car?

Despite the bad news, we have no intention of giving up and shall be going to Mongolia in July - there is no question of that!

We are ever hopeful that Tallulah will be found, and in good condition. But at this stage in the day, as I am sure you’ll understand, contingency plans must come into play and surprisingly, It looks like we may have already found another car to go in; another Triumph from the 70’s of course, but sadly not a Herald. We came to love Tallulah and this other car will be no replacement.

Updates will be provided soon; a lot is in the air still and understandably we can’t commit to anything until we are sure.

Challenges Ahead

We watched “the Long Way Round” yesterday and we realised that we have a lot to do before the rally. So far we have:

• Bought a car (back in November, and drove it from Bristol to Coventry)
• Taken the car apart (to inspect the state of it and convert it to a saloon)

Which leaves us with a very sad looking front of a car.

Charity:

Together we have managed to raise over £200 for charity, but we want to raise over £2000! On the 10th of February we went to the Triumph Show and Spares Day near Coventry. We had a nice big stand with two tables and put up posters and a huge banner. This is what happened:

• We talked to a lot of people
• A lot of people told us we were crazy
• We talked to a couple of journalists
• We had loads of fun walking around and looking at some awesome Triumphs
• We raised aprox. £3

Although we didn’t raise much money, we did have an good time, especially talking to the guys doing the Triumph Trans American Charity drive. However, we have a lot of money to raise before July and I’ve got a full time job, Chris C and Chris R have got their final university exams - so fundrasing will be more difficult than we thought!

On a positive note we have had a lot of publicity, in the Coventry Telegraph, The Coventry Observer, we’ve been on the radio, the awesome people behind OLPC News (thats One Laptop Per Child) wrote a blog entry about us… but none of this publicity has seemed to generate any donations.

If you’d like to donate to our charities, please visit our Justgiving page. Thank you!

Kit Preparations:

We still have not done any real preparations for the trip. We need vaccinations, we need visas… Getting a Russian visa will be the worst, and especially for me as I have to get it from the Russian Consulate in Norway. Who, can you believe it, do not accept applications by post. And I can’t really afford traveling to Norway just to get the visa, nor will I have any time off to do it, I’m already using all of my holiday allowance on the drive to Mongolia. Sigh.

If you think you might have some kit to spare, please see the KIT NEEDED page. We need all sorts of stuff. Parts for the car, camping equipment, medical kit… Everything will be very much appreciated!

P.S. And of course there is the issue of me not actually having a driver’s license. The media keeps brining that up for some reason. But I’m learning. I’ve had 6 two hour lessons so far, with BSM. Last time I learnt to do a sweepy reverse to the left. And my theory test is coming up soon, so wish me good luck for that! Alright, back to work…