Two British teachers travel the world to promote education
Two British teachers are travelling around the world powered only by a tiny tuk-tuk’s lawnmower-sized engine in a bid to promote education.
Nick Gough and Rich Sears, from Guildford, Surrey, have already become the first to conquer Africa in their open-sided 395cc rickshaw after setting off from London last August.
They travelled around the UK in the three-wheeler - which can reach a top speed of 34mph downhill - before crossing Europe and passing down through the continent.
They are shipping the vehicle to Mumbai in India after reaching the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, from where they will continue across Asia and around the Americas.
Richard Sears and Nick Gough drive their tuk-tuk rickshaw past an elephant in Botswana
The two British teachers meet the locals in Muyinga, North Eastern Burundi
Richard Sears and Nick Gough on the 'road' in their tiny vehicle in Ethiopia
The pair are aiming to raise awareness of grassroots projects in parts of the world where there is poor access to education.
Rich Sears said: ‘The world’s leaders have made a commitment to achieving universal primary education by 2015 but, despite this pledge, over 61 million primary-aged children worldwide still lack access to any form of education.’
The pair have been visiting schools along the route to assess needs and invite sponsors though their charity Tuk-Tuk Travels.
They joined street children in slums of Cairo, Khartoum and Kampala, visited Congolese refugees in camps in Eastern Burundi and saw how education can help foster peace and reconciliation in Rwanda after meeting two young genocide survivors in Kigali.
Richard Sears and Nick Gough pose in their tuk-tuk
Richard Sears and Nick Gough in Egypt
The campaigning pair tackle a dirt road in Western Tanzania
The duo drive through the Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain
Nick Gough, left, and Rich Sears, right, pictured after the African leg of their world tour
In Northern Kenya and Western Tanzania the team faced over 1,000 miles of dirt tracks, where thick mud, deep sand and large rocks made progress painfully slow.
Despite the terrain, the tuk tuk only only sustained one flat tyre outside Paris and one snapped accelerator cable in Africa.
In Africa the team visited Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi and Botswana before arriving in Namibia.
