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Austin Gibbs

Born 20.01.1977 Shoreham, England
Educated Hwange Primary School, Zimbabwe
Harvey grammar, Folkestone England UCL, Gower street london
Currently PRHO to MR AJ Wilson, General surgey Whittington Hospital London

Previous Africa experience
Resident Zimbabwe 4-8 yrs old
St.Lukes Mission Hospital, LLongwe Malawi
Doddoma Hospital, Doddoma, Tanzania
Extensive travel throughout E and S Africa.

Austin Gibbs - Duncan Bootland - Giles Hazan - Andrew Shawyer
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Duncan Bootland

Hi, I'm Duncan Bootland. I grew up in a village in South East Cornwall and went to Secondary school in Plymouth. Like the other three I took a year out after school (to work in a nursing home) and then went on to University College London to do medicine, qualifying in June 2002.

Whilst at university the four of us undertaking this trip moved in together and subsequently we were lucky enough to visit East Africa in the summer of our third year.It was the first non-package holiday abroad I had taken and opened my eyes not only to the delights of independent travel but also the wonders and diversity of the African continent. The trip inspired my interest in foreign travel and since then I have travelled to Australia and Central America and spent my medical elective in Guyana, South America.

Since qualification I have taken up my House Officer posts. The first six months are a surgical placement at Basildon Hospital and the second period is a medical placement at Eastbourne Hospital. The travails of a junior doctor are well documented but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Basildon. To be finally doing the job I always wanted to do and trained six years to do is an incredibly satisfying sensation.

Since my first trip to Africa, I have always longed to return and had a specific desire to do some charitable or medical work whilst there. This trip offers us the opportunity to do both whilst having an experience that will live with us all for the rest of our lives. We are working tremendously hard to bring this to fruition and any help you can give us is extremely gratefully received.

Austin Gibbs - Duncan Bootland - Giles Hazan - Andrew Shawyer
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Giles Hazan

Born:Age 26
Background:
I was born in London and went to school at Arnold House School in St. Johns Wood, London before moving on to Charterhouse School in Surrey. I subsequently gained entrance to University College London Medical School where I completed a childhood ambition to become a Doctor, qualifying in the summer of 2002.
Since then I have worked in the NHS as a junior doctor in Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot and then in the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

Travel experience :
I discovered a passion for travel shortly after school when I spent the best part of a year out in China courtesy of GAP International teaching Civil Aviation students in Tianjin, near Beijing. Having had a unique opportunity to travel and explore that fascinating area of the world I then spent the summers off during medical school travelling to other parts of the world including Thailand, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and a memorable 3 months travelling from Kenya to Cape Town with the three other members of this expedition, it was this trip provided the inspiration to return to the African continent.

The expedition:
This trip should provide the opportunity of a lifetime enabling a chance to deliver the much-needed vehicles and equipment to some communities that desperately need them and experience some of the intrigue of the African continent along the way. This expedition will also give us a unique chance to work alongside the existing health community battling the ever-growing impact of HIV/AIDS and gain experience of the impact of health education in rural areas. This type of experience is increasingly vital to those working in any branch of medicine and should provide a fundamental insight into the real problems and needs faced day to day by these communities.

Andrew Shawyer

Age 26
Background:
I was born in Kenya and spent my early years growing up just outside Nairobi. I went to a school called the Banda until I was eleven and my family reluctantly moved to Oxford. After two years at The Dragon School I went to St Edwards School, Oxford. A gap year spent teaching in southern Africa was followed by University College London Medical School from where I qualified in the summer of 2002.
I am currently working at Ipswich Hospital, having completed a 6 month post at The Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester.

Travel experience:
As a family, we travelled to many parts of Kenya and down to Malawi during my childhood. My gap year was spend teaching in a rural, government secondary school in northern Namibia which was a challenging but very rewarding time. I spent the school holidays travelling throughout southern Africa. Since then I have been back to Africa five times, travelling to a variety of countries from Eygpt to South Africa. I have also been fortunate enough to travel to Australia, The Caribbean, South America, The Fast East, much of Europe and across Canada.

The expedition:
For my part, the inspiration to undertake this trip came following time spent by myself and Austin visiting rural hospitals in Tanzania and Malawi almost 4 years ago. The conditions and resources in these hospitals where incredibly basic at best and frankly shocking in some places. Two or three seriously ill people often had to share a bed. Their family members would sleep on the floor below as it was either too far for them to return home or they had to stay to feed their relative since the hospitals could not afford to buy both basic medicines and food. My hope is that the vehicles and resources we provide will be a small step to combat this suffering and that the relationships and links formed will develop and be the beginning of a much larger-scale initiative to support the work of Hope for Africa

Austin Gibbs - Duncan Bootland - Giles Hazan - Andrew Shawyer
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