One very cool thing I learned while in Scotland is that there is an annual fundraising event for charity in which students hitchhike from England to Morocco. Mark did it last year, and I am seriously considering doing it during the Easter break. On average, it takes 4-5 days and it is done in groups of at least two. Each participant is meant to raise £500 in pledges for community development projects in Africa.
Seeing somewhere outside North America or Western Europe is a travel priority of mine, and I am especially keen on at least setting foot in Africa. This might be an especially interesting way to do so, and one guaranteed to generate some good stories.
Unlike Kilimanjaro, which will take a lot of planning and quite a bit of money, this could be done fairly easily and cheaply. All I need is a bit of registration money, a bit of food money, and an adventurous friend or two to come along.
That is an awesome idea. Do it.
Ooooh, I’m very jealous. I wanted to do this years ago with my friend Olympia and they told us that they wouldn’t allow us to participate formally because a team comprising two women apparently isn’t ‘safe’…because women are automatically weaker or more vulnerable than men, or something, even though statistically the most likely people to be victims of violence are actally young men and not young women. Or maybe ‘cos they were feeling patronising, sexist and irrational. Anyway, it sounds awesome & you should definately do it if you can, not least because Morocco is by all accounts a very cool place to visit.
Sarah,
I can’t really speak to the wisdom or ignorance behind a policy of not letting groups of only women go. I imagine the organization is quite concerned about public relations and, were anything to go wrong, they could hold up such policies as a defence.
In any case, if you find yourself in the UK around Easter time, you are very welcome to come along.
If I were there, I’d do it with you in a second.
m.
So you’re suggesting that the refusal to let women participate without male accompaniment is meant to yield better PR? Surely the rule suggests a) the organization is sexist, and b) hitchhiking must be pretty dangerous if such a rule is deemed necessary (after all, we’re allowed to walk home at night on our own, even when drunk).
I suppose we should be jolly grateful that Oxford admits us gals at all, especially since some of the tutorials are UNCHAPERONED! ;-)
Sarah,
I am suggesting that if they let a group of two young women go, then something bad happened to them, they would find themselves in a world of terrible press, being accused of all sorts of irresponsibility.
I am simply trying to comprehend what they are probably thinking, rather than defend the wisdom of their choice.