Four wheeled Animal or Engine powered Vehicle:

If you are one of the following:

• A design Engineer willing to help
• A Scrap merchant willing to help with two back axles, complete with leaf springs and brackets, from an escort van
• A Scrap merchant willing to help with channel or angle iron
• An organiser willing to put together a team of HELP specialists for the project
  
• A group of friends with a special interest in such and willing to assist.
• A dealer in solar power willing to give advice and help with sourcing.
• A farmer in Zimbabwe with donkeys to sell

Then please contact us at helpinternational03@yahoo.co.uk

We need help with the design of a four-wheeled vehicle for transporting our children to school up to 9 miles away.

The vehicle must have the following attributes

• Have fittings for pulling with a powered vehicle such as a tractor, pickup truck, or by animals such as oxen, donkeys or horses.
• Light but strong. Strength must come from how it is put together more than the weight of the materials.
• More than 40cm ground clearance
• Front wheels capable of turning
• Based on the Ford Escort van back axle for both front and back.
• To be used for commercial transport for fund raising for the orphanage when not in use by the children.
• Passenger bay and a separate goods bay (maybe under)
• Maxmum speed of around 50 kmh
• As narrow a range of bolt sises used as possible to minimise the maintenance tool set.
• Commuter bus seats to be used
• Canvass cannopy for protection from the weather.
• Driver's seat in front for when animals are used
• All critical parts to be sourced in the UK and shipped as a flatpack.
• We think it should carry at 12-15 sitting passengers.
• In Africa we have a tendency to overload so factor this possibility in
• The vehicle should last as long as possible
• Spare wheel
• Tool kit locked in a secure box
• Small solar panel for lighting ( bright head light, Emergency repair light, and interior dim light)
• Space for small water tank of say 15 litres.

Advantages:

• Transport for our children going to school
• Cheap to run because it does not fuel
• Employes at least four local adults either part time or full time.
• Local fund raising for the orphanage
• Additional local transport resource to remote businesses and local farmers who would use it.
• Donkeys are available easily in Zimbabwe

Disadvantages:

• Requires four donkeys to pull it. Each donkey costs around GBP 60. We think we would need a total of 10 donkeys to maximise the potential. We think these will be easy to source in Zimbabwe
• Grazing for the animals will be rented from local farmers. Some of these are already supportive of the work the charity is doing in the area.

End of Challenge 1: You can print this page, Email it to others or distribute it to those you know to have the skills required to help. Thank you.

Progress will be logged here!!
All developments till the project is finished will be logged here.

Further details:

We have up 33 children under our care and looked after by supported community members in and around Chatsworth. The new orphanage is ging to take in up to 20 younger ( pre-school- primary school) children. Transport is a problem in the area and we think we can provide transport, employment, and care for the children all in one. The children will use it to go to school, while the adults will use it commercially to improve their own transport of people and goods. It will employ more than four adults. two drivers, two to look after the animals, (feeding, breeding and caring)

When possible, the vehicle will be pulled by a powered vehicle such as a tractor, quad bile or pick up truck. When this is done, the vehicle needs to remain stable on the local dirt roads, which are in bad disrepair, especially during the rainy seasons.