Gap years for adults designed to fight poverty in African countries

A NEW company set up by a former commercial property specialist in Yorkshire is set to offer gap years for adults.

International Common Sense, based in Otley, will begin by offering trips of three weeks or longer to Malawi to get involved in social projects to help a country where poverty is widespread.

Ian Pennington, who founded the business with wife Judi and Henry Mussa, a Malawian MP, said they hope to offer trips to other African nations, such as Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia in future.

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“We feel Malawi is enough to start with but on the assumption that works well we will look at other sub-Saharian countries.”

International Common Sense knows Malawi well through Mrs Pennington, a former Conservative agent in the UK who has worked as an electoral campaign adviser to African political parties.

Mr Pennington, who previously worked for HBG, now known as BAM Properties, said they expected customers to be aged between 35 and 65, including the recently retired. “People are mindful of spending in the main but look at Yorkshire Forward and Leeds City Council – there are a lot of people being made redundant who will have big packages. They will see this as an opportunity.”

The firm is expected to turn over about £123,000 for 2011-12, its first full year of trading.

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Mr Pennington said the work done by volunteers would be mainly in the south of Malawi, near Blantyre.

“It is not difficult to find areas in Malawi (that need help). The country is poor and 85 per cent of people are subsistence farmers and they need training and to be given basic business skills.”