A construction director from North Berwick is combining his passion for cycling and his job in housebuilding to head to Malawi to help build new homes for vulnerable people.
Andrew Fergusson (55), known as Gus to his friends, works for Robertson Homes and he will be joined by his son Glenn, who also works for Robertson Homes as an assistant site manager, on the trip in July this year.
It will be his third visit to the African country where Gus and a group of 18 friends are hoping to build up to four new homes in just eight days in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees. The project is part of charity Habitat for Humanity’s work to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness by giving hope to some of the world’s poorest people.
Gus said, “The homes we will be building offer safety and security to some of the country’s, indeed the world’s most vulnerable people. It can be an extremely dangerous place for people, especially women, in their current situation and the properties we will build are obviously watertight, have locks and are a safe place for these people, where floods and typhoons are also prevalent.
“I have been lucky enough to visit Malawi on two previous occasions, both of which were wonderful experiences and showed me the difference we can make by just doing what we do every day, giving families a safe and secure place to call home.”
More than half of the 4.8 million housing units in Malawi are substandard homes. Typically, these houses are made of mud walls and grass thatched roofs. To meet current housing demand, an estimated 21,000 new units will have to be constructed annually in the next 10 years.
Gus and Glenn’s trip is self-funded and they need to raise £10,000 between them to cover the cost of flights, accommodation and subsistence. To help finance it, Gus has signed up to compete in the Vuelta Al Teide ultra cycling race in Tenerife next month. The 175km race around Mount Teide – the third highest volcano in the world – includes more than 4,400 metres of elevation gain, equivalent to more than half the height of Everest in a day.
He added, “I feel incredibly privileged to be returning to Malawi again, especially this year being joined by my son Glenn. On both of my previous visits we have managed to build four brand new homes which were all genuinely life-changing for a number of families.
“I have previously completed the Barcelona and Edinburgh marathons to raise sponsorship funds for my last Malawi visit and whilst the gruelling Vuelta Al Teide will be hard work, it will all be worth it to see the positive difference we will make to people’s lives.”
Gus has a fundraising page for anyone wanting to support the Malawi visit: https://giving.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/pf/andrew-fergusson-malawi
