Work in Garriana, East Timor has finally been completed!

The official classroom opening is scheduled for early August but if you feel like lending a hand and teaching some English you can scoot over there now and see the results of last year's Desert Dash.

What better way to build a school than send a group of guys and girls on a 43 hour non-stop cycle across the Nullabor Desert?

In 2008, Pain For Gain, in conjunction with East Timor based aid organisation Love Life & Health, sought to build and equip an entire school in Garianna, East Timor. This remote village located in the rough hills three hours east of Dili is home to around 250 students who are undertaking limited study in a school large enough to cram in 100 children. The current building is made of bamboo and corrugated iron and is completely open to the elements, making teaching impossible during the seven months of the year the country experiences the wet season.

Pain For Gain is excited to announce that construction of the new school building is now completed. The kids of Garianna now have a shiny new school thanks to the many who gave to make this dream a reality.

Pain For Gain had numerous volunteers in this years’ quest to educate underprivileged children. From parties and fundraising pub crawls in Queensland to hard yakka on bikes, in boats and on foot, here are a couple of the main events of 2008.