Summer 2015 saw us lead a month long charitable expedition to Uganda with Camps International & KitAid. This is the 4th trip of its kind at The John Warner School after previous expeditions to Kenya, Borneo & Ecuador.
This was mark and I’s first visit to rural Africa so we remained open minded about what to expect during the course of the month. Our itinerary was tightly planned and included a mix of rewarding hard labour (Building classrooms), teaching, wildlife conservation, a 4 day mountain trek to the summit of Mt.Elgon and some R & R to recharge the batteries including a safari in Uganda’s largest national park, a River Nile cruise to Murchison Falls where we got to spot hippo’s and elephants and a visit to the famous Ngamba Chimp Sanctuary. From the onset we knew this trip would be different, our team became a tight network of personalities almost instantly, they worked fantastically together, looking after one another, completely committed to the task at hand. They took it in turns to be day leaders, honing their management skills to look after their team and control the logistics of the day in a place where they felt entirely outside of their comfort zone. Our team rose to the challenge, offering support to one another. We were more than impressed. Our camps international expedition leader was Dr. Samantha McElligott, one of the most experience expedition leaders in her field. Having completed 20 expedition before ours, there is not much that she hadn’t seen or experienced. Her knowledge of group dynamics & leadership were second to none meaning we could really learn from her experiences. She bought a lot of fun to camp, keeping the team smiling through the whirlwind of emotions an expedition brings. We were a tight unit the entire trip and we consider ourselves extremely privileged to have been able to spend a month with her. As a group, our most memorable part of the trip was week 2 on Hairy Lemon Island where we had the privilege of working at the Kirindi School Project. Although the days were long and the sun beat down relentlessly our students went on an emotional rollercoaster. The school at Kirindi is extremely needy. Set up by the director Patrick in his own back garden, there was one brick classroom surrounded by classrooms made from palm leaves where children wrote in the dirt with a stick. The school was so poor yet vibrant, students were the happiest children we had ever met and they appreciated everything. They had nothing, but had so much to give. 60 children crammed into lessons, yet there was a deadly silence, each and every one of them hanging onto our every word. Although their learning environment is less than ideal, the level of intelligence was astounding. Education is the only way out and believe me the grab it with both hands. Our team were given the chance to teach, many having their first experience of standing up in front of 60 sets of eyes. I was humbled to watch as our students came to life, growing in confidence with every minute that passed. With the level of poverty in front of them our team threw themselves into the project work, most days covered from head to toe in concrete dust. Our biggest job was getting Team JWS to take breaks from the sun and stay fully hydrated with Dioralyte. (Not the easiest of tasks if you have ever drunk one!) In the week we spent at Kirindi we were able to lay a concrete floor, finish building and plaster the outside classroom walls. As you can imagine the difference the new classroom will make to school life is huge. When it rains, Kirindi virtually floods, leaving the lessons under the tree’s a complete wash out and lots of muddy children. We were rewarded for our hard work with 5 nights stay on Hairy Lemon Island whilst at the project. Hairy lemon is situated in the middle of the River Nile, meaning we had to tackle the strong currents via long boat to commute to work in the morning – quite an experience! The Island itself is an Eco-Island. We washed in the Nile after work, recuperated in hammocks and watched the sunset on the water every night. We slept in safari tents and were woken up at sunrise with monkeys playing in the trees. Quite a unique experience for us all. If you have ever visited Africa I think you will join me in feeling that the children are what really makes it so special. It was heart breaking yet heart-warming to be surrounded by such happy faces in such dire poverty. They make the best of everything and appreciate the smallest of things. Team JWS fell in love with the children the second they ran up to greet us from the bus, running down dusty roads just to wave and to say hi to the ‘Mzungu’s’. We were lucky enough to team this expedition with the football charity KitAid who were able to supply us with x50 footballs, bibs, cones and x5 footballs strips to take with us. This meant we were able to teach some PE with real equipment. This was often the students first ever taste of a PE lesson. I will never forget the looks on the children’s faces when they were presented with a real football. We broke a record when we offered to teach a sports lesson and were presented with 350 children! Organised chaos but nothing other than an absolute joy. There is so much to say about this trip but to sum it up, it was a truly unforgettable experience. Memories made to last a lifetime. Team JWS excelled themselves, we have never been more proud of a group of students. They just got it from the second we touched down in Uganda and it was humbling to see them grow into young adults as the weeks passed. They were a truly exceptional team and we feel lucky to have shared such a life changing experience with them. Quote from Dr. Samantha McElligott, ‘I have worked with school groups for the past 15 years, and have led over 20 worldwide expeditions, but I was so impressed by this outstanding team, that I would go as far as saying this was the best expedition I have ever been part of. I found your students to be incredibly hard working, positive, committed, engaging and full of personality. They are remarkable and amazing individuals, and I have never before encountered such a naturally cohesive, caring and loyal team. They were an absolute delight to work with, and I was particularly inspired by the dedication the students demonstrated during our time at the Kirindi School project. Their tenacity and ability to encourage each other throughout the trip, and particularly during the tough trekking phase, was highly commendable’ Trip Highlights 1) Reaching the summit of Mt.Elgon 4321m high. We battled with altitude sickness but were the only school to reach summit as a team. An extremely proud achievement for us all. 2) Donating toys, clothes, footwear & sports equipment to the schools. Lots of elated faces. 3) Helping communities, making friends with locals and getting to grips with life in rural Uganda. 4) Lots of Animal Encounters - Waking up in a Rhino Sanctuary to a Rhino joining us for breakfast outside camp. A leopard protecting the team at night and a Hippo walking through camp whilst in tents on safari. 5) Listening to locals stories, being so emotionally touched that we were reduced to tears. We met some truly exceptional people. 6) Doing what we do best, Teaching! 7) Travelling across Uganda in a classic African over landing truck. Possibly the most remarkable vehicle we have ever travelled in. 8) Smiling Children everywhere! If you are interested in finding out more, there is an entire collection of photo’s, videos and comments on the trip facebook page @JWS Uganda. Expedition movie is coming soon! Miss H Wood-Thompson This summer there was a story in the news about an American dentist who hunted and killed a famous male lion in Zimbabwe. The lion, known as Cecil, was well known amongst wildlife tourists on the national park where he had lived. Reports of the killing by dentist Walter Palmer from Minnesota spread rapidly across news channels and social media and the hunter soon became the hunted. While the killing of wild animals for sport is clearly barbaric there are other sides to this story that are worth consideration.
What is the difference between the killing of this lion and the daily killing of wild animals on big game hunts? It is believed that 600 lions are killed every year for sport - so why have we focused on this one example? Many believe humans have dominion over all other animals on the earth and so hunting them for sport is fair game in the same way that animal testing and mass farming are. Do we have the right to treat animals in whatever way pleases us? Is the vilification of the dentist on social media justified? How far should his public shaming go? What are the dangers of being shamed in public? What has happened to Walter Palmer since this story broke? |
AboutThe Moral Haze is a blog that contains thoughts on LL issues from JWS staff and students Archives
March 2016
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