I've just come across this photo story on the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23239800
It shows the walk that 11yr old Sylvia has to do each morning and evening in order to get to and from her school which is 7km walk away. With hazards such as snakes, newly-released prisoners, and painfully scratchy trees and bushes to contend with, the remote walk across fields, and then alongside busy and dusty roads is not much fun for Sylvia, but she does it each day because she is so passionate about getting an education
This desire to go to school, and to learn, is something that I have seem time and again on trips with CRED and other similar organisations. Whilst we have problems in the UK with kids being in school and not wanting to be there. In many developing countries the problem is with children not being in school but desperate to be there. An education is recognised by the children as the pathway to a better life, one where you can have a 'proper job', and help lift the country out of poverty, and support others in the local community.
And so they will walk many miles, endure many hardships, go without food, or whatever it takes, so that they can learn to read and write. Its a humbling attitude to see, and one which often brings our kids up short, as they get a fresh perspective on the value of things they take for granted.
The outcome of this for one young lad was very profound. He had been expelled from school, and was on the trip due to being part of an alternative education provision programme. Before the trip he was very negative about school, teachers and the thought of post-16 education was something he didn't want to consider. But after meeting the local children, their attitude to schooling made him rethink his own perspective on being able to go to school for free, and on his return he settled down and focussed on getting some passable GCSEs so that he was able to go on to college, where he still is. It was a great turn around, and all credit to the trip, and the attitude of the Ugandan children that converted his thoughts.
So do check out the photo story, and be inspired, and I pray that on the one hand the Sylvia's of this world find an easier way to get to school, and on the other hand that young people in our country find themselves more appreciative of the incredible opportunities that our free education system provides them with.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23239800
It shows the walk that 11yr old Sylvia has to do each morning and evening in order to get to and from her school which is 7km walk away. With hazards such as snakes, newly-released prisoners, and painfully scratchy trees and bushes to contend with, the remote walk across fields, and then alongside busy and dusty roads is not much fun for Sylvia, but she does it each day because she is so passionate about getting an education
This desire to go to school, and to learn, is something that I have seem time and again on trips with CRED and other similar organisations. Whilst we have problems in the UK with kids being in school and not wanting to be there. In many developing countries the problem is with children not being in school but desperate to be there. An education is recognised by the children as the pathway to a better life, one where you can have a 'proper job', and help lift the country out of poverty, and support others in the local community.
And so they will walk many miles, endure many hardships, go without food, or whatever it takes, so that they can learn to read and write. Its a humbling attitude to see, and one which often brings our kids up short, as they get a fresh perspective on the value of things they take for granted.
The outcome of this for one young lad was very profound. He had been expelled from school, and was on the trip due to being part of an alternative education provision programme. Before the trip he was very negative about school, teachers and the thought of post-16 education was something he didn't want to consider. But after meeting the local children, their attitude to schooling made him rethink his own perspective on being able to go to school for free, and on his return he settled down and focussed on getting some passable GCSEs so that he was able to go on to college, where he still is. It was a great turn around, and all credit to the trip, and the attitude of the Ugandan children that converted his thoughts.
So do check out the photo story, and be inspired, and I pray that on the one hand the Sylvia's of this world find an easier way to get to school, and on the other hand that young people in our country find themselves more appreciative of the incredible opportunities that our free education system provides them with.
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