A GENEROUS-SPIRITED group of students spent a large chunk of their summer building a school for a remote African village.
Seventeen students and two staff members from Therfield School, Leatherhead, visited Ethiopia, for four weeks of volunteer work, trekking and sightseeing.
The trip began with a two-day horseback trek through the wilderness to reach the tiny community of Garamba, in the south of the country.
History teacher Peter Coulson described the village – the party's home for eight days – as a "modest settlement of a few wooden houses, a river and lots of goats and sheep".
"It had no electricity, no running water and, when we arrived, no school," he said.
"Our aim was to help the community build a school building. The village had lost its funding for a government teacher, so the children of the village and surrounding area were without any education."
The students were soon put to work digging foundations, levelling floors, building walls, collecting wood, stabilising pillars and building a fence.
And despite completing the project in one week, they also found time to teach English and play football with local children.
Grateful villagers then performed a thank you ceremony for the volunteer builders, which included the gift of a sheep.
Their work done, the party was able to take a six-day trek in the Bale Mountains, encountering wildlife including warthogs, baboons, hyenas, cerval cats and the rare Ethiopian wolf along the way.
Mr Coulson said: "The trek was tough work of long days, high altitude, wet weather and repetitive food. The team stuck with it though and we returned to our mountain lodge triumphant and proud of our achievements."
The trip concluded with a rest and relaxation week, which included visits to Lake Awassa in the Rift Valley, the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the Blue Nile Falls and the ancient capital of Gondar, with its castles and palaces.
Mr Coulson added: "It was an absolute privilege to undertake this expedition with such self-motivated and exemplary students and they should be very proud of the difference they have made to the lives of the people of Ethiopia.
"Hopefully, Therfield School has had an impact on Ethiopia and changed it a little bit. I know that Ethiopia certainly had an impact on us."
