Mark Hall students will soon have the opportunity to take part in the trip of a lifetime.  In 2012 some of our students will be travelling to Kenya for 28 days to take part in activities to support local communities and the environment.

The 21 students will stay on purpose built camps in the heart of the communities and have the opportunity to learn about the country, the wildlife, conservation and the people.  They will take part in a Community Project that could include improving access to proper sanitation, clean drinking water, healthcare and education.  The exact nature of the project work the students will participate in while in Kenya will be decided later depending on what is needed by the local community.  Recent projects have included building a nursery school for 150 children, constructing a water bore-hole, making school desks, refurbishing school classrooms and planting trees.  Whatever the project it will have a lasting impact on the local communities and environment, as well as our students.

Personal challenge is an important part of the expedition and our young people will have an opportunity to try a range of adventure activities.  As a result of the time they spend living and working in a totally different environment they  will learn about the way of life in Kenya and develop a cultural awareness and respect for how other people live.  They will develop teamwork and communication skills and realise they can face challenge, overcome it and have greater self-confidence and resourcefulness.

They will be spending much of their free time over the next 12 months raising the money needed as individuals, but also as a group and part of the challenge is to do this for themselves.  They will, of course, get support from family, friends and the school, but they will need to take the lead in organising events and fundraising.  They will also be contacting local and national businesses to help support various events and the students are having weekly meetings to plan events and brainstorm ideas.  A car-wash and BBQ and T-shirts designed for Father’s Day have already taken place.  New designs are already in the pipeline to make the fundraising T-shirts an ongoing project.

There is currently an area of the Mark Hall website which is under construction dedicated to the expedition where you will be able to see how they are doing, how you can help and all the events that have been planned.  You can leave comments there and ask us questions and we will reply as soon as we can.  You can also contact the expedition team via email at: Kenya@markhall.essex.sch.uk

Click on any picture and it will take you to the Expedition area of the website.

One of the challenges our students will face during their 28 day stay is climbing Kenya’s highest peak and experience the exhilaration of trekking the second highest mountain in Africa.  Mount Kenya stands at 4985 metres and is an amazing 5-day trek in some of the most beautiful scenery Kenya has to offer.

On their final summit day, an early start will see them on the summit circuit path, which is arguably the finest walking trail in all of East Africa.  Experience stunning views, tarns, glaciers, ice carved rock formations and precipitous valleys, before ideally reaching Pt. Lenana to see a spectacular African sunrise.

The next 12 months will be hard work for the students, but the benefits will be huge.  They will have opportunities and challenges normally faced by students in their gap year from University.

We are on the web:  www.markhall.essex.sch.uk