African Adventure Day 2 (Part 1)

Day 2, and another emergency has arisen. Three of the teachers are ill. Mr Mansell has ameobic dysentery, Mr Ngwenya has typhoid and Mrs Exton has been struck down with cholera! Thankfully the emergency relief team were able to diagnose their illnesses quickly and know exactly which medicines they need to make them feel better.

The doctor was called for, but due to a flash flood, his jeep was swept off the road. Luckily the key to the medicine box was attached to a life-buoy and was discovered floating in the nearby pool. A bridge will be needed to reach it though...

Meanwhile, the problems in the village still need solving. We began by trying to piece together what may have happened to the villagers. We discovered the remains of some temporary shelters near to the village, and decided to build our own to see if this might shed some light on their disappearance.

Next, we tried to figure out how to reach that key...

A collection of wood was swept onto the bank of the pool by the floodwater, and we lashed it together to form a rudimentary structure that would allow us to cross to the life-buoy. 

It took a great deal of teamwork to put the bridge together, but it supported the weight of every member of the team...

Even me!

The key was retrieved, but there is no sign of the medical box. Perhaps it will be found later.

Mosuwe.

African Adventure Day 1

What an exciting day we have had so far! We arrived here in Africa just after 9:15 this morning. Coming from three different organisations, we first needed to get to know one another and begin learning to work as a team. We took part in a series of team-building activities designed to get us thinking, listening and communicating.

From crossing a crocodile-infested swamp, to solving a maze, we were challenged to cooperate to be victorious.

We are here as an emergency relief team, but the exact cause of the emergency was still unclear. We needed to get our bearings, and understand the lay of the land, so we investigated the site through a series of orienteering and exploratory missions.

We toured the grounds where we found a large pond and a number of other unusual features.

To discover the source of the emergency, we finally entered the village and looked around the surrounding area. A minefield was cordoned off beside the huts, and not far away we discovered a graveyard.

It appeared that the villagers had deserted the village, following an attack by some soldiers some weeks earlier.

During a break, the United Nations dropped a box and key attached to a flag. Inside we found a DVD which explained further the challenges facing us in the days ahead. We have to solve a range of problems - more about this later.

We mapped the area around the village, so that we could easily find our way in the future.

This evening, after a spot of relaxation on the beach, we enjoyed a warming meal in our accommodation.

We have some fun planned for this evening - a quiz about Africa. Even emergency relief teams need a break!

Mosuwe signing off.

More information can be found at:
http://bedfieldschool.blogspot.co.uk
http://helmingham.suffolk.sch.uk/category/news/

UNICEF Sponsored Swimathon

This Friday, Blue Class set out for a very special swimming session: our sponsored swimathon in aid of UNICEF. 

We chose as a class to support UNICEF after learning about the plight of children around the world who are taken into a life of forced labour. The class were passionate about this issue and wanted to help take a stand against it. 

We began by writing to our MP, Dr Dan Poulter, who supported our campaign with a letter to the Home Office about child trafficking in the UK. We recently received a response from the Home Office, which will soon be added to our campaign page on the school website. 

The second stage was to plan our sponsored swim to support the work that UNICEF do around the world to help end child labour. We set ourselves the ambitious goal of swimming a total of 13 miles (a half-marathon) as a class. Our swim session was just 40 minutes long and we needed to complete a total of 1040 lengths as a class - an average of 40 lengths per person. I am pleased to report that we achieved our goal, swimming 1078 lengths altogether - that's 13.475 miles!

A big thank you to everyone who has sponsored us. If you didn't get asked for sponsorship and would like to support our cause, please make a donation to UNICEF on our behalf and let us know so we can add your donation to our total. (jamesmansell@earlsoham.suffolk.sch.uk)

We will be collecting in money over the next couple of weeks and will announce the total raised on the blog when it is all collected in. 

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A relaxing afternoon in the sunshine

A relaxing afternoon after a busy morning of tests...