Millfield – Ethiopian experience for Sixth Form pupils

25 Feb 2016

During half term, sixteen Sixth Form pupils travelled to Lalibela, Ethiopia. The group spent a great deal of time in The Central Lalibela High School, which Millfield financially supports. Over the past few years the school have raised money to provide textbooks, build toilets, water and electricity support and created two IT Suites with 55 computers.

Lower Sixth Adam Halewood said: “It was amazing to see the difference we can make to the student’s lives and how appreciative they are for the help we give.”

The pupils took over old Millfield sportswear to distribute to all the students and to the school itself, as well as some brand new football boots donated by Grace Walker and Adam Halewood. With these shoes Millfield pupils were able to kit out the Lalibela 1st XI team who are doing well in the local, and now national, leagues.

During their visit the pupils also went to a local market accompanied by students from Lalibela High School, were entertained by local dancing and music and visited the national heritage rock churches of Lalibela, which are cut out of the solid rock of the hillsides.

During three days of trekking the group walked 50km, handing out tennis balls brought from school to the surprised and delighted children working in the fields along the way. The group stayed in two mud hut locations during their trek, and visited a number of primary schools on their way to hand out exercise books and biros which are very much in demand.

The returning pupils have taken a lot from their experiences in Africa and the school’s next projects will be to expand the IT equipment and facilities for the pupils and get the high school on the internet for further learning opportunities.