Ealing Students Return From India

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Renovated Himalayan primary school for Fulcrum Challenge

Four students from the Ealing area returned home safely at the weekend from a life changing experience renovating a Himalayan primary school in the remote village of Kurek in the Spiti Valley in India. With them, they brought back heart warming stories, captivating images and friends they will never forget, whilst also adopting leadership skills for life.

The year 12 and 13 students (aged 17 and 18) from The London Oratory School, Cranford Community College and Langley Grammar School joined a larger group of twenty-two young people from around the Heathrow area. The trip was organised by the charity Fulcrum Challenge and sponsored for the third year by the BAA Communities Trust, who donated £25,000 towards the challenge.

This was the culmination of a 9 month leadership programme for the students, who had each raised £2000 through their own fundraising activities such as a sponsored leg wax for one of the boys and a ‘battle of the bands’ event organised by three of the students.

Three BAA representatives went to Himachal Pradesh state alongside the students to support and mentor them with the aim of each student achieving an ASDAN Certificate in Personal Effectiveness, the equivalent of an A grade AS level. This qualification will not only help them when applying to university but will assist them throughout their careers and equip them with the skills to become future leaders.

“Our activities will make a significant difference, not only to the residents of the Spiti Valley, but broadening the horizons and increasing the skills and experience of the local Heathrow-area students who were able to complete the trip. ” Sarah Porretta, BAA’s Head of Community Relations and a group mentor said.

During the visit, the students managed the project under their own steam, designing and planning the renovations, haggling for building materials in the town of Manali, liaising with the teachers at the school and managing aspects such as healthy and safety on site and welfare and hygiene in the camp. BAA donated health and safety equipment such as eye protection and strong work gloves and these were donated to the villagers at the end of the project - the gloves being a particular hit with the ladies who work in the fields.

Natalie Queffurus, a London Oratory School student from Ealing said she raised money for Fulcrum by getting a part time job, cake sales and helping to organise a concert at school. “From the Fulcrum experience I feel I have improved on money management, leadership skills, group work, and am more confident. My most memorable moment was trekking which was physically challenging and it was something I hadn’t done before. The whole experience was absolutely amazing, almost life changing,” she said.

During the visit the students trekked to Chandratal, also known as the ‘Moon Lake’ set on a large meadow between two mountain ranges. The region experiences heavy snowfall and is usually cut off from the rest of India for eight months of the year.

August 22, 2008