We had a great club meeting last Wednesday, in partnership with the lovely residents of Shrivenham. Our speaker was Oliver Thorne, who told us about his visit to Uganda in October, with a group from the Faringdon Community College.
We heard that FCC established its partnership with Cazo Hill school in Uganda 19 years ago and that each year a group of students visits to join in with school activities, learn about the different culture and to make new friends.
Oliver told us that he and his friends learnt lots about different parts of the country, with a visit to the Equator, white water rafting on the Nile and safari trips including an overnight stay on hippo grazing ground!
On a visit to a primary school, some of the FCC team members ran the class activities, using pens, pencils and materials that they had taken with them, in part funded by a donation from our Rotary club. Oliver explained that they had met the lady who founded the primary school, building it one classroom at a time over a number of years, “an example of one person giving back to the community”.
The safari will clearly be remembered for a long time. Oliver described the elephants as “the most peaceful and gentle things” and he spoke enthusiastically about the pack of lions and the leopard in the tree.
Four of Oliver’s friends from the trip also joined us for the evening and each was able to tell us a little about their lasting memories. As Oliver said, it was “a trip of a lifetime”.
Thank you to Oliver and the team for sharing their experiences.
