By Rachel Bowen.
This year’s trip to Ethiopia began with a three-hour drive to Assela to the South of Addis Ababa where girls and staff met children and teachers from the Elementary School where they would be working for the project phase of the trip.
The girls were overwhelmed by the welcome reception of singing, dancing and applause and they were presented with some beautiful flowers. The girls then experienced their first taste of Ethiopian food – injera and tibs – as part of a welcoming ceremony. They also experienced the famous Ethiopian coffee ceremony- a big hit with the group!
Then began four days of hard work at the school, helping transform classrooms, plant trees, build a toilet facility and playing with the school children. It was amazing seeing how much could be done with the £8,000 that we had raised before coming to Ethiopia. Despite not knowing much Amharic and the local children speaking very little English, we managed to play football, sing songs and have a lot of fun together.
After working at Dosha, the group headed South to experience even more of Ethiopia. Their tour included visiting the Dorze tribe, going hippo and crocodile hunting on Chamo Lake, watching hyenas being fed at Aregash Lodge and lots of long mini-bus travel with exceptional tunes to keep the girls entertained!
Miss Emily Wright, one of the trip leaders, said: “The girls were amazing and we all had a life-changing experience that will certainly stay with us forever.”