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Ormiston Bushfield Academy volunteers build school in Ghana

Students from Ormiston Bushfield Academy have returned from an expedition with World Challenge to Ghana, where they worked with the local community to build a school, as well as taking the time to explore the country’s diverse culture.

The World Challenge adventure took the students, aged between 16 and 17, to the country’s capital, Accra. From there they travelled to the fishing port town of Cape Coast, and on to the rainforests of Kakum National Park.

Every World Challenge expedition sees the groups engage in a project that gives back to the country in which they’re visiting. The Ormiston Bushfield Academy team was no different and spent six days in Elmina, working within a community, aiding the construction of a school that would bring educational opportunities to local children. That project continues today.

This year was Ormiston Bushfield Academy’s maiden voyage with the World Challenge scheme. Students Patrik Ferenc, Natalie Renton, Sheryl Plumb, Jasmine Studholme, Ellie Griffith, ex student Lauren Collison, and teachers Debra Harris and Tony Cook ventured to Ghana with funds they raised themselves through various fundraising projects.

The trip had a huge effect on the lives of the students and teachers involved. Debra Harris, a teacher at the Academy and one of the leaders on the expedition, said: “The World Challenge expedition was life-changing for all involved. To truly experience a diverse culture like the one we encountered in Ghana, is a once in a lifetime opportunity that the students grabbed by both hands.”

Sheryl Plumb, 17, says it was a life-changing experience: “It was an incredible journey, and one that has ignited a passion in me. I’m now at college studying Travel and Tourism, which is something I’d never thought I’d be doing of before this trip.”

Prospective post-16 pupils got the chance to investigate the next expedition at the Ormiston Bushfield Academy opening evening. The expedition will see students in years 10, 11 and 12 being offered the opportunity to travel to India and engage in a range of activities, including a spice trek, another community project, and elephant-riding.

World Challenge is the UK’s leading provider of school expeditions with over 26 years of experience and provides educational expeditions in the developing world which aim to teach students life skills, as well as leadership and team skills, outside the classroom.