Two Abbots Bromley School Sixth Formers, Annushka Stanley and Elizabeth Lindsay, have recently returned from a 17-day trip to South Africa. Working with South African Schools Project (SASP) they have had the opportunity to see for themselves some of the difficult issues faced by many poorer members of the South African community, as well as working with groups offering educational support to some of the most deprived children in the country. They were based in Jeffery’s Bay in the Eastern Cape whilst working for the project. Annushka and Elizabeth are the ninth and tenth AB students to have this challenging experience.
During their visit they spent time working in a remote farm school, teaching the children songs, dance and craft skills. They wrote a play for the children to perform and also organised a sports day.
They spent time working in a children’s refuge, and in a township home-school support group. Earlier in the year Abbots Bromley School hosted Stefni, SASP’s Student Ambassador, and Annushka and Elizabeth were able to visit her in her township home.
During the second half of their trip they experienced some of the beautiful sights and amazing experiences offered by the Rainbow Nation. Spending the last few days in Cape Town enabled them to visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 18 of the 27 years he spent in prison. They also visited Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope.
Throughout their trip they were guided and supported by Tom and Saff Campbell, SASP’s Project Directors in South Africa, and Mr and Mrs Johnson, teachers at the school and trustees of the charity. Abbots Bromley School has a long association with the charity and has helped to fund many of its projects over the last eleven years. The charity’s logo was designed by a pupil. The charity’s Chairman is Canon Bill Weaver, a former Provost of Woodard Schools.
Mrs Johnson said, “We are all very proud of Annushka and Elizabeth. They were, at times, in very challenging environments and they 
worked incredibly hard. It has become a tradition for the visiting AB girls to leave a ‘legacy’. Theirs is to provide personal hygiene kits for 12 teenage girls each month which is such a wonderful idea.”
Elizabeth reflected upon her trip. “I expected to see poverty and was prepared for this. But I was not prepared for the extent of the deprivation and inequality that I witnessed. However, having the opportunity to work with children from these impoverished communities gave me an understanding that all the children I met were extremely talented with the potential to succeed. I now completely understand the importance of education and am thrilled that I have been able to contribute in some small way to their lives. I wish them all the best for the future.”
Annushka commented. “I was astonished at the cultural divide, the numbers of people living in abject poverty, which was worse than I expected. I was inspired by Vanessa, who works to solve problems at an earlier stage through her work with the home-school project.
The experience has helped me to clarify my thoughts on my own future education.”
Both girls are now thinking of ways that they can use their very successful visit to make a difference in the lives of others less fortunate than themselves.