Next week, a group of twenty will fly out from London Gatwick airport and will embark on a journey to a small rural village in Uganda, named Kabubbu. The flight will take six hours to Dubai, and then a further six from Dubai to Entebbe. Entebbe is a town situated on the banks of the gigantic Lake Victoria, named after the former Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India.

Whilst in Uganda, the group will be fulfilling a number of different tasks. They will be leading assemblies and literature lessons (mainly based around the components of cars) at the local primary school; they will be aiding construction work in the town as there are always repairs and alterations required, particularly as the rainy season approaches; they will also be working with a small family during the nine days that they are there for and will be using a small amount of money to make a significant change to their lives.

I think it’s great that students from our school are going out to an emerging economy and I really hope that they are able to make a difference” said Isobel, a student at the College.

In the group, there are six members of the Heathfield Sixth Form, three teachers and the remainder are made up of Year 10s. Over the last eighteen months, they have all been working very hard to raise the money that they’ve needed. Of their £10 000 goal, the group has raised a sum of £8 126.72, but that will not stop them from going. If anyone cares to donate further, the MyDonate page for the group is located here. They’ve done climbs, runs, a 24-hour endurance challenge – in which they ran the full length of Uganda using gym equipment and the school playing field – as well as bag packing.

I hope that they will have the best of times in Uganda, and that they all come back with a new sense of themselves. I am sure they will all enjoy the trip and all that remains I for them to travel safely.