Heathfield students return from a life changing trip to Africa with The Quicken Trust

Over the February half term, 18 students from years 10 and 12, and three staff members, from Heathfield Community College visited the village of Kabubbu in Uganda to take part in a volunteer project in conjunction with The Quicken Trust.

The Quicken Trust is a Sussex-based charity which is transforming the lives of people living in poverty in the Ugandan village of Kabubbu.

The College has a long-term relationship with the Quicken Trust, and first took a group of students to Uganda in 2011. The trip is a fantastic experience and allows the participating students to witness first-hand the problems that a Third World country faces from an economic, environmental and educational viewpoint.

During the visit, the group were very busy as they led primary school assemblies, arts & crafts sessions and primary literacy lessons. They supported with building a church for the local community, painted a children’s ward in the Health Centre and took part in harvesting and threshing maize on a nearby farm. The group also took part in several development challenges where they were provided with a small budget from their fundraising efforts to help families in need. Students also had the opportunity to visit & give gifts to children they sponsor.

The visit to Kabubbu had a huge impact on the students, this is echoed by their comments below.

“To appreciate what you have – We met a family who basically had nothing, they ate one meal a day and all 8 children shared a single bed but yet the mother still said that they were all happy.” Sam Beeney, Year 12

The trip was a truly unbelievable experience and has been one of the highlights of my life. I would love to go straight back and do it all over again! It was a real eye-opener and has made me appreciate everything I have and not take anything for granted.” Matt Smith, Year 12

‘The experience was life changing and made me think about how lucky we are here’ Charlie Moon, Year 10

“I found the trip to be a real eye opener into the way that others live their lives and how they appreciate every single thing they have. I hope to begin to fully appreciate and be truly grateful for how privileged and fortunate I am.” Jack Ruddock, Year 12

Before leaving for the trip, the group from Heathfield carried out a whole host of fundraising activities as a group and individually to reach their ambitious fundraising target of £10,500 for the Quicken Trust. This included a 12-hour endurance challenge, bag packing at Heathfield Co-op, Quiz Night, Three Peak Challenge, haircuts, a cycle round Sussex, cake sales, raffles and selling of arts and crafts.

Their current fundraising total is just shy of their target amount and they are therefore planning to carry out further fundraising initiatives over the next couple of months in order to reach their target amount. Look out for them packing bags and selling cakes at Heathfield Co-op on Saturday 17 March 2018.

“We would like to thank everyone who has donated and supported us so far, as well as the Quicken Trust for introducing us to such a beautiful village within Uganda. The trip reiterated the unbelievable scale of the achievements of Geoff, his wife Geraldine and all involved in the Quicken Trust project. It truly has been an incredible experience, with a fantastic group of students. They’ve put in so much work since we launched the trip over 18 months ago and deserve everything they’ve taken from it. They should be proud of how they’ve jumped into every part of the trip, from the fundraising to the hard work they put in whilst in Kabubbu. We are certainly proud of them and have thoroughly enjoyed working with them.” Ben Pollard, Heathfield Community College Trip Leader

If you would like to find out more about the trip you can read the group’s daily blog online which can be found using the following link: heathfieldcckabubbu.wordpress.com

Maybe you would like to help them, reach their target for funds, if so you can donate online: mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/heathfieldcc

Thank you to Jess Butler from Heathfield Community College for the contents of this article.