For the year or so that we spent planning for this trip, our teachers had been drilling into us the importance of raising as much money as possible, in order to do as much for the children at the school as we could. As soon as we got there, we knew that it was all worth it. As our truck entered the school, streams of children started sprinting towards us, the excitement etched on their faces. It was an amazing welcome to the most productive week of our lives.
There was much to be done, and we all desperately wanted to be as helpful as possible so as not to disappoint the children, who had been eagerly awaiting our arrival for months. In teams we set about our tasks, building football goals and netball hoops, as well as painting the inside of every classroom. Seeing the previously austere boys’ dormitories being transformed by a repaint, and the addition of planets and space themed drawings, made everyone so proud of the efforts we had put in, to add colour to the lives of the children who spend so much of their life at that school. It was a pleasure to get to know the kids there, and it was inspiring to see how happy and excited they are, with the little that they have. After a day's working, we were able to spend time with them and play games - many were better footballers than me. This meant that handing over the 50 new mattresses and 100 new blankets was even more heartwarming, because we knew who we were helping, and the joy on their faces as they formed a conga line to carry the mattresses back to the dormitories is something I won't forget in a very long time.
Before I went to Namibia, I had worried about whether we would be able to do everything we had wanted to do. I didn’t want to leave the school with a job half done, but I had the nagging fear that there was too much to do with too little time. This was thankfully not the case, thanks to the brilliant team I went with. There were 22 students on the trip, from two different years, but everyone came together to become one. For example, putting up goal posts requires a lot of digging, which is very difficult when the holes you are trying to make are in the rock hard desert floor! However, this became much less of a problem when there was a whole team taking it in turns to smack the ground with a pick axe as hard as they could! But the team isn't just important for practical work, they are your family for two weeks, and any spare time is spent with them. Some of our group were homesick, but being part of the team helped them get through that, and kept their spirits up, often taking their mind off home through silly games around the campfire in the evening.
Whatever your personality, this kind of trip will be emotional, but everyone felt moved when the time came to leave the school. We had handed over all of our gifts, attended a farewell assembly and said the hardest goodbyes of our lives. The truck left the school and headed off down the road, with everyone inside feeling simultaneously gutted to be leaving the school behind, and immensely proud of what we had achieved.
Now, the 'holiday part' of the trip had begun. This was an add-on to be enjoyed, and a well-deserved break, but of course it was of secondary importance after the incredible week we’d just had.
Spitzkoppe is a set of rock formations, standing out majestically from the flat emptiness of the desert. At night it was stunning, with stars filling the sky like I had never seen before. It was also a great place to contemplate our experiences so far, with the emotion of leaving the school still quite raw. And to finish off, we took a nine hour journey to Etosha National Park. Here, we saw a whole host of animals that most of us had only ever seen in zoos before. We were lucky enough to see giraffes, zebras, elephants, wildebeest, springbok, ostriches, rhinos and lions. I was personally desperate to see a rhino, and was therefore thrilled when two of them arrived at the waterhole outside our campsite. They then started having an argument and charged at each other a couple of times, which made it even more interesting!
Returning home held mixed feelings for me. In some ways, it was nice because it means you can see family and friends again and tell them all about your adventure. However, one day after returning from a fortnight of glorious sunshine in Namibia, you are sat in McDonalds with it chucking it down outside, waiting to see if a cricket match is going to get called off, it's hard to not feel a little disappointed at not still being away!
For a couple of weeks after getting back, I felt a real buzz. I was constantly telling anyone that would listen about the things I’d done, and my brain was full with thoughts of deserts, goal posts and giraffes. Now, with the trip being about two months ago, this has unfortunately been replaced by homework deadlines and Personal Statements, but whenever I think back to it, a whole host of amazing memories come flooding back. Being in Namibia was the most incredible experience of my life, and something that I would recommend to anyone. Just writing this has made me start itching to return, to once again feel the sand beneath my boots, to sleep beneath a vibrant starry sky and to gaze upon the majestic desert landscape of Namibia.
"I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up and was not happy” - Ernest Hemingway
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