Chiswick Students Excel in Survival Expedition

Teenagers discover what life is like in developing countries

Five year 10 students studying Geography were lucky enough to be chosen to take part in a young people’s expedition over three days in the Lake District.

The event was run by the COINS Foundation, a charity which seeks to raise awareness of what life is like in developing countries.

‘When we first arrived we had to go into the woods to find materials for our shelter. The teachers did bring some tarpaulin and bamboo but the rest we had to find ourselves’ said Dandi Syla.

‘I enjoyed making the shelter and living in it best’, added Marissa Graham.

‘The first night was really freezing and there was a hole in the roof so we had to use the emergency tent. We did sleep in the shelter the second night. It kept the rain out but it was pretty windy inside’, continued Mille Asquith.

The highlight of the second day was a six mile mountain trek. The group climbed Cat Bells. ‘I enjoyed the hike the most’, said Ollie Gullett. ‘The view from the top was amazing’.
Other activities included orienteering and a night walk in caves. ‘They were really spooky’, said Anjni Keeping

The group won best shelter award and came second overall. ‘It was a fantastic achievement for the students’, said Ms Bland an accompanying teacher. ‘ I was really proud of them because they all worked together really well’.

Summing up Anjni said ‘I learnt to work in a team and we appreciated how hard it was to live in this way all the time’.

‘It stops us taking everything we have for granted’, said Mille

‘I would recommend this camp to all young people because you get to experience how people in other parts of the world live which is so different to living in London’ , added Dandi.

November 3, 2010