Nineteen of our year 10, 11, 12 and 13 students became Team Mbuzi (Team Goat) this July during an incredible four-week expedition to Kenya! After fundraising and working hard over two years, they reaped their reward with a life changing experience in a stunning and vibrant country.

This was a very community focused expedition, and our students quickly embraced the Kenyan culture as they integrated in different communities within the various camps in which we stayed. They learnt Swahili, climbed coconut trees, made chapatis with a local family, danced and made paper from elephant poo with the local women’s group, taught an English lesson in the classroom, played football with the local children and adult team, mingling with the locals at every opportunity. They met a Masai tribe and joined in their traditional jumping rituals. The level of warmth and friendliness from the Kenyan people will stay in our hearts forever.

Community work was a huge part of our expedition, and we embarked on lots of projects which aided the lives of the local people in different ways. The students helped build a house for a local lady and her family, working tirelessly with mud to build the walls. They also helped to improve a local school by painting classrooms, plastering walls, making concrete and bricks and building a wall to stop the erosion of the school building. In addition, they made elephant and lion deterrent fences, and perhaps the most amusing project was feeding deworming medicine to goats on local farms. Ordered chaos ensued and we beat the record number of dewormed goats for the season, even moving on to deworming some cows!! Go Team Mbuzi!

Finally, the adventure elements of the expedition included scuba and safari. All our students successfully completed the scuba training and ventured into the Indian ocean to explore the underwater world. The buzz was real, and these were precious moments they will never forget. The safari also blew everyone away and words cannot express the feeling of seeing the elephants, giraffes and zebras, for example, in their natural habitats and so close up. Just incredible! They also learnt a lot about the dangers these animals face.

Our students were incredible on this trip. They embodied the CBSC principles of being kind, being the best version of themselves and being gentle with the earth. They always worked as a strong team, supporting and encouraging each other to meet shared goals, highlighting the power of teamwork. They adapted to change and showed resilience as we moved to different camps, adjusting to different customs and environments, developing empathy, respect, communication skills and problem solving. I watched each student develop their self-confidence in one way or another, stepping out of their comfort zone, trying new things and finding hidden strengths.

This expedition has made an impact across cultures: both for the Kenyan communities and our students. It is a significant impact that will last far beyond the students arriving home, leaving our students with skills, confidence and memories to last a lifetime.