Students return from Ghanaian Exchange
Posted on Friday 6 July 2007
Fifteen students have recently returned from Aburi Ghana where they have visited the College's new p
Farnborough Students visit new partners in Ghana
Fifteen students from Farnborough Sixth Form College have just returned from a visit to their new partner school in Aburi, Ghana. Their visit was the first in a new link to foster learning, understanding and friendship between staff and students at the College and the Presbyterian Technical School, Aburi about 50 miles from the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
The Farnborough students were treated to a celebratory welcome by the Aburi students, dressed for the occasion in traditional African tribal cloth, and a warm welcome from the Principal Mr Peter Logo, who had visited Farnborough Sixth Form College earlier in the year.
Among the sixth form college visitors was 17 year old Becky Cagney of West Heath Road, Farnborough. She said, “Within minutes of arriving at Aburi, we were made to feel at home and we found that, even though there was a lack of equipment and resources, everybody was very eager to learn.”
The Farnborough students got involved in a whole range of activities from Home Economics to Woodwork and from Christian Religious Studies to a typical French or English grammar lesson. Farnborough students helped enrich the curriculum by teaching some unavailable subjects to their new friends such as Spanish, which was picked up with eagerness and astonishing speed by the Ghanaian pupils.
Catherine Cole, Assistant Director of Teaching for Learning at the College, accompanied the trip. She said, “The main curriculum focus of the visit was to enable our two groups of students to discuss the grave dilemma of the freshwater shortage which faces both Ghana and the UK.”
After a week of washing with buckets, many Farnborough students had learnt for themselves the necessity of water preservation in Ghana and the way in which water is squandered in the UK.
Jamie Fisher, 17, of Ascot said, “We visited the local water source in Aburi and saw for ourselves the potential for contamination which threatens the local people.”
Jamie added, “It brought home to us how much of a precious resource water really is and
It was humbling to see how our Ghanaian friends could live so happily on such a modest water supply.”
Personal Tutor Becky Sharp also accompanied the trip, She said, “We were all very sad to say goodbye but we know that the link between our two schools is now strong.”
She added, “When we look back on this trip, all of the students will remember the friendships made with their brothers and sisters in Ghana, as the Aburi pupils so often referred to us, which will last for years to come.”
Jamie said, “We learnt a lot from the trip but the main lesson, not only for us Farnborough students but also for the Aburi students, was one of c lose and lasting friendship, regardless of social status, upbringing or skin colour”.
Captions:
Farnborough Sixth Form College students Jamie Fisher and Becky Cagney with students in Ghana.
Amy Pippard, 17 of Farnborough, and Kim Jardine, 17 of Yateley, in a tutorial with students in Ghana.
