NGor

UK SCHOOL VISITS IFA NGOR

A group of ten girls and two teachers from the Bishop Wand Church of England School have recently returned from the first leg of an exceptional exchange with IFA Ngor school in Dakar, Senegal. The two schools have been linked up under the British Council’s “Dreams and Teams” project, which aims to build the leadership skills of young people whilst involving them in international links to further their cultural awareness. Students from both schools worked hard together during a busy week to organise a sports festival for young children in the community of Ngor, a friendly village just outside Dakar. The festival itself was a huge success and featured a football tournament, sack races, dance competitions, swimming races, skipping and even the appearance of some very famous Senegalese wrestlers. Hundreds of spectators lined the pitch set up on the local beach and an incredible drumming group kept everyone’s energy levels up in the heat of the afternoon. The festival was a huge success and the group of students who organised the event are very proud of their achievements.

Aside from the hard work, the Bishop Wand students also visited Île de Gorée, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where they learned about the slave trade and experienced first hand how life might have been for the slaves who were separated from their families and sent abroad. A visit to Bandia Nature reserve also held big treats for the group; the girls were barely two metres away from two one month old giraffes, and they also saw two 3 tonne rhinos, water buffalo, some very rare antelopes, giant tortoises, monkeys, crocodiles and even a couple of warthogs in the café at the end of the visit! The visit made national tv, when they were filmed at a big wrestling meet in Senegal; it’s a hugely popular sport out there and the girls very much enjoyed the build up, full of drumming and dancing, as well as the wrestling matches themselves.
All in all, it was “the trip of a lifetime” according to the students who took part. The welcome shown by the whole community was very warm and the group spent time with the local tribe’s chief, as well as having lunch with the Mayor. They are all firmly of the belief that they “won’t take anything for granted again”, and hope that more students will be able to enjoy the opportunity to experience such a different way of life in the future. For now, the two schools are busy planning for when the Senegalese students make their return visit to the UK in October.

Click here to visit 'photobox' and view photos of the trip.