Fulcrum Challenge fun and games

It is impossible for me to explain the last two weeks. It's something that I will remember for ever. Words (especially mine) will not do the experience justice, but I'll give it a go.

I'm writing this whilst sitting on a sun lounger next to the 'biggest' pool in Arusha on a Sunday afternoon watching local residents and NGO workers splashing about in the pool. We are camping in the grounds of a stunning safari lodge for a few nights collecting ourselves after spending two weeks on Fulcrum Challenge 86. The students and leaders left for the UK on Friday evening and we decided to stay on for a few extra nights after our Tanzanian adventure before we head to Rwanda on Monday.

For those of you who don't know about Fulcrum, Sarah and I volunteered to be leaders on a challenge which brought 23 17 or 18 year olds from various London schools to trek to a community project site and complete a building phase of a new library for a secondary school in Magara, a small town in the shadow of the Rift Valley escarpment.

There were four other leaders who had the difficult job of shepherding the students from the UK to Kilimanjaro airport where we flew up and met them from South Africa. We went via Nairobi where we transferred onto a very dodgy flying baked bean can - broken seats, no overhead lights, and drop-down trays which dropped down whether you liked it or not, bruising your knee caps in the process. It did not instill us with confidence, but we lived to tell the tale and met up with the others.

Sarah has done two Fulcrum challenges before but this was my first experience. I was pretty scared not knowing how I was going to get along with the students and I was definitely out of my comfort zone. I also hadn't appreciated the extent to which the trip was mainly about the personal development of the students, the community project and trek being a a tool through which teamwork and leadership were developed.

Here are my highlights of the trip.

Camping
Sarah and I had a sleeping tent and a dressing tent, side by side. Compared to our Oh Vee the Vango 2-man tents we were issued had palladian-like proportions. Sleeping out in the African wilderness, amidst giant hopping crickets and countless other creepy-crawlies and - in the case of Tarangire - in amongst the lions and elephants, was very cool.

Trekking
The sweeping Savannah which awaited us on our first trek was very special. Knowing that the next landmark on the horizon- perhaps a single tree - was a few hours away with nothing in between was very weird. We were totally exposed beneath a huge sky and the baking hot African sun so hats, sunscreen, water and yet more water were the order of the day.

Clive
Our man on the ground, an Englishman that has lived in Africa for years, was quite a character. He looked like a cross between Indiana Jones and Ray Meers, always wore safari shirt and shorts, leather hat, carried a big stick, drank no water and wore no socks. He was the font of all Tanzanian knowledge and had a unique sense of humour. In the evening he slipped into something more comfortable - a sarong and African shirt and retired to his tent for a tipple.

The African support team
These guys were quite simply magnificent. Mainly local men from Arusha, they fed, watered us and went far beyond the call of duty in caring for us and our charges. What was fantastic to see was the students interacting with them - playing frisbee, learning Swahili and sharing jokes. There were tears all around when we waved them off in Arusha.

The waterfall.
Surely this was a film set? Right next to the project site camp was a breathtaking waterfall plunging from the top of the Rift Valley escarpment, a torrent of cascades and rock pools which culminated in an invigorating shower plunging into the soft yellow sand. The whole team, and Sarah dived straight in and little did I know as I paddled in the shallows, trousers rolled up, minding my own business, that the kids were scheming behind me. Next thing I knew one of the lads had knelt behind me while another pushed me from the front and I was submerged and surrounded by 23 laughing teenagers, and Sarah. I think is what you call male bonding (the gits!)

The school
Magora Secondary School had around 200 students who were crammed into impossibly small and dingy classrooms. I loved the excitement on the kids faces when we arrived, their singing, their smiles, their interaction with our students. It was all very humbling. Our project was to build roof tresses and fit the windows and doors to a new library block, following in the footsteps of three previous Fulcrum challenges and to be followed by one more. We completed the planned work extremely quickly so we had to think fast and find some extra projects for the students. This included teaching lessons, which they all really enjoyed, and taking on some further projects such as a mural, painting one of the classrooms and building benches.

The benches
This project pleased me no end - our brief was to design and build benches for an outdoor classroom. A bit of a busman's holiday for me but it was a real pleasure to guide the students through the design process and it was a real high point to see ten sturdy blue benches lined up in the sun on our last day.

The local kids
One day Sarah sat in the shade chatting to some young boys that were watching us work. They were only too pleased to teach her bits and pieces of Swahili and were fascinated by her camera, especially the video function. I took the camera and we asked them to perform so I could video them. Sarah and the four little boys put on the a great show of the silliest dance I have ever seen - all of the boys pulling faces and laughing so hard they were in helpless hysterics.

Church service
On our final Saturday on the project one of the classrooms was taken over my local villagers for a church service. People old and young came from far and wide to join a singing and dancing extravaganza which lasted for most of the day and was a perfect musical backdrop to work to. We joined them for a while and it was an amazingly uplifting experience. I'm not sure the constant hammering and sawing helped them but it didn't seem to bother them either.

The snake
It's not often that you find a black mamba. It's also not often that you see a bunch of over-excited locals grabbing anything they can to capture and kill the beast which was hiding under a pile of wood in the library, just a few feet from where the students were working. Apparently this incredibly poisonous snake claims the lives of many school children every year so they weren't going to mess around. Of course, once the snake had been beheaded our students thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Marshmallows on the beach
Thanks to Radha for having her 18th birthday while we were away we had a fantastic party. Sarah and a few of Radha's friends planned a surprise birthday party which included a cake made on the fire, and toasted marshmallows on the fire on the beach by the waterfall. Yum. The event was made all the more special by the singing and dancing by the support staff and the whole event turned into a big rave up on the beach with everyone joining in with the African songs. All this without alcohol!

The students' show
As part of the project handover our students put together a fantastic show which was extremely well received by the Magora students. It was like X-factor without the annoying panelists. 10 out of 10 guys - you were great.

The headmaster's speech
Severin gave a very personal, heartfelt and touching speech to all of us which emphasised the special bond that had formed during our time at Magora. He based it on the words around which we had created a mural on one of the classroom walls. Friendship, acceptance, respect, peace and unity.

The students
I didn't quite know what to expect at the beginning of the trip. I sometimes felt that they or I didn't get it, but as time went on I realised that all of the students were developing day by day. Some of them had to go through some real lows, but it was to their credit that they pulled through and showed such strength of character. Through the challenge they have been given such an opportunity to grow, and I think most of them grasped this and will not look back.

Saying goodbye
As usual with goodbyes I seem to take it all in my stride at the time, shaking hands and hugging everyone. However, true to form, as soon as we waved everyone off and the last jeeps disappeared into the dust, it all became too much. Sarah and I had a big hug and I had a bit of a cry and we both asked "what the hell are we going to do now?". After two and a bit weeks of non-stop energy and action it was really quiet and our little tent looked so lonely in the corner of the campsite.

I really hope that we will keep in touch with some of the students and leaders. What I realised is that it was an education for all of us, and something I hope to do again in the future.