STUDENTS from The Purbeck School Sixth Form immersed themselves in African culture in a ten day trip to Rwanda.

After fundraising for a year and gaining the monetary support of the Wareham Rotary club, Wareham Church and Humphries Kirk Solicitors, the six students and one teacher travelled to the capital city Kigali, followed by visiting the town Rwamagana, which lies on the eastern side of the province at the end of October.

Assistant headteacher Simon Holmes accompanied students Abi Allen, Livy Ashworth, Emily Ford, Immie Hegarty, Jasmine Pinder and Erin Snook on their journey through the country.

The group visited the sites that told the story of the Civil War.

Rwanda was scarred by genocide in 1994 when the Hutu, one of the two ethnic groups that inhabits Rwanda, attacked the other, the Tutsi.

The Hutu majority massacred the Tutsi after the Hutu President was assassinated.

After learning about the history of Rwanda the students began working in schools to educate some of the world’s poorest children.

Despite the immense challenges that Rwandan schoolchildren and their families face, the group encountered nothing but kindness, enthusiasm and the warmest of welcomes from everyone they encountered.

The Purbeck students devised and delivered a number of engaging lessons for students in the primary and secondary schools.

Mr Holmes said he was incredibly proud of the students’ commitment and ability’ and added that the students were “the finest ambassadors our school could have”.

Many of The Purbeck School’s staff pledged to make one £15 payment to contribute towards supporting a year’s education, including a free meal every day, for four children at Rwamagana’s Excel School.

Anybody interested in allowing some of the poorest children in the world to receive a good education is invited to contact Mr Holmes at sholmes@purbeck.dorset.sch.uk