Students from Weymouth's All Saints School go out to Africa (From Dorset Echo)

Students from Weymouth's All Saints School go out to Africa

7:00pm Saturday 20th March 2010 in

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PUPILS from a Weymouth school have been learning about the way of life in Ghana during a 10 day cultural exchange.

Students from All Saints School visited Bimbilla in the north of the country, spending time with other schoolchildren, teachers and tribal elders.

The students pitched in by pumping water at the local well, pounding yams and speaking about their lives in Dorset as well as planting trees to try to slow down the rate of deforestation in the area.

All Saints School’s head of art Brian Smith led the group of four 15-year-old pupils during their visit.

He said: “We were there more than anything to look at the other children’s way of life, at their traditions and lifestyles and to compare the hopes and expectations of our young people with theirs.

“We weren’t there to build anything as such but we did plant some trees that will produce yams and produce firewood.

“There is a massive problem with deforestation in that part of the world.”

The trip was funded by the British Council and posed a number of challenges for the pupils that required them to think on their feet.

Mr Smith said: “They did really well. There were times when the pupils had to stand up and talk about their lives here to a hundred students or more and to the local elders, but they took it all in their stride.”

The All Saints School youngsters also served food to local children and took a hand in pumping water from the local well and mashing yams for food.

They met local tribal chiefs, members of non-governmental organisations and the director of education for Bimbilla.

Mr Smith added: “The people we met out there were fantastic and it was a real privilege.

“It’s a relatively poor area, but the locals there are not really victims in any way.

“They’re poor in resources but they are very rich in their culture and their traditions.

“A lot of the pupils and all of the teachers we met out there are very well educated.”

Students from Bimbilla are due to come to Weymouth in September as part of the continuing cultural exchange.