Hamilton College pupils help school kids in West Africa

Sep 24 2009 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

A GROUP of seven school leavers from Hamilton College spent their summer helping youngsters in West Africa get on-line.

The pupils had spent a year raising money for their trip to Burkina Faso and while there they helped to install an internet connection into a classroom of a local school.

They also spent a number of days teaching English to pupils at a school in the capital, Ouagadougou.

Some of the group painted murals on the walls of the kindergarten to brighten up the rooms.

The connection of 12 computers to the internet in the school is already having an impact on the teaching and learning in the school, so much so that the BBC has included an interview with the head teacher in a recent article and TV report about use of the internet in Africa.

The group also spent time in Gourcy (a small town about three hours to the north of the capital) where they taught English in the local school and constructed a bike shed to protect bikes from the punishing African sun.

Seventeen-year-old David Packard of Hamilton who went on trip said: “The trip was an amazing experience and a great thing to do at the end of my sixth year.

“We saw a different part of the world and it really gave me a perspective on my life here in Scotland.

“I really matured during the trip and it has given me a much greater appreciation for education as this is something that people in Burkina Faso value very highly.

“As a result of the experience I feel more ready for starting university in the autumn."