Romanian Challenge For Lord Bills’ Students (Contributed)

FOLLOWING a year of planning and fundraising, three teams of Lord Williams?s Year 10 students finally made the journey to Romania recently, for a two week expedition.
In all, 29 students had an amazing opportunity to experience Romanian culture, contribute to an isolated village community, trek in the picturesque Caliman Mountains and enjoy the challenges of work as part of a team.
Working with leaders from World Challenge Expeditions and teachers Will Speke, Roz Poole and Daniel Cuell from school, the students took charge of their expedition and shared different roles each day, organising tasks, arranging transportation, balancing their budget and coping with the highs and lows of being away from home.

The expedition started with an early morning flight to Bucharest and then a sleepless overnight train journey north to Transylvania and into the Carpathian Mountains. There were three main phases to the teams? stay in Romania; we started with a trekking phase that took two teams in to Suhard Mountains and one team into the Caliman Mountains. Students covered over 50 km in five days, carrying all their own equipment and food in rucksacks through some challenging but inspiring terrain. Highlights included sharing a meal with a local shepherd who took pity on the group and whipped up a Romania palenta in record time! Despite struggling with blisters and looking out for snakes and bears, the three teams worked together to overcome a tough physical challenge, for which they were rewarded with a night in a hotel in the town of Vatra Dornei ? and a hot shower!

The second phase of the expedition involved spending a week living in a small village called Lunca Ilvei, a further hour?s train journey into the Transylvanian countryside towards the Ukraine. In the village each team spent five days constructing a piece of playground equipment for one of the four local primary schools. Each team designed a different construction and organised some materials that had to be purchased in Thame and taken with us to Romania. The logistics of building a timber construction without speaking any Romanian was a great challenge, and with the help of local children whose English was very good, we managed to borrow local tools and purchase enough timber, rope and other resources that made the projects possible. This stage of the expedition gave students a real chance to mix with local people and gain an insight into their daily lives.

The third and final phase of the expedition was ?rest & relaxation? where all three teams spent a day white-water rafting and had the chance to see local sights, including some monasteries. This was also a chance for the teams to unwind and enjoy the final days of each other?s company before the train journey back to Bucharest and the flight home to the UK.

Overall the students not only had an insight into a very different and rapidly-changing culture, but faced the challenge of working as a team and taking leadership responsibility for themselves.
All three teams will be organising feedback evenings in September where they can tell parents and supporters more about the expedition and share some of the many photos that were taken to record the experience.

All students would like to thank the parents, relatives, friends and supporters who helped us make this expedition possible, including financial donations from local companies.