In the morning, once we had recovered from the sunrise, we ate and begun the next stretch of our trek to the town of Landruk, where for much of the journey we were followed by a very sweet Tibetan Mastiff belonging to the owners of the hostel we had stayed at before. This stretch of the trek was uphill mostly, but we still managed to take in the grand view. Upon arrival at the campsite, we found everything was already set up for us by the porters, who had somehow managed to carry all our baggage to the campsite hours before we had even arrived. Our next trek was to Gandruk, the second largest village in the area, where we visited a small museum and a Buddhist temple, both of which helped us understand first-hand what life is like for the rural people of Nepal. As we made our way back from the museum, it began to pour with rain but that did not dampen our spirits, as that night we had a sing-off with some of the Nepali guides. They sang a vast array of traditional songs while we sung a range of western classics such as ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis. Our final day of trekking was a very steep descent that took us to a ‘substantial’ bridge at Naya Pul, where we were picked up by our bus and taken back to Pokhara. After another day in which we drove five hours to the Chitwan Valley, a national park famed for its wildlife and beauty, we set out early on a jungle safari on foot and realised why the journey was worth it. After being fortunate enough to see a rhino bathing in a river, we rode elephants, travelling high up through the dense forest before taking a trip up the river to spot crocodiles and birds. When we returned to our lodges, we ate before enjoying a series of dances performed by the local Tharu people. After returning to Kathmandu by road we began the long trip back to London full of experiences and memories noone will be able to forget for a long time.
Mr Jake Tasker and Paul Formanko (Year 13), Charities and Community Service Prefect, round up the College’s fundraising activities W inston Churchill’s words tend to echo down the years, and in the context of charity none echo more than these. In our often money-obsessed and career-driven world it can be very easy to focus on the first half of his statement – making sure we’re making a living, or in terms of the boys currently at the College, keeping them on the right track. I hope, though, that some of things they have seen and heard from various charity representatives over the year help them to realise Winston Churchill had a point: not only do we enrich our own lives when we give; the impact on others is hugely significant.
‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’
Boys (and girls where DUCKs is concerned) across the College have been enthusiastically raising money for all sorts of good causes over the past year: Macmillan Cancer Support, Selfless, Hope and Homes for Children, Christian Aid, Comic Relief, Kick It Out, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund, Centrepoint, and all sorts of others. It has been great to see so many boys involved in supporting such a variety of good causes and such engagement is testament to the creativity, awareness and compassion of Dulwich College boys.
Below : Contestants in the Charity Dodgeball match.
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