I n September, the Junior School was overrun by Fantastic Mr Foxes, Willy Wonkas, a few Georges with their marvellous medicine and even some Oompa Loompas. The Year 3s invented a new Roald Dahl character, made stunning dreamcatchers, devoured delicious Dahl-inspired cakes and were launched on their Jumpsquiffing Reading Journey. All in the name of a good cause – Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity. From their fun and frolics, they raised almost £200.
Below : Faheem Ahmed (OA), founder of Selfless, the Upper School’s Lent Term charity.
A t the beginning of the summer holidays, Holden, all members of the J14 A crew, rowed a colossal 175km (110 miles) along the river Thames from Oxford to Putney in aid of Wings of Hope, an amazing charity that gives schooling to orphaned and impoverished children in India and Malawi. The idea was first formed on a damp, cold day in December as we left an assembly containing an inspiring invitation from a representative of the Wings of Hope charity. We were asked to devise an event by which we could fundraise to help their schools around the world. However, the full amount of organisation necessary and the time that would take was yet to be realised. After months of organisation, and thousands of pounds of sponsorship secured, the five of us left Putney, and drove to Oxford. On day one, a bleak but mild Friday morning, we set off from Oxford with relaxed optimism, comfortable that we had ‘little’ to do and a long time to do it in. However, we didn’t realise just how wrong we were. After 50km we really started feeling the strain. Despite our determination to make it to Henley before nightfall, delayed food stops, a lock operated by onlookers, and a break down all forced us to stop 5km away from our goal at dusk. Luckily, a friendly riverside Hotel in Sonning saw our plight and looked after our boat overnight while we turned into our tent, exhausted. We awoke on Saturday morning with a conscious dread and realisation that not only had we to get back into our uncomfortable seats and move our aching muscles, we also had to cover the miles we hadn’t managed the previous Ralph Ellison, Noah Armitage-Hookes, Alfie Armitage-Hookes, Patrick Craig and Thomas
Ralph Ellison (Year 10)
day. But with the encouragement of Mr Croucher, our coach, and our knowledge that we had in fact less time than we thought, we pushed on and arrived at Penton Hook marina at 5pm. We were also spurred on by the words of an infant onlooker who asked, ‘why is that boy at the front doing nothing?’ while looking at Thomas, our cox. On the last day, Sunday, woken by the strains of sunlight shining into the haven of a Travelodge (the campsite let us down), we started with confidence that the worst was over, and that that night we could sleep in our own beds. We started off and with Mr Croucher’s continued firm pressure, pushed our way past Molesey and Hampton to Richmond Lock (the last), where we refuelled with food and prepared ourselves for the final sprint. However, it was with painful backs, blistered and bleeding hands that we finally arrived at the Dulwich College Boat Club Boathouse, all numb with exhaustion. Looking back on what we did, our accomplishments are something to be pleased with and we feel very proud, despite the certainty that we would never ever let ourselves be drawn into that situation again.
S elfless – the NGO selected as the Upper School’s charity for the Lent term – has also launched a campaign to treat obstetric fistula, spearheaded by former Guy’s academic student president and Vice- Captain of the College, Faheem Ahmed, who visited the College in February. Obstetric fistula is a hole in the birth canal caused by prolonged obstructed labour. Complications during childbirth often lead to the death of the baby and incontinence in the affected women, causing severe emotional distress. Currently, more than 70,000 women suffer from obstetric fistula in Bangladesh, the vast majority of whom do not have access to the necessary yet inexpensive treatment. With support from the Department for International Development (DFID) and Tropical Health Education Trust (THET), Selfless’ #FightFistula project aims to support these women by helping to develop the long-term capacity of local surgical providers in the region while also offering
medical students and doctors from the UK a unique opportunity to appreciate both the clinical and social issues associated with this severely debilitating condition. At the launch of the campaign, Faheem highlighted growing inequalities where the ‘world’s poorest third receive less than four per cent of all surgical treatment, whereas the richest third receive over three-quarters.’ Drawing from his experiences at Harvard’s Global Health department, Faheem argued the case for surgery as a cost-effective public health intervention and emphasised the need to ‘offer students and trainees more opportunities to experience healthcare overseas in an era of globalisation’. By providing students with structured training and guidance to ensure that the highest clinical and ethical standards are maintained, initiatives such as #FightFistula seek to develop a ‘future generation of safe surgeons dedicated to global public health.’
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