No home comforts for Malmesbury pupils (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

No home comforts for Malmesbury pupils

7:00am Sunday 12th July 2009

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While their classmates enjoy lazy summer holidays, a team of Malmesbury School pupils are gearing up to build a school in a remote tropical village.

Fifteen pupils will put their teamwork to the test when they depart for Thailand and Laos on July 21 for three weeks as part of a World Challenge expedition.

Paul Bailey, 18, of Crudwell, says he has been long been looking forward to the challenge.

He said: “Only sixth formers are able to go on the World Challenge expedition, I’ve been looking forward to it for years.

“Malmesbury School is great for these kind of opportunities. It is not just a holiday, it’s going to be a lot of hard work.”

He added: “I can’t even imagine digging for eight hours a day here in the UK, let alone in 35 degree heat.

“It is also monsoon season so it will be very humid. But I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant.”

The students fly to Thailand’s capital Bangkok before driving to Laos and taking a rickshaw to the village of Bam Nakham.

Paul said: “We will be some of the first outsiders to visit.The village is very isolated, no charities or NGOs have been there.

“It will be great to leave a legacy for the community.”

Each of the students will also get the responsibility of leading the expedition for a day.

Paul said: “The trip is going to push us outside of our comfort zone.

“It will be important that we make sure we work well as a group.”

Once their work on the primary school is complete the students will spend time trekking along the Mekong river before flying back via Mumbai in India on August 12.

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