 An Inspirational Trip
All sixth form students will agree that when two hectic years of sixth form life, filled with studying, partying and yet more studying, come to an end this summer many can not wait to throw out their textbooks and uniform in order to enjoy a well-earned break. Before moving onto the career ladder or higher education more and more students are opting to have a gap year. Some of the most popular activities include exploring the beaches of Thailand, enjoying the vibrant night life of Sydney and trekking in the Andes. However, six months living in one of the world's most poverty stricken areas can be just as exciting, and successful at preparing students for university, as some of the more traditional gap year activities.
Nineteen year old Ruth Pullinger from Orton Goldhay discovered this first hand as she spent six months in Uganda with the Oasis Trust teaching the Christian message to local primary school children.
Ruth had always been keen to travel to Africa as she has strong links with the continent having lived there for three years when she was younger. When she heard about the work the Oasis Trust does setting up schools and helping missionaries travel to some of the globe's most poverty stricken areas to teach the news of the Bible, she knew this would be an ideal gap year activity for her. So Ruth enrolled on an expedition to Uganda, but her first challenge was to raise £4000 to cover the cost of the trip including equipment, food and of course air fares.
In order to raise this amount Ruth organised a successful quiz night at Christ Church in Orton Goldhay and even roped in her two best friends Steph and Lou to join her on a 40 mile bike ride from Bedford to Peterborough which she said was “exhausting but great fun”. Three months before she left, Ruth travelled to London where she took part in a training course where she learnt how to effectively teach the bible message, cultural awareness, and bonded with her fellow teammates. According to Ruth, she was nervous about meeting her teammates for the first time since she was going to be sharing the next six months with them. “Yes I was really nervous, hoping that I'd get on with everyone, and I wasn't let down, the team was great. The team consisted of four girls and three boys from all corners of the country and one girl even came from America! I made some friends for life during my trip and they helped me out through the highs and lows".
 Ruth's trip was certainly made up of highs and lows as she witnessed extreme poverty and hardship in Uganda but the team also saw the great spirit of the people and shared many laughs with them. Ruth recalled the funniest moment of the trip when the team put on the nativity at Christmas at the village church. “As you can imagine we had very limited props to use so we had to improvise with what we had - scarves, sticks, pots and pans. It was hilarious as the tallest member of the team Abby was baby Jesus!” However, in stark contrast to this, Ruth also described her most moving memory .”When we arrived we met Joshua, a 4 year old HIV victim. Whenever anyone from the Oasis team tried to approach him he would run off crying as he was scared of us. I was determined to change his view of us so gradually over the six months I was out there I tried to build his trust in us. Finally towards the end of the trip Joshua would happily hold hands and play ball games with us which was so rewarding as we had really made a difference to him.”
Another memorable experience Ruth relived was the hair-raising 40 metre bungee jump she did over the River Nile. “I’m so glad I plucked up the courage to do it because it was such an adrenaline rush, especially when my arms dipped in the water!"
Ruth's experiences demonstrate the dramatic differences between life in Uganda and here in the Ortons. Ruth’s scariest point of the trip was when she feared her group would be stranded in Uganda unable to cross the border into Kenya because they didn't have the correct documentation. "This was a terrifying experience as there were many armed police officers who didn't speak English and appeared very unfriendly. Eventually we managed to cross the border and continue with the next stage of our trip”
Ruth's experiences will stay with her for the rest of her life and have altered her own outlook of her life in the Ortons including her future at university. “I have much more of a world view now and I appreciate so much more the things that we have here. I will never take for granted necessities such as having clean running water, electricity and cookies! While I was out there I missed my family and friends and I am really enjoying catching up with them. However, now that I'm back I miss the people I met in Uganda as they were so loving, bubbly and energetic. I would definitely recommend a gap year like this as you can gain so much from it. For me a gap year in Africa has been so beneficial at preparing me for university life”.
By Helen Trimm
You may write to Oasis at:
Oasis UK
The Oasis Centre
75 Westminster Bridge Road
Lambeth
London
SE1 7HS
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