A group of students from Honiton Community College recount their experiences during a recent trip to Ethiopia.
Honiton students have been reflecting on a “humbling” cultural visit to Ethiopia.
The group of sixth form students from Honiton College, Ashleigh Logan, Tara Drew, Naomi Curtis, Ebony Lacey and Jake Phillips, recently took part in an exchange visit to Shashemene Secondary School.
The college has been developing a partnership with the Ethiopian secondary school over the past year.
During the visit the group were able to share their own cultural experiences as well as find out more about life in Ethiopia.
Student Jake Phillips said: “We learnt to appreciate what we have got more. You get people complaining about little things but you don’t really know what you have got until you see what they have got.”
They took over packs of stationary and crayons and were overwhelmed by how appreciative the Shashemene students were.
Tara Drew added: “It was very humbling as they don’t really have visitors that often. They looked after us well and made us feel very welcome.”
As part of the visit the students were able to observe lessons and also visited a local primary school.
The visit was an eye opening experience for them as they found that life at Shashemene School was very different from their experiences at Honiton Community College.
Separate morning and afternoon schools have to be held in order to teach Shashemene’s 4,000 students and they only have 3,000 books to share between them.
The students at Shashemene were very curious about there Honiton visitors and asked quite a few questions about British culture, schooling and even football.
The group got to sample some traditional delicacies including the national dish injera, which was likened to a pancake. However, it was not to all the students tastes.
Ebony Lacey said: “You learnt a lot about yourself and how to appreciate things.”
The group got to sample some traditional delicacies including the national dish injera, which was likened to a pancake. However, it was not to all the students tastes.
The community college has thanked Honiton Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Otter Valley for contributing towards the purchase of the students polo shirts for the trip and sports equipment and stationary for Shashemene Secondary School. The Rotary Club donated £500.
The students hope to be able to return to Ethiopia in the future.
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