Eight Eton pupils have returned from Zambia after spending time there helping a charity which works in communities impacted upon by HIV/AIDS.
The boys, led by masters Revd. Paul Hess and Will Griffith were volunteers for the charity Hands at Work, which helps thousands of children in eight countries across the continent. The charity aims to work alongside communities to supply basic food, healthcare and education to the most vulnerable.
As volunteers, the boys were tasked with preparing and serving food to the children – as part of the charity and community’s efforts to ensure each child has one meal a day. The Eton pupils also helped to run and organise games.
They were also taken on a series of home visits where they met different members of the community and heard their stories. At one home they met a woman who was renting out three rooms to try to pay for her son’s education and another where an eight-year-old girl looked after her younger siblings for up to two days at a time, while her mother worked to try to support the family.
Francis Stanford (TEWH) said during the trip: “This has certainly been a life changing experience. One that will make me reflect a bit more on my life when I return to England. One that will remind me that I am so lucky to live how I live, in a world where many have nothing.”
