Twelve underprivileged students from Ntafufu Senior Secondary School, flew to London, as part of a London-based exchange charity called BOTH (Broaden Out Their Horizons).
Learners from the Ntafufu Senior Secondary School had the cultural experience of a life time thanks to cheapflights and BOTH (Broaden Out Their Horizons). The underprivileged students traveled from their homes in rural Eastern Cape to London, United Kingdom.
Each learner experienced being on an airplane for the first time and as well as being in a foreign country for the first time in their lives. The group was accompanied by two teachers from their school who also experienced all these firsts.
The trip was organised by London-based educational exchange charity BOTH (Broaden Out Their Horizons) and supported by global travel search platform Cheapflights, whose staff fund-raised the costs required to fly the Ntafufu students over for the exchange.
Each student was accommodated by a host family, whom took them in for their entire trip. The students got to visit the Cheapflights head office where they got to do work experience, attend workshops and take part in activitites. The trip wasn’t all work though and the students got to be tourists too!
“They got to explore the city and experience everything from the London Underground to the London Eye, spent time at the exchange partner school – Elizabeth Garrett School in Islington – taking part in lessons and sharing insights in to their lives with the students”
The staff at Cheapflights were very happy to help the students make their way to London. The company raised over 350K towards flights and activities. They raised the money by hosting bake sales and a virtual cycle ride from London to Durban. The opportunity was beneficial to both the learners and to Cheapflights.
“It was a real pleasure getting to meet the kids from Ntafufu Senior Secondary School. We loved having them in the office learning about who we are and why we believe that travel is vital in establishing an open view of the world. They even got the opportunity to design an educational app, and got an insight in to the technology products that they use get created. We hope that the memories and lessons from their trip stay with the students for a long time, and that they continue to search out and visit places and people that they can learn from in the future.” – Andrew Shelton, Managing Director of Cheapflights
BOTH is an educational charity, based in London which facilitates an exchange programme between South Africa and London, whereby students are given the opportunity of a lifetime to experience a different culture.
“BOTH is founded on the belief that young people learn most when they learn from each other. The visit of Ndafufu Senior Secondary School has fully embodied this ethos and the learners have embraced their experience in the UK with courage, enthusiasm and an incredible sense of adventure.” – Linda Quinn, one of the founders of BOTH.
The learners were so happy about the trip. They valued the experience and feel it will set them on the path to following their dreams. Many students didn’t want to leave as they connected with their host families, with students from Elizabeth Garrett School and with the staff at Cheapflights. To bid a final farewell the group sang the South African National Anthem for everyone, it is a touching performance from very thankful hearts.
“It will be hard saying goodbye because we got so attached to each other. Being here has made me think hard about my future and career. The students here are very nice and I am thankful that I came here, London is very inspiring and I will work harder than before just to reach my dream. I thank everyone for everything”.
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