Three Sydenham High students have been honoured with Youth Ambassador Awards by the In Your Hands Charity for helping to support its vital work in Nepal. This includes supporting Shree Jugal Lower Secondary School aka Sydenham High Nepal, built last year with funds raised at Sydenham High.

Year 10 students Georgia Combes and Sophie Hudson, together with Sophie’s sister Xanthe, who is in Year 7, travelled to Nepal during the February half term to take clothes and resources to the teachers and students at the various schools which In Your Hands supports, including Sydenham High Nepal, and to see for themselves the progress being made. Here are extracts from their reports:-

Sophie Hudson

“We took balloons and footballs with us for the school children. Once all the children were playing with the balloons and footballs the smiles on their faces were from one ear to the other. This [particular school] made me appreciate my school and the things I have because it made me realise that you don’t need the new iPhone, the newest clothes or the best WiFi to be happy.  These children just wanted to go to school and get an education.  The biggest lesson that I learned, that it is easy to forget, is that when you can go to school and get an education take it and do your best because you might not have a better chance.”

Xanthe Hudson

“Whilst I was in Nepal I began to realise that there is so much we take for granted in our first world lives. After visiting six schools all in very remote areas I noticed many of them were made of tin. This means that it would be boiling hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. Simple windows and brick or plastered walls can help control the heat. I know that when I’m in school I think of that as nothing.  In Your Hands are helping to re-build these schools and make them better. Children’s education has been changed for the better and families are starting to see why it is so important to send their kids to school.”

Georgia Coombes

“The main thing that I will take away from this experience is the time we spent at the schools. It has only been two years since the Nepal Earthquake of 2015 yet most of the IYH schools have been rebuilt with concrete floors and walls, with a sturdy roof. This has created an amazing place for these children to learn. I will never forget the smiles on the children’s faces as we walked in with balloons and soccer balls for them to play with. Overall, I know that the people involved with IYH have a passion and really care about the education of children following the Nepal Earthquake. I think that IYH is doing an amazing job at helping with children’s education and health.“