WINTER TERM 2012 - Aiglon College

On the way to our camp, everyone we saw onthe road was so kind and everyone said helloto us. The children were calling us “muzungu”which means “white people”. After the longdrive, we arrived and met the owners Chrisand Christina. We went to get water soon afterand had to join a huge queue - there were alot of children waiting to fill up their buckets. Itshowed us how hard life is for them.On the 28th March we arrived at our nextdestination and stayed in a lodge called ‘Lion’sBluff’ and the following morning we set offearly on safari. We saw some amazing wildanimals including antelopes, buffalo, lions,crocodiles, elephants, zebras and giraffes.Some we saw really closely and it was reallyinteresting and scary sometimes! We saw alion eating a buffalo! We really enjoyed ourtime on safari.Then we set off for Mombasa where we stayedat Tim’s house which was amazing with afantastic pool and an ocean view. We reallyenjoyed our time there.Marine Lifeby Rayan Tabbara (Alpina)After being onsafari, we wereexcited to begoing to thecoast. We drovefor six hoursand when wearrived we wereso exhausted.Nicole wassitting on thewindow seat so all the dust made her look likeshe was tanned but when she wiped her facethe towel was brown with dirt! As we enteredthe house, we saw the amazing view of theinfi nity pool and the sea. We immediatelyjumped into the pool; it was the best feeling!The next morning we drove to the marinafor some watersports where we enjoyedwake boarding, water skiing and rides on aninfl atable doughnut! Nicole and Francescastood up on their first try. Mr Willett had a tryon the doughnut and he lasted the longest!The following day we set off for Nairobi aftersome snorkelling. During this part of the tripwe were given a taste of Kenya’s marine lifeand conservation programmes. In particular wevisited a turtle sanctuary were they educatethe locals to help protect the turtle breedingbeaches. Then we set off for Malindi Airportwhere we said goodbye to our amazing guidesand took off for Nairobi to prepare for theConference.Alumni Dinnerby Francesca Raffaelli (Exeter)During the secondweek of ourtrip to Kenya,we travelledfrom Malindito Nairobi. Wewent from anuncomfortable30 degrees onthe coast toa pleasant 20degrees in the city. We were all very tired fromthe long journey, but we were excited to havedinner with past Aiglonians.Dinner was in one of the best hotels in Nairobi,The Norfolk Hotel, and we chatted with variouspast students. The dinner was informal to helpcurrent students and the past students interactwith each other with ease. Our Head MasterMr McDonald joined us as well and had thepleasure of meeting some of his old students.The Aiglon Alumni shared their knowledgeand experience through stories of their timeat school and entertained us with tales ofthemselves when they were our age. Thecommon talk at dinner was how differentAiglon has become in just 20 years. We liked tocompare and talk about the new buildings thatwere not built when they were students. We alltook some pictures to commemorate this greatevent and to be able to share this opportunitywe had with others. We all enjoyed this dinnerso much, it was interesting and we all learneda lot.As a current Aiglonian I would be really happyif Aiglon could continue to organise eventssimilar to this for past students. This experiencehas opened my eyes to how much I will missAiglon in the future and how Aiglon becomesyour home.‘No Existence withoutCo-existence’by Nicole Widmer (Exeter)The RoundSquareInternationalConference washeld at BrookHouse School.The theme of theconference was‘No Existencewithout Coexistence’.When we arrived on Monday 2nd April,the students, teachers and a Masai bandperforming traditional African dance withmusic, warmly welcomed us. We registered,joined tours and activities, attended a concertby Eric Wainaina, an African Singer loved bythe Brook House students, and quickly madefriends. We stayed with host families and withother students who were all very welcomingand kind.For the offi cial opening ceremony, we alldressed in our school uniforms. The display wasremarkable! The ceremony was followed by theconference photo and we stood in the shapeof Kenya with a real life cheetah at the front.After lunch the keynote speaker talked aboutgovernance in Africa. We then had our “baraza”- a group of people from different schools whogather to discuss the speakers’ forum. Therewere 20 baraza groups all with different coloursand important leadership fi gures.Wednesday 4th April marked the start of twodays of adventure. We were split into groups:we did river rafting, team building tasks, visitedan orphanage and game ranch in Nanyuki andwent on safari. When we returned to BrookHouse, we had free time to socialise withour new friends and relax after our excitingadventures.Friday 6th April was service day. We visitedanimal orphanages and others saw theslums of Nairobi. After returning we enjoyeda carnival which had food stands, Masaimarkets, camel rides and performances fromstudents representing their nationality andschool. During the conference we also visiteda giraffe centre, an elephant orphanage, dida safari walk and visited the Nairobi NationalPark for the Prince Alexander Fund lunch. Thisis a lunch where a representative from eachschool attends to present the funds they haveraised for Round Square international serviceprojects. I represented Aiglon College and satat the same table as the former Vice-Presidentof Kenya. After the lunch and the wildlife visitswe returned for the closing ceremony. Whenthe time came to go back to our host familieseveryone said their emotional goodbyes.Our last visit was to Starehe Boys Centre. LewisMcDonald and I interviewed three boys whowould like to join Aiglon College withMr Willett and Mr McDonald. Two formerStarehe boys who are also Aiglon alumniwhom we had met at the alumni dinner: MartinGikunda (’99) and Wilson Maina (’06) alsojoined the panel. We then made our way to theairport where we said goodbye to Kenya andbegan our journey home.18sharing news with the wider college communityAiglon Today