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Pictured
are IB students with organisers at the orphanage in Romania |
A
group of students from
The Sixth Form College,
Solihull are back home after
a humanitarian trip to Romania over the summer.
The students are all studying the International Baccalaureate Diploma,
which is delivered in conjunction with Tudor Grange School also in
Solihull.
Their Romanian visit was a community project which formed part of
their creativity, action and service unit, which demands students
undertake 150 hours of voluntary work over the two years of their
course.
The Romanian trip formed the biggest part of this unit, where the
students repainted a Romanian orphanage accommodation block that
was opened by television presenter Anneka Rice in 1990.
The orphanage in Siret has been transformed with the help of Solihull-based
charity Romanian Challenge founded by Irish woman Monica McDaid.
With the help of builder's merchants Mahoneys, based in Old Lode
Lane Solihull, the students went armed with paint, paint brushes,
rollers and varnish to help give the orphanage a fresh new look.
During their visit students met organisers and residents of the orphanage
and socialised with them, enjoying barbecues and day trips, including
a trip to World Heritage site, Sucevita Monastery in the Carpathian
Mountains.
IB co-ordinator and head of the business & social sciences faculty
at the college Mike Padbury said: "This was a tremendously exciting
and worthwhile project and the students worked incredibly hard to
make it a success.
"The students learnt a lot about the challenges of organising
such a project, not to mention experiencing another culture and being
able to help such a needy cause. It was a very rewarding project."
The students helped fund the trip through a series of events, including
staging cake sales, participating in sponsored runs and a 'Battle
of the Bands' contest.
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