Over the past week, all of Year 8 went on a trip to Soho House. This was an educational visit in History to link with our study topic of the Industrial Revolution. The house (which was owned by Matthew Boulton) was a huge white house with crystal like gravel covering the floor.

We were split into two groups, one went into the house and the other group stayed and were educated on how Matthew Boulton changed the world and can be considered as one of the entrepreneurs that played a major part in starting the Industrial Revolution. Our guide had us dressing up as important figures from the time such as Matthew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch. We were taught how Birmingham and the Black Country can be considered the centre of the Industrial Revolution in this country. We toured Soho House and it was filled with many interesting things that were Matthew Boulton’s personal items, such as the original dining table for the famous Lunar Society. The house was decorated and set out exactly as it would have been when the Boulton’s lived there and gave us a real insight to what life would have been like there during the 18^th century. We even went down into the cellar which was dark and spooky!

The lesson and tour were excellent and very interesting and helped us to see the importance of our local area when studying the Industrial Revolution.

Balkaar Bhopal and Taran Badhan, 8G

Ken Morris received the OBE in the recently published Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Mr Morris is the Headteacher of Hamstead Hall School and received his award for services to education and community cohesion in Birmingham. Congratulations on a wonderful achievement.

What is Mission Possible?

Mission Possible is a scheme set up by Islamic Help to give volunteers a full spectrum of the humanitarian aid process and involves campaigning, fundraising and a deployment abroad of up to 10 days

What did you want to achieve from the project?

Mission Possible was my first introduction humanitarian aid so I viewed it as a journey of experience. I wanted the understanding of fundraising, seeing where the money was being used and more importantly the impact of the fundraising done in Birmingham to the villagers of Kisrawe.

How much did you raise and how did you raise it?

The target for each volunteer participating in Mission Possible is £5000, so naturally I was quite daunted by this sum. I started off with bucket collections around town and school and managed to raise £1000 from this, but it wasn’t enough. With the help of friends and family I organised a charity dinner at La Favorita restaurant (Ladypool road- highly recommended) and managed to raise a staggering £25,000. I am very grateful to all who supported my campaign and allowed me to take this life changing journey.

How was the money used?

Basically, the money raised by all the volunteers is put into a pot and then distributed as needed. The money in our mission was used to fund water tanks, equipment for the school children, raw materials for building and infrastructure as well as maintenance costs for the volunteers.

So what did you do there?

Our mission was split into three teams containing 2 volunteers in each: livelihood and development- which focused on the long term changes to Kisrawe including planting trees for future generations, implementing beehives and most importantly educating the villagers on how to sustain themselves and become independent. The second team was education which focused on the schools in the village, interacting with the children and participating in lessons. The third team, which I was part of took control of the distribution of water. This involved building water tanks, digging reservoirs and constructing water harvesting systems both for the neediest people in the village and larger ones for the village to use as a whole.

How has this experience changed/inspired you?

Drastically. We see and hear in the media about situations people are living in across the world and of course we sympathise, but we can’t truly understand what they’re going through until we see it with our own eyes. Meeting villagers, making friends with the elders, teaching the children are all experiences which can’t be expressed by literary means and can only be truly understood having been there. Even now I think back to the work that I did in Kisrawe and the beautiful people that I met and get overwhelmed with emotions of joy and longing. I truly did leave a part of me in Africa.

What was the most eye-opening encounter?

When installing the water harvesting systems, my colleague (Farooq) and I had the task of choosing the most needy people in the village to install the limited amount of water harvesting systems we had- which was an emotional challenge in itself. However, midway through constructing a drainpipe for an elderly gentleman (Haji) our Mission leader informed us we had to move the water harvesting system to another home, whose resident was in even greater need. Having to explain this to Haji was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do, his response however is what gripped me. Haji didn’t complain, Haji didn’t even express any negativity. He thanked us for the work we were doing and understood there was someone who needed it more than him. This was a man who in our eyes had nothing, and still had compassion for those who had even less than him. The selflessness of this man is an experience that will stay with me forever.

Why is it important for young people to volunteer?

To travel and experience. Living in England we are trapped in a bubble, things are very different in the outside world. I know, we are told over and over again how people are suffering this and that, but it doesn’t affect us right? We can just donate a bit of money here and there and everything will be ok, right? Wrong. We are the generation who can make change, and change will only come from understanding.

Any closing statements?

Get out there and make a difference.

Hamza Chaudary