21 July 2017
This year's Moldova Project trip saw 14 sixth formers and three members of staff travel to Eastern Europe to organise a series of summer camps with Agape, our partner charity.
The first stage of the trip was based in Moldova itself, with the boys organising camps at a school in Ialoveni in the morning and another in Zimbreni in the afternoon – activities included English lessons, art and craft, and plenty of sport. Well over 100 children greatly enjoyed attending and having the chance to spend time with visitors from the UK.
The Abingdon team then travelled to Lacu Rosu in Romania to stay with a group of 30 Moldovan children in a cabin in the Carpathian Mountains owned by Agape. Here, as well as organising more activities like the ones in Moldova and teaching everyone how to play the recorder, they spent time getting to know the children during walks in the stunning scenery and while boating on the lake. A particularly popular group session saw the Abingdon boys help the Moldovan children create a series of films from different genres, including a homage to James Bond and a zombie apocalypse movie, which were screened on the last evening at the end of an excellent “Lacu Rosu's Got Talent” show!
Strong bonds were formed between the Abingdon boys and their Moldovan students and it was very difficult to say goodbye at the end of the trip – everybody, Abingdonian and Moldovan alike, learnt a great deal from their time together.