www.abingdon.org.uk 5 Abingdon News After the Inter House Athletics on 3 June, twelve 3rd Years and three members of staff travelled to Youlbury Scout Campsite for the Bushcraft Survival Camp. On arrival, the students put up the kitchen shelter and built a cooking fire, before setting to work on building their accommodation for the night. Most opted for the hammock and tarpaulin option, and a large group clumped together to build a hammock city! Dinner was cooked in foil and in a large cast iron stew pot on the open fire before roasting marshmallows and making s’mores. A little sleep was managed, although the early morning light and birdsong got most of the 3rd Years up at 4:30am - not a time normally seen by teenagers on a Saturday! Breakfast was cooked on the re-lit embers of the previous days’ fire - sausages and bacon baps - before packing away the campsite and heading back to school in time for cricket matches. Bushcraft survival Inspirational work in Moldova Teacher in charge of the Moldova Project, Adam Jenkins, recently visited Moldova to see the important work being done by Agape in the schools, some of which are being funded by money raised by the Abingdon community. Whilst there, he also managed to find out about the extraordinary work of ordinary Moldovans in their bid to help Ukrainians since the Russian invasion earlier this year. He said: “Using some of the money raised by the Abingdon sponsored walk last September, Agape organised four activity camps for young Moldovan children based at Grigore Vieru, Andrei Vartic and Petre Stefanuca Schools in Ialoveni and Mihai Iminescu School in the nearby village of Ulmu. I visited all four camps to see the children enjoying arts and craft, sport, and English lessons - it was particularly gratifying that many of the volunteers running the activities were older Moldovan students who had themselves attended summer camps run in previous years by Abingdon pupils. “There was also the chance to attend “The Last Bell” ceremony at Petre Stefanuca School which saw the graduation of the oldest students marked with dancing and the final ringing of the school bell and to present a donation of a new set of volleyball team shirts to students at Gregore Vieru School. “However, one of the most inspiring moments of the trip was seeing how remarkable the hospitality of the Moldovan people, which Abingdon pupils have experienced for many years, has been in recent months as they have welcomed nearly half a million Ukrainian refugees into their country. Over 100,000 of these are currently staying in Moldova and are being supported by numerous individuals and organisations. I met 18 year old Mihaela, who with a group of friends, has set up a refugee centre in Chisinau which offers food and accommodation for up to 70 refugees at a time. Hearing Mihaela talk about her determination to make a difference to those in need, and witnessing all she has accomplished, was truly heartening. “I am looking forward to 2023 when I hope that Abingdon Sixth Formers will once again be able to return to Moldova and celebrate the 20th anniversary of our first trip there.” Students from the Entomology club were excited to find one of the Attacus Atlas moths that formed their cocoons last term emerge over the weekend. This large saturniid moth which is endemic to the forests of Asia hatched from an egg in October and spent four months feeding and growing before weaving its silk cocoon to undergo metamorphosis. What a change!
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