This summer a group of 17 senior boys and 4 members of staff took part in Bury Grammar School Boys' first World Challenge expedition. The expedition to Mongolia was the culmination of two years of planning, preparation and fund-raising. For both challengers and leaders it was the experience of a lifetime.
Following an initial acclimitisation phase in Bejing and Ulan Bataar (the capital of Mongolia), the group split into two teams for the second phase of the expedition - charity work. One team headed into the stunningly beautiful countryside outside the city to spend four days at the Verbist Centre - a Catholic run orphanage for children between the ages of 5 and 18. The BGSB students helped with gardening, chopped wood for cooking and organised games for the sixty Mongolian orphans. The Bury boys were struck by how happy these abandoned children were and found their time with them a humbling experience. The second team spent time at an orphanage in a run-down shanty suburb of Ulan Bataar. At the end of their time there they bought a fully furnished 'ger' - the traditional home for nomadic Mongolians. The team erected the ger, which will house a homeless family.
After their charity work the two teams set off on the trekking phase of their expedition. One team went to the north of the country to spend ten days in the wilderness around Khovsgul Lake. Their experiences included five days on horseback, galloping across the Steppes and wide open valleys; trekking through coniferous forest at the edge of Siberia; and killing, skinning and butchering a sheep for dinner. The second team had similar experiences but also visited monasteries and the ancient capital of Genghis Khan. They were also invited to a local Nadaam Festival which included horse racing, Mongolian wrestling competitions (the national sport) and lots of drinking of the traditional fermented mare's milk.
The final phase of the expedition was the well-deserved period of rest and relaxation. Visits were made to Tiananmen Square, to the Forbidden City and to the Great Wall.
The expedition, though very challenging and even tough at times, was an immensely enriching experience for all who took part. A second World Challenge expedition, to Peru, is being planned for 2010.