Pupils go nuts for Brazil adventure

Jun 26 2009 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A GROUP of Perth Academy pupils will fly to Brazil this weekend on a thrilling adventure.

The 13-strong team, accompanied by two members of the school’s staff, will travel to Sao Paulo tomorrow (June 27) and will head straight to the country’s vast Parana Region on the south-east coast.

Organised by personal development firm World Challenge UK, the Fair City contingent will then have the opportunity to explore the Pantanal wetlands before embarking on six days of wild camping in the Serra da Mantiquierra mountains.

Following the gruelling trek, the group will plot a course for the remote village of Campina – where they have been tasked to help restore a vital community centre.

The Big County delegation was originally to have headed to Mexico earlier this month but their travel plans had to be put on ice as a result of the global swine flu outbreak.

Perth Academy teacher, Liz Hood – who will be undertaking her third expedition – thanked the organisers for ensuring plans for the revised adventure continued.

She said: “I don’t think there was ever any chance of the project being cancelled.

“The organisers have been sending schools to various parts of the world for around 20 years now and there is always a contingency plan.

“But there is no sense of Brazil being a consolation prize – this will give the pupils the sort of life experience that they won’t be able to get anywhere else.

“It gives them an opportunity to live and work amongst the indigenous population and to experience first hand their vastly different cultures,” she said.

In a bid to hone their skills prior to their departure, the group recently took part in an adventure weekend in Newtonmore.

Pupils have undertaken a host of fund-raising events over the last 18 months – including a sponsored abseil down the Falkirk Wheel – and received money from Perth and Kinross Council’s Common Good Fund to bankroll their time in South America.

Mrs Hood added: “The expedition is a culmination of a tremendous effort by the pupils, their families and friends – alongside the school and the many sponsors who have supported them.

“This is the 12th time the school has taken part and we will definitely be looking to do this again.

“Even the build-up has brought the group closer together,” she added.