Concordia
Merchant Taylors’ School
Class notes:
UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS
This summer a group of OMTs made their way to the roof
of Africa. Chirag Pindolia, Nikhil Gudka and I all successfully
reached the summit early in the morning of September 11th.
Our ascent had started five days earlier at Machame Camp. It
took a while for the excitement to set in but, before we knew it,
we were ascending to our first camp. Looking back, all the days
seemed to just blend in to one; the altitude plays such a huge
role and as you go up you notice how thin the air is getting and
how much colder it is.
The days leading up to the summit weren’t hugely physically
challenging; it was a case of consuming lots of calories, drinking
plenty of water and making sure you did as much as possible to
avoid altitude sickness. It was surreal to spend six days above
the clouds; at night you could look down and see the city light
pollution, while simultaneously being able to see the stars and
the Milky Way with unparalleled clarity. The final day was the
hardest by a long way; we woke up at 23:00 for a quick snack
and started climbing at midnight in the dark. The temperature
was -15C, and -25C after the strong wind chill; all one could see
was the person’s feet in front. If one was brave enough to look
up, one could see a pilgrimage of head torch lights heading
to the summit. As morning approached water bottles froze,
exhaustion kicked in and we started to question whether we
should carry on. Thankfully we all persevered and made it to
Stellar Point. By then the sun had risen and the 45-minute walk
to Uhuru Peak was a lot flatter. Reaching the peak gave me the
greatest sense of accomplishment I have ever felt.
Paras Shah (2005-2010)
OMTs climbKilimanjaro
Jeremy Judge (2002-2009)
has
just finished his BSc Mathematics at
Warwick and is about to start a Masters
in Pure Mathematics at Fitzwilliam
College, Cambridge. Over the summer,
he travelled to Soweto withWarwick
OMTs volunteer in SouthAfrica
University to teach Maths, as part of the
‘Warwick in Africa’ volunteer programme.
When he realised there were no creative
subjects in the school curriculum, drawing
on his experiences of A Level Art, and his
trip with the department to the St Ives
School of Painting, he started an Art club,
using himself as a model.
Mikhil Haria (2007-2012)
is helping to
design and build an early learning school
in South Africa. Mikhil, in his second
year as an Architecture student at the
University of Nottingham, is part of
a Department-led project, where a team
of 37 architecture students is designing
an early learning school in Calais Village
(Limpopo). In April 2014, they will travel
to the village to construct the school
themselves using a design they are
currently drafting. In order to supply
the materials needed for this building
project, each student needs to raise £1,000
(none of which will go towards personal
expenses). If you would like to sponsor
Mikhil please go to
.
com/Mikhil-Haria
