By: Blonde One

I have seen for myself proof that the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts on the recent World Challenge trip to Morocco with the fabulous young people from Trinity School. The team were a diverse bunch of students who brought with them a huge variety of skills, qualities and needs. They joined together to form a well oiled machine that showed success every step of the way.

Here’s a snapshot of our team:

One of the team was a very methodical youngster who was very much a perfectionist. He wanted things done properly. As a result of this he was able to manage the team budget with ease. We never ran out of money and we didn’t have a huge surplus at the end of the trip.

One had a infectious fascination with life, culture, history and all things Moroccan. He inspired the team to take an interest in more than just the obvious and amazed us all with his attention to detail and enthusiasm for what he saw. When this youngster took his turn to lead for the day, he did so with the desire to motivate and did it with ease. He grew from strength to strength as the fortnight progressed and I am sure that when (not if) he takes some responsibility in the future he can use his successes to give him confidence.

In terms of stamina, I saw it in abundance during the trek. Trekking is not everyone’s forte and in particular trekking through the High Atlas Mountain range can be a test of anyone’s levels of determination. It would have been easy to give up and decide to have a negative attitude. Not so with one particular team member. Despite grazed knees, this youngster showed enormous amounts of courage when they literally picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and still mananged to appreciate their environment!

Our quieter team members came into their own when we were participating in the community engagement phase of the adventure. Their practical nature came to the fore so that the jobs were done efficiently. They seemed to see gaps in the workforce and task list and match the two up perfectly to ensure everyone was busy doing something productive within their capabilities. Brilliant!

As with all World Challenge adventures, the team are required to lead their peers for a day. As usual there were various reactions to this. Some shied away from it, some thought they would be no good at it, some thought they would be great. All in all, there were fabulous examples of great leaders, displaying a variety of leadership styles.

It was absolutely my pleasure to spend time with this amazing group of young people. I enjoyed spending long bus journeys with them, sharing meals with them, mixing cement with them and trekking with them, but most of all I enjoyed seeing them achieve huge things. I was, and am, humbled by the way each of them reacted to the demands that were placed on them, and reminded that working with young people is such a privilege! Well done team, and thank you.