JEFFREYS BAY – Thirteen Grade 10 learners from Global Leadership Academy (GLA), accompanied by staff, recently returned from a 28-day TravelSCHOOL expedition to Kenya – an experience designed to develop leadership, resilience and discipleship by taking learners well beyond their familiar surroundings.
TravelSCHOOL is a distinctive GLA programme that challenges learners to leave behind many of the comforts of everyday life and experience another culture at a much more personal level.
The programme involves affordable travel, living in tents, eating local food, hand-washing clothes and serving communities through practical work.
This year’s group travelled to the remote Loita Hills, where they spent time among the Maasai community.
One of the defining features of the expedition was the absence of personal devices, while the remoteness of the Loita Hills meant that connectivity was limited in any event. Instead, daily life centred on practical tasks, relationships and the environment around them. Fires had to be made three times a day for cooking and washing, creating opportunities for learners to gather around the fire, share stories and build relationships.
Most mornings and afternoons were spent serving their hosts, André, Corneli, Kashu and Francis, through manual labour, carpentry and construction.
The challenges were not limited to physical work. Unfamiliar surroundings, changing plans, fatigue and unexpected difficulties – including transport problems – became opportunities for learners to practise patience, perseverance and selfless service.
Alongside the practical work, learners followed a daily rhythm that included quiet times and reflection. Removed from many of the distractions of everyday life, they were given an opportunity to reflect on their faith and consider what it means to serve others.
A particularly significant part of the experience was exposure to long-term community service. André and Corneli have invested many years in the Maasai community, with André having served among the Maasai for more than 30 years.
For the learners, witnessing the fruit of decades of faithful service provided a practical picture of discipleship and challenged the expectation of immediate results. Their experience demonstrated that meaningful work can involve years of showing up, building relationships and serving faithfully.
According to GLA, this is at the heart of TravelSCHOOL. The programme uses adventure, travel, risk and unfamiliar environments as a platform for developing qualities that cannot easily be taught in a classroom. Learners are challenged to develop resilience, courage, responsibility and a willingness to serve others.
Principal Stefan Kleyn said that for 28 days the learners had lived among the Maasai in the Loita Hills, cooking over open fires and working alongside their hosts.
“They returned with a clearer understanding of what it means to serve and to lead,” he said.
Kleyn said TravelSCHOOL was not about how far learners travel, but about who they become along the way.
“In the Loita Hills, far from familiar comforts, our learners discovered that leadership is built in small, ordinary moments – around a cooking fire, in shared labour, in patience when plans change. That is something no classroom can teach,” he said.
The school’s mission is to “Make Disciples and Shape Leaders”, and TravelSCHOOL forms part of its broader effort to live out that mission.
GLA staff and coaches participate alongside the learners, sharing in the challenges and helping them reflect on the experiences and lessons encountered along the way.
With the journey now complete, the learners have returned home with memories of the Maasai community, but the school’s hope is that the most important outcomes will include a deeper faith, greater courage, stronger character and a growing willingness to serve.
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