Rose and Amantle (c) with Centre new girls Vlada (l) and Suraya (r)

As part of our on-going link with Maru-a-Pula school Rose and Amantle will be spending nearly three weeks at Queenswood as short-term exchange students. Both girls are experiencing life as boarders in Centre, our new Middle School boarding facility. They have already become well-integrated and popular members of our community.

Maru-a-Pula School 

Maru-a-Pula means ‘Clouds of Rain’ in Setswana (the official language of Botswana) and in a semi-desert country like Botswana rain is considered a blessing. Although Maru-a-Pula’s intake is around 30% international, it is not formally an International School. Opened in 1972, the founders, Dean Yates and his wife Dot, had a vision to establish a school with non-racial ideals just over the border from apartheid South Africa. A significant number of the local students are on some form of scholarship or bursary with 19 fully funded through the Maru-a-Pula Orphan and Vulnerable Children programme. All staff and students are required to be involved in a weekly community service activity, many of which are aimed at helping underprivileged and deprived communities.

Queenswood and Maru-a-Pula students on our most recent visit to Botswana in 2018

20 Queenswood girls have visited Maru-a-Pula on successful trips in 2016 and 2018, where they had a taste of one of Maru-a-Pula’s community service projects based at Gamodubu village just outside Gaborone, Botswana’s capital city. Plans are underway for a possible third trip in July 2020.

Rose and Amantle have not been the only new arrivals to Centre this term as we were pleased to welcome Vlada from Ukraine and Suraya from Malaysia who will commence their GCSE studies at Queenswood next year.