A GROUP of 12 young people, two volunteers and three staff from Ossory Youth embarked on an epic year-long outdoor youth project that culminated last week in a five-day trek to the summit of Jebel Tinergwet, the most Westerly peak of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco.
The group, originally comprising of 18 young people from both Kilkenny city and county started preparing for their Moroccan challenge in November 2008 and since then can lay claim to trekking in the toughest of conditions and terrains in Ireland, tha
t of the Knockmealdowns, Galty and Comeragh Mountains and Magillycuddy’s Reeks.
However, the ultimate challenge was the trek to the summit of Jebel Tinergwet, that stands at 3551m (Over three times higher than Irelands highest peak). The group flew into Casablanca and made their way to Touradent, a traditional walled town in Western Morocco. From there, they hiked to the mountain village of Islan, where they were invited to stay in the houses of two local families.
“We got to sleep on the roof with just our sleeping bags, which was brilliant because when you wake up, you’re just staring at the mountains and stuff” said Eamonn Roche, 15, from Hebron Park.
The following fours days involved trekking and camping, three days to reach the summit and one day to come down.
The food was basic and typically Moroccan, with bread being the staple diet for breakfast and lunch along with fruit and vegetables and pasta in the evening.
“Because of the heat, we had to drink about 2 litres of water per day, which is funny because it was completely different to trekking in Ireland, where we didn’t have one dry day!” said Johanne Barcoe, 16, from Goresbridge.
The high altitude meant that more than half of the group suffered nosebleeds and stomach upsets. Washing was done is a nearby rock pool or stream, “which was freezing cold!” according to Marie Power, a volunteer leader from Callan.
Ossory Youth has always valued International Youth Work as a method of providing informal learning opportunities for young people but this time raised the bar with a project that was more challenging but where the potential outcomes for young people were more rewarding.
“This project was brought about to give young people an opportunity to take on a massive challenge and to see it through to the end” said Kevin O’Driscoll, a youth worker in Castlecomer. “The outcomes for the young people are enormous for this project, including fitness and health awareness, building self-esteem and confidence, setting personal long-term goals, experiencing a very different and in some ways difficult cultural environment and promoting personal responsibility within a team setting. There isn’t one person in the group that didn’t take something away from this.”
Young people in the group echoed those sentiments.
