LAST summer was full of eastern promise for pupils at Bromsgrove School.

Twenty-four youngsters spent four weeks in Cambodia and Thailand during the holidays working with local orphans.

The kind-hearted students helped with building works at two orphanages and carried out an arduous jungle trek. But first the teams had some time to acclimatise to the heat and humidity with some sight seeing in Phnom Penh and Siam Reap.

After more than ten hours in a boat the groups were ready to start building roads and painting buildings in the orphanage. Equipment was basic - just shovels, hoes, watery paint and cloths - but there was an army of willing helpers in the form of more than 200 orphans. The Bromsgrove pupils slept in huts with the orphans and woke to the sound of music at 5am when they either went to school or stayed to help the volunteers.

Despite the lack of a common language, communication was not a problem and the students enjoyed a football match with their hosts - they were beaten convincingly despite the fact that the orphans played bare-foot.

The Bromsgrove children gave out souvenirs of teddy bears before they left and all took time to reflect on how these children were always smiling, although they had very little.

The next phase of the challenge was in Thailand for the jungle experience.

Highlights included a four hour elephant ride and what seemed like unending mud.

The final part of the trip was spent on the white sands of the southern coast of Thailand at Kho Samet. All the pupils, and staff who travelled with them, agreed that they had had experiences that would never be forgotten.

the old school Thai: Pupil Joanne Bass with two of the orphans.