Harry Ross, 15, has won a ski trip to Switzerland in a photography competition run by First Eleven magazine. He won the competition with a series of photographs documenting the lives of village children in the Gambia after visiting the West African country with Plymouth College last year.
Pupils from the school have been visiting the Gambia for more than 20 years and have worked and helped to fund a number of projects, including the recent building of a health post in Bissary Mardi. The trip that Harry went on in October also involved making improvements to the village’s sanitation by digging 14 long-drop toilets about 10 feet deep.
“I really enjoy photography and took my camera to the Gambia because I needed some landscape pictures for my photography GCSE but found myself drawn in by the villagers”, said Harry. “Bissary is miles from anywhere – it’s a 45-minute donkey-cart ride to the next village! It was a fantastic opportunity to go to Africa and really experience how the African people live.
“I was pretty stunned when I found out I’d won the competition. I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
The ski trip is being run by International Camp Suisse, who runs alpine adventure trips for young people. Harry will take the skiing break at half term with his Mum, who encouraged him to enter the competition.
