For more than a decade, Union High Schoolโs ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ has stood as one of the most powerful, transformative experiences in the journey of our learners.
Hundreds of Unionites have stepped into the vastness of the Karoo with little more than their backpacks, tents, courage and the guidance of two extraordinary people: ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ.
The Odyssey is no ordinary school outing. It is a rite of passage – one that strips away comfort, demands resilience and challenges every learner to discover their own strength.
From flash floods and stomach bugs to blisters and aching bodies, the Karoo landscape tests the mettle of even the bravest. Yet it also rewards with sights and moments of pure magic – ๐ค๐ณ๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด, ๐ณ๐ถ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ป๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ 10 ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ – the engine that keeps the Odyssey alive and thriving. With their love for the outdoors, deep passion for young people and zest for life, they have sown wisdom, grit and courage into the next generation.
๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด, ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
What makes their contribution even more remarkable is that, with their own three children long graduated from Union, Bronwen and David continue to give tirelessly to other peopleโs children. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐๐๐, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ โ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ.
The Union Schools considers itself profoundly blessed to have such stalwarts in our midst. The legacy of the Odyssey is written not just in the dust of Karoo trails, but in the character and spirit of every learner who has taken part – and at the core of that legacy, stand Bronwen and David Langmead.
๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ 10๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด!
From the entire Union family: ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐, ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ . You are changing lives and your impact will echo for generations
