School camp is a rite of passage for many Kiwi kids.
The senior girls at Al-Madinah, a Muslim school in Mangere, Auckland were due to head to Long Bay for three days of outdoor education.
But they had to cancel. amid safety concerns in the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attacks.
"While I was still pushing for the camp to go ahead, I had a call from the New Zealand police advising it would be good in these particular circumstances to postpone the camp," principal Asin Ali told TVNZ1's Seven Sharp.
The girls were understandably disappointed.
"We were pretty sad about it, we all really wanted to go," said one of the girls.
But then someone had an idea. If the girls couldn’t get to camp, camp would come to them.
To everyone’s surprise and delight, the Sir Peter Blake Marine Education centre stepped in and provided the whole camp for free, within the school grounds.
"We can’t bring the whole camp to you, we can’t bring the whole facility down but we can bring the most important part, which is our people," says Yuin Khai Foong who works for the education centre.
The girls were touched by the gesture.
"The amount of love everyone’s shown us, it’s amazing," one of the girls said.
"We are us, we are one and this is the feeling we are getting now," says Mr Ali.
"I think it’s the right thing to do this for free, to be kind," says Mr Khai Foong.
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