As you may or may not know I was on expedition with Raleigh International ( HYPERLINK "http://www.raleighinternational.org" www.raleighinternational.org) from 12/9/02 to 17/12/02 as a volunteer staff member.
Very quickly – Raleigh is a youth charity that takes 17-25 year olds to expedition countries to “challenge” them. They are put on projects in remote places and challenged to work with each other and the community around them. It’s a development challenge for the staff as well who are either on project sites with them or at field base.
My expedition country was Sabah, Malaysia more commonly known perhaps as Borneo. My role was as expedition accountant at field base in the capital Kota Kinabalu.
I filled two large notepads on expedition with diary notes and I’m not about to repeat the bulk of those here so I had to think of a way of doing the highlights. The expedition nicely fits into set periods based on what was going on:
Staff Induction
Jungle Camp
Venturer Induction
Deployment
Phase I
Changeover
Phase II
Changeover
Phase III
Washup
Mt Kinabalu
Malaysian people
Just before I go into this it would pay to explain a little more about our expedition. Our expedition was run in conjunction with the Millennium Commission (yes the people who put our hard earned tax paying pounds into the failed Millennium Dome).
This was arranged by country and so our expedition was for people of Scotland. Normally Raleigh accepts people from any country.
Prior to leaving Scotland there was a lot of training held at various locations which was both practical and information based. It included basic camp craft which was good for me as I’d no previous experience.
Staff Induction
Once in Sabah the 30 strong staff team went straight to field base where we were literally locked in for our 2 weeks of in-country intensive training and jungle camp.
And believe me this was intensive. Here we learnt: how to operate HF 90 radios, medical basics, safety & emergency procedures, how to work with people, more camp craft, how to recce and setup a project, cultural issues …
Jungle Camp
A lot of the above was practical and formed part of jungle camp. I think for almost everyone jungle camp will be remembered for the trek into camp, setting up our “bashas” and the first night in the jungle.
Here we learnt how to tie our hammocks to a couple of trees, chop down a tree or two for side supports and how to string our tarpaulin over the top of us so we – theoretically – didn’t get wet when it rained at night.
For me jungle camp and this part of it was probably the most stressful and unpleasant 2 days of my life. I really didn’t like it at all. Even the next day when the others got this really good buzz from waking up in the middle of a rainforest I still wasn’t happy.
The main reasons were: my pack was one of the heaviest across all staff (I lifted the rucksacks from the bus so I should know) as I was carrying the static site water filter which was a rucksack full of weight all by itself, I simply couldn’t stop sweating – even when we had sat down for hours and weren’t doing anything physical I was still sweating and this was most unpleasant when I went to bed as I struggled to sleep and lastly, I panicked too much about getting my basha up in time – it was hard work as chopping the trees down was physically draining and then I really still didn’t have the know-how to erect it.
Jungle camp needless to say had a lasting impact on me.
Venturer Induction
When the 90-odd venturers arrived looking tired and excited at the same time off the plane we felt like we had been in Sabah for months when in reality it had only been 2 weeks.
During this time I had been through the huge drama of being shifted from a project staff member to a field base member. Now it may not seem like much but for me this was a very difficult thing to go through as all the way through my training I had been training to be a project staff member and this is what I wanted to experience on expedition. So for me it was a major let down.
The venturers went through the same training we did which for some was as big an initiation for them as it had been for me. And to make it worse they got absolutely poured on and soaked to the skin. That was some introduction and I bet they really wondered if they had done the right thing joining Raleigh.
I guess I should explain somewhere that unlike most staff members I had been involved in recruiting and training the venturers in Scotland. This meant that I already knew a lot of them personally and also a lot about them – what they were like and what their aims were etc,
So for me I had a real personal involvement with the venturers and I think from the few times I got to speak to them on expedition I believe they felt this and appreciated it. I got a lot of positive feedback from them and many good memories to take with me.
Induction was also where they learnt what their first project site was going to be. On expedition the venturers visit 3 sites: adventure, community and environmental whereas the staff were either field base or project and the project staff were responsible for the same project throughout expedition.
Deployment
This was very interested and for me the first taste of what it’s like to run an expedition from field base. The amount of teamwork and chipping in together is massive and our field base team was praised by people who had seen many expeditions and being one of the most co-operative and “issue-less”.
Deployment involved organising transport for 8 teams of 15-20 people together with transport for food rations and equipment for weeks (the length of each phase). This meant that most of our time was spent making human chains and carrying boxes onto our landrovers, off at deployment, into teams, checked by teams and onto trucks. And then for the remainder to be loaded back into the landrovers and returned to field base.
The first deployment was an amazing thing to see.
Just to give you some idea - field base was made up of about 12-15 people but due to duties away from field base and guests arriving from the UK ranged in size from 4-20 but usually hovered around 8 people at any one time.
Phase I
This was the big learning curve for everyone. Up until now it had all been theory and everyone was now fully immersed into their roles including field base.
At each phase the field base staff had the opportunity to visit sites. It was kind of a working holiday from field base – at least that’s how I saw it.
This phase I got a week long visit to a community site at Kampung Narandang in the poorer northern part of Sabah – the area being Pitas District.
Here the team was to build a community hall. We slept in the old community hall which meant protection from the rain but very hard floors. In fact some people erected their bashas inside and were much more comfortable.
I guess the highlights for me were seeing the venturers again and getting to spent time with them working and chatting.
I was also lucky to be selected to do an R&R recce. R&R being rest days of which the teams got about 2 or 3 on each phase. My group were charged with checking out a boat trip to an island that appeared at low tides in the mangrove swamps.
The trip was quite amazing, first going along a narrow stream and then out into a huge river. The method of transport was what made the trip fail our safety standards. It was motor driven and steered with a piece of string. The motor failed a few times and eventually we were towed by a second boat they locals had brought along with them.
Along the way we stopped and chatted to a couple of old Philippino men. Once there the team did a lot of fishing and I just relaxed in the boat and swam a little. A great day out but unfortunately one that was never to be repeated at that project site.
Changeover
Changeover is where all the teams come back to a central point to return equipment for repairs, bring back food and get a chance to meet up with old friends and wash!
The project staff came back physically but more mentally exhausted. For some it had been a pleasant experience but for a few it had been one big learning curve. It’s very difficult to reach the right balance with teaching the venturers what to do and letting them do their own thing. In fact I would say it’s really impossible to find the perfect match and you can only do your best.
At changeover the venturers and put into mixing bowl and divided into completely new teams and given a new project. On expedition they visit all of the different types mentioned above.
I think all people on this expedition were particularly lucky as at changeover there was the opportunity to go out to the local shopping centre and swimming pool. I would say that is exceptional compared to other expeditions.
And then the deployment part kicked in again and we started all over.
Phase II
During deployment and changeover I was really having a hard time personally and was thinking of leaving the expedition. I had a long chat with the expedition leader about this and we agreed I should stay on but needed more of a challenge as I’d lost the big challenge of being a project staff member and being the accountant was by itself pretty boring.
Needing a challenge I signed up for a trekking project out in the jungle which really had me scared as I had suffered so badly at jungle camp.
In actuality I really enjoyed it but I must say that it really wasn’t a proper trek. The expectation is that you shift campsite every few days and sleep mostly in your basha.
For this particular part of this project we slept in bashas for only one night and the rest was under roofed shelter. Whilst this was disappointing in a way I was somewhat relieved of course.
I really enjoyed the physical part of the trekking.
The aim of this project was to make and fix a path across the Crocker Range so that it could bring tourist groups into the remote communities. So a lot of the work was building steps and clearing the path. By and large a path already existed as used by the local kampungs (villages).
I think we got drenched each and every day. But this didn’t seem to affect people’s spirits and was taken as just part of the experience. Having said that it was easier for me as I was only out there for a week and a few had foot rot by the time they returned for second changeover.
Changeover
This changeover ran a lot more smoothly than the last for most and especially for me as I had a lot of help.
Phase III
Here I was lucky to visit two sites but for a shorter period of time. I got out to an island which was the home for those working on a bird sanctuary in the city and also into the jungle again to a forest field research centre.
The bird sanctuary was hard but rewarding work. I was like having a real job as we needed to commute from the island by boat, bus and feet to get to the sanctuary. The project actually involved building a bird hide.
But my favourite site of all would have to be the reforestation project at Danum Valley. Here they were planting different types of trees in different groupings and destructive harvesting them to measure growth.
An important factor was also to maintain the great biodiversity of the area.
The idea was to see what the best combination was and in some ways this project was seen internationally as a last chance to look at saving rainforests worldwide.
I liked this project best for two main reasons – well three actually.
The field centre had a lovely lounge where we could go at night and chat with other guests such as the BBC film crew working there as well as researchers.
The insects and butterflies were amazing. We saw so many along the way as well as a snake. For me this reminded me about what I really like about the jungle and that is the insects. They are so large and as such do not seem a pest or horrible. You have to get used to them anyway as they are everywhere so you might as well enjoy their company.
Lastly, there was a library there for the researchers which I spent some time in looking up and reading about what was around me. I liked this especially compared to other sites as I didn’t really feel I was learning much on expedition so I ploughed into the books here.
We were also very lucky on this phase as the person whose brainchild the project was made his first trip out from the UK since devising the project 3 years ago. He put on a presentation for us which started off with the Origin of Species and Charles Darwin and somehow ended with his project. It was a fascinating.
Washup
This is where all kit was cleaned, checked and returned. A party was had by all and the venturers went back to the UK.
For the staff there was a lot of paperwork to be done. The main part being post-expedition reports to assist the next expedition.
As we were a start-off expedition these were largely written from scratch. Normally you could just update the previous expeditions report.
Our expedition leader chose to return from “expedition retirement” partially because he liked start-up expeditions and I have to agree that the extra work was worth it.
Then we had our own party and all departed in various directions around the planet for some well deserved R&R of our own.
Mt Kinabalu
Mt K as it was called by us (everything on expedition has a short name) became something special for me. To keep me busy (post discussion with expedition leader) I was asked to co-ordinate our entire expedition attempting the 4,000 metre summit.
Most of the hard setup work had been done for me in the first phase as I picked it up in the second phase.
For me I loved going up to the mountain and developed close working relationships with all the staff on the mountain.
I managed to climb it twice and had the opportunity to do it a third time but I don’t think my knees would have survived.
The views from the top were magic.
Malaysian people
Looking back through this report I realised I haven’t said anything about the peoples of Malaysia. I found, and I think everyone else did too, that the Malaysian people were very friendly. They always wanted to chat and find out about you and pass on their knowledge.
This was just the same in the capital. People would often laugh at us (in a nice way) or just wave. Even driving down the streets (our fieldbase was on the outskirts) people would wave at us in our landrovers from the road side or other cars. It became a bit of a game.
All in all it was an amazing experience with amazing people.
