Experience:
Organisation:
Name: Michaela
Hometown: Abingdon, Oxford
Destination: Borneo, Malaysia
Project type: Expedition including environment, community and adventure
Organisation: Raleigh International
What were your impressions of your destination?
Malaysia itself is a magnificant country where you can understand the true beauty of nature. The people are so friendly and welcoming and it was great to see virgin jungle and spend time in remote villages. Everything is so cheap to buy and the culture so different and fascinating. Seeing wild monkeys swinging in the malaysia jungle, scorpions in the toilets and crocodiles in the river was really cool.
Was the work interesting and challenging?
The work we did and the activities we participated in were very very good. In 2 out of the 3 projects you are helping the country. In the community we helped build a water system for the village as their own was very poor, but we also spent a lot of time teaching, playing with the children and being part of a village itself. In environment we were doing research about primates and building a bridge but all the projects are different but definitely worth the hard work and commitment as the benefits are very rewarding. In the adventure phases we trekked in the jungle, spent a week learning to scuba dive and climbed the highest mountatin in Malaysia, Mount Kinabalu.
What was your accommodation like? Did you feel comfortable and welcome at all times?
The accommodation in the village was very basic but felt like home, the villagers built us a wooden house with an area to eat, kitchen and toilet. It was very basic, but that is all part of the experience and enabled us to feel like we were part of the community. In environment we slept in bashers in a longhouse, and in adventure we had to carry everything we took and so we brought hammocks and found suitable trees to hang them up, with a basher to protect us from the rain. It's very different to our home comforts but it's really fun sleeping somewhere different and all part of raleigh.
Were you happy with the organisation and the staff that were responsible for you during your stay?
I was very happy throughout the expedition. There was always something to do, and it's great to do something worthwhile that will not only change your life but you are helping others as well. I have so many fantastic memories and you make such good friends. The staff are great, as involved in the projects as the participants, and so everyone is doing it together, but they were also very responsible and worked so hard.
Do you feel that you got value for money on the project?
Definitely value for money, once you are there everything is included and although it may seem like a lot, the opportunities are incredible, and the memories unforgettable. It is worth fundrasing and then you feel a real sense of acheivement that you have funded it all yourself. For lots of people the expedition was life-changing.
Would you recommend the project to others?
Yes
