Annie returned from her Raleigh International Professional Development Borneo Program in late December 2008 and being the budding and talented writer that she is requested her own column to talk exclusively with our readers about her incredible experience....

“Raleigh International is a charity organisation that creates’ expedition’s into third world countries, supplying the manual labour for projects and tasks that benefit a wide range of isolated villages and endangered environments. While this is the ‘technical reasoning’ for these expeditions, Raleigh also focuses on the youth development of their venturers, who age from 17-25.
When first embarking upon this expedition to Sabah, Borneo, lofty ideas of adventure, wild experiences and fast friendships were the loose thoughts of what I had to expect. I was in no way prepared for the reality. My personal reasons for going were merely fragmented ideals. For the mind blowing experience, for the feeling of self worth, for – hopefully – the improvement of myself as a person. All these reason’s and more applied, but once again, the reality of what I gained barely compares.

Throughout my ‘Raleigh experience’ I completed three ‘phases’, Community, Environmental and Adventure. Each I can group personally into my own stages of ‘development’.

Firstly, Kampong Bouyan, the community phase. The most remote and gruelling of the static sites, this village is unreachable by any vehicle for a five to seven hour trek. The work; building a Hydro-electric dam, (to supply the village with electricity) carried out on sun drenched long distances and cliff edged jungle trails. Home life? Cooking over a fire and sleeping on wooden floors – not to mention the 4:30am rooster alarm. This was by far my most challenging phase. The home sickness that hit mid way through, being inaccessible by the world and being surrounded by a group of people I didn’t know, and truthfully, at that time I wasn’t interested in getting to know any better. My best memories were teaching the kids’ games like Heads, shoulders, knees and toes, What’s the time Mr. Wolf, Duck, duck, goose and The hokey-pokey, imagine that with fifty children!! When I left this phase I was eager to go. Yet many times I looked back, and knowing what I’d achieved there helped my somewhat pessimistic perspective when encountering new challenges.

Secondly, Imbak Canyon, the environmental phase. Imbak Canyon is a virgin rainforest in the depths of Sabah. It is 85% unexplored and it houses some of Borneo’s rarest creatures. Yet it still is threatened by Borneo’s chief enterprise’s, logging and palm oil plantations. The conservation project we worked on was building an unusually large suspension bridge that allowed room for scientists to safely transport their equipment across, hopefully to discover more rare or endangered species, lifting the level of protection on the canyon. Personally, this was my phase of reflection. The work was hard, but not unbearable. The scenery was breathtaking and the peaceful atmosphere allowed for one to relax and reflect. A certain lady on this phase once told me, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it, ‘when in doubt, look up’.

And finally the adventure phase. A twelve day trek through the jungles of Long Pasia meant that we were tested to our limits in this phase. We trekked all day, we made camp, we packed up, and we trekked to the next site. This continued day after day and our only companions our group.

For support, for strength, for humour, for a helping hand – we relied on each other. The jungle trails were treacherous and infested with leaches. It was tough, it was dangerous; there were times when I was cold, wet, hungry, hurting and bleeding from various leech bites and all I wanted was to do was go home. Seeing this, one of my team mates would, with a pleasant smile, happen to point out ‘you paid for this’, Ah, the helpfulness of team mates.

Yet through all of the hardship, “Adventure” was my favourite phase. In the end, things became so ridiculous, that humour was truly the only way one could survive it.

At the end of the trek we were whisked away to Mamutik Island, a tiny little island just off the coast of the capital city of Sabah. Here we spent four days chilling on the beaches of crystal blue water learning and acquiring our open water dive tickets. And thankfully, there were no leeches!!

My team was the best I ever could have asked for. I made friends I never could have hoped for. And I laughed at things I could only have cried at before. This phase was the culmination of my journey, and it was the ‘self discovery’ I was looking for.

My expedition to Borneo was so much more then I could ever put into words, and to give an adequate description I would need at least fifty more pages. But I can honestly say I achieved my goals on this expedition, while discovering more along the way. And I also can give honest testament to one of the old sayings I know so much better now,

My thanks and gratitude to my Carer Jen for “encouraging me to go”, to St John of God Foundation for my opportunity and Home at Bendat House Geraldton, and my family back at Bendat House Geraldton that I missed so much....”