Sunday, 29 January 2012
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
The Karate Kids
Fieldbase some special visitors this week to celebrate Chinese New Year. A group of children from a local karate school and their teacher came to fieldbase and performed a traditional lion dance. For the Volunteer managers who had just arrived back from their project planning visitors it was a nice welcome home.
It is a typical practice for a martial arts school to have lion dancer troupes that visit the houses and shops of the Chinese community to perform the traditional custom of "cai ching" at new year. The lion dance is believed to bring good luck and fortune and the troupe is usually rewarded with a "red envelope" containing money. The lion dance has close relations to Kung Fu, the martial art members of the local kung fu club or school practice in their club and some train hard to master the skill as one of the disciplines of the martial art.
It is a typical practice for a martial arts school to have lion dancer troupes that visit the houses and shops of the Chinese community to perform the traditional custom of "cai ching" at new year. The lion dance is believed to bring good luck and fortune and the troupe is usually rewarded with a "red envelope" containing money. The lion dance has close relations to Kung Fu, the martial art members of the local kung fu club or school practice in their club and some train hard to master the skill as one of the disciplines of the martial art.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Allocations what you need
Drumroll please...the allocations for the volunteer project managers have been announced! The PMs may do one of each of the three different phases Community, Environmental or Adventure, the same one for all three phases or a combination so don't be suprised to see the same person on a couple of photos. 
Pictured right: Let's here it for Alpha 1 Community - Building a Kindergarten in KG Mandurian Laut (L-R Penny, Laura, Jerry and Natalie W being presented with project file by Deputy programme manager Stephen)
Pictured left: Alpha 2 Community - Building a gravity feed water system in KG Nibang Pitas and KG Binotugan Suyad, Pitas (L-R Penny, Craig, Nikki, Stuie, Natalie and Caroline being presented with the project folder by fieldbase Finance Manager Jerry)
Pictured left: Alpha 4 Environmental - Sepilok Sunbear Conservation Centre, Sandakan
(L-R Caroline, Chaitaly, Louise, Dave, Natalie - with her hair in a towel sorry Nat!, Kim and the other Dave).
Pictured right: Alpha 5 Environmental - Danum Valley, Lahad
Datu (L-R Emma, Sam, Rich, Dan, Kristina and Alex being presented by Kim from logistics)
Pictured right: Alpha 7 Adventure - Trek and dive, Long
Pasia (L-R Rich, Cat, Dan, Sam, Krystyna being presented with the project folder by Louise from fieldbase logistics)
Pictured left: Alpha 8 Adventure - Trek and dive, Long Pasia
(L-R Rich, Sam, James and Claire being presented with project folder by fieldbased Team Coach and videographer Ed)
Pictured right: Alpha 9 Adventure - Trek and dive, Kiulu (L-R Astrid, Cat, Joe and Emma being presented project folder by Natalie, fieldbase administrator - once again apologies for fetching blue towel)
Pictured right: Let's here it for Alpha 1 Community - Building a Kindergarten in KG Mandurian Laut (L-R Penny, Laura, Jerry and Natalie W being presented with project file by Deputy programme manager Stephen)
Pictured left: Alpha 2 Community - Building a gravity feed water system in KG Nibang Pitas and KG Binotugan Suyad, Pitas (L-R Penny, Craig, Nikki, Stuie, Natalie and Caroline being presented with the project folder by fieldbase Finance Manager Jerry)
Pictured right: Alpha 3 Community - Building a Gravity water feed system in KG
Imusan, Tongod (L-R Nikki, Cat, Caroline, Astrid, Claire, Paul and Dave)
(L-R Caroline, Chaitaly, Louise, Dave, Natalie - with her hair in a towel sorry Nat!, Kim and the other Dave).
Pictured right: Alpha 5 Environmental - Danum Valley, Lahad
Datu (L-R Emma, Sam, Rich, Dan, Kristina and Alex being presented by Kim from logistics)
Pictured left: Alpha 6 Environmental - Bio-diversity survey, Kota
Marudu
(L-R Dave, Tim, Craig and Penny being presented the project folder by Alex from logistics)
Pictured left: Alpha 8 Adventure - Trek and dive, Long Pasia
(L-R Rich, Sam, James and Claire being presented with project folder by fieldbased Team Coach and videographer Ed)
Pictured right: Alpha 9 Adventure - Trek and dive, Kiulu (L-R Astrid, Cat, Joe and Emma being presented project folder by Natalie, fieldbase administrator - once again apologies for fetching blue towel)
So that's it the allocations have been done and the project manager have all gone on a project planning visit for a few days to scope out the site and requirements. They'll be back on Wednesday with plenty to tell us, just in time for a fancy dress party in the theme of the phonetic alphabet! Oh and in case you are wondering about the fieldbase team they will all get to go out on project for about 10 days including the communications team, that's myself, Greg the photographer and Ed the videographer who generally get to visit most of the sites as we need to bring all the news to you!
Carry on, into the jungle!
Thursday and the day after jungle camp we were up
bright and early, packing up our bashas, making porridge on our trangias and setting ourselves up for the day making sure we drank a good two litres of water as we
were off on our trek into the rainforest.
Before we set off, what we needed was some camp craft and
Zul, Floyd and Sylvia our local guides taught us how to put up hammocks and
tarps in the trees and how to use a Perang (a machete). The girls really showed
us how chopping up bamboo canes is done with the boys taking a surprising back
seat and Kristina, Kim and Emma leading the way, you go girls!
Crunch time...the jungle trek. The team had been split into three Tango groups and set off on their trek in every ten minutes. It was about 9am and 30 degrees already. The rucksacks weighed on average 20kg, the weight of a small child (or as some were saying an extra large/small adult!). We also had the task of carrying what was affectionately called the sausage or the kebab, depending on which Tango group you were in, which is a bright orange tarpaulin wrapped around a bamboo cane and measuring the length of six people. Groups took it in turns, two at a time to carry this piece of kit as well as their own rucksack adding an extra bit of effort sweat into the mix.
After arriving to big cheers
at the clearing where we were setting up camp that night the next task was for
each group to find their own Jungle Hilton, or two trees within 6-8 feet of
each other where an individual hammock and tarpaulin could be set up. Harder
than it sounds with all the best spots being taken on a first come first served
basis.
If you were lucky you got a spot not too high up on the hill, close (but not too close!) to the long drop/hole in the ground aka toilet and had some friendly human neighbours from your Tango group.
Those that were unlucky had a spot at the top of the hill, a jungle trek in itself to get to the long drop, beastly neighbours such as ants and bees and a 75 degree angle ground space. Yes in case you hadn’t noticed by my tone I got the short straw! But it all added to the experience and everyone helped each other out in setting up their camp.
At about 3pm the jungle heavens opened and we were treated to an impromptu power shower in our clothes. Quick get all your kit under your hammock! Here is a short video of the ‘rain’forest from under a basha.
After a refreshing natural
shower, we changed into longs (long trouser and tops to avoid mozzie bites) and
set to work cooking our jungle dinner. Rations again, followed by a talk by the
local jungle guides on their beliefs about the spirit of the jungle. Taking a
moment to lie down under the cover of the big tarpaulin we all lay in silence
listening to the sounds of the jungle. It was hard to believe we were actually
here, and yes the sounds of those YouTube rainforest relaxation recordings are
pretty realistic!
Borneo Jungle sounds at night
After a long and tiring but unique day we all climbed into our basha’s and went to sleep to the sounds of the jungle at night, praying we would remain dry and for some of us, not daring to move and snap our hammocks. Unfortunately for some the latter became reality to the background of giggles by their team members!
Before we set off, what we needed was some camp craft and
Zul, Floyd and Sylvia our local guides taught us how to put up hammocks and
tarps in the trees and how to use a Perang (a machete). The girls really showed
us how chopping up bamboo canes is done with the boys taking a surprising back
seat and Kristina, Kim and Emma leading the way, you go girls!Crunch time...the jungle trek. The team had been split into three Tango groups and set off on their trek in every ten minutes. It was about 9am and 30 degrees already. The rucksacks weighed on average 20kg, the weight of a small child (or as some were saying an extra large/small adult!). We also had the task of carrying what was affectionately called the sausage or the kebab, depending on which Tango group you were in, which is a bright orange tarpaulin wrapped around a bamboo cane and measuring the length of six people. Groups took it in turns, two at a time to carry this piece of kit as well as their own rucksack adding an extra bit of effort sweat into the mix.
After arriving to big cheers
at the clearing where we were setting up camp that night the next task was for
each group to find their own Jungle Hilton, or two trees within 6-8 feet of
each other where an individual hammock and tarpaulin could be set up. Harder
than it sounds with all the best spots being taken on a first come first served
basis.If you were lucky you got a spot not too high up on the hill, close (but not too close!) to the long drop/hole in the ground aka toilet and had some friendly human neighbours from your Tango group.
Those that were unlucky had a spot at the top of the hill, a jungle trek in itself to get to the long drop, beastly neighbours such as ants and bees and a 75 degree angle ground space. Yes in case you hadn’t noticed by my tone I got the short straw! But it all added to the experience and everyone helped each other out in setting up their camp.
At about 3pm the jungle heavens opened and we were treated to an impromptu power shower in our clothes. Quick get all your kit under your hammock! Here is a short video of the ‘rain’forest from under a basha.
Borneo Jungle sounds at night
After a long and tiring but unique day we all climbed into our basha’s and went to sleep to the sounds of the jungle at night, praying we would remain dry and for some of us, not daring to move and snap our hammocks. Unfortunately for some the latter became reality to the background of giggles by their team members!
Saturday, 21 January 2012
The PM's get their first taste of the jungle!
The Fieldbase team and the volunteer Project managers (PM) had their first taste of jungle over the last few days and it's safe to say they are now wild about it!
On Wednesday we headed to
jungle camp on the outskirts of the secondary jungle in Ulu Geruntum, Sabah,
an hour’s drive from fieldbase.
We started off the day building our bashas, a static jungle hammock where we would be spending the night.
As a welcome relief after the nerve racking river cross only the brave tried Mac's 'Power Shower', lying down on a shallow but strong part of the river and ducking our head under water, exhilarating!
We tested setting the radio
and aerial up, had medical training from the Medics and made our various first
Raleigh rations meal of mock duck (don't ask!) noodles, chop suey and tomato
puree, surprisingly good! Some teams even managed to make a starter and
dessert. Mmm mmm living the high life!
On Wednesday we headed to
jungle camp on the outskirts of the secondary jungle in Ulu Geruntum, Sabah,
an hour’s drive from fieldbase. 
A mixture of excitement,
nerves, fear of the unknown and adrenalin were felt amongst the Project manager team. Coupled with 'Bring it on!'.
We started off the day building our bashas, a static jungle hammock where we would be spending the night.
Mac the country director taught us how to walk across rivers - alot like
doing the conga but person at the front steps to the left or right and the
people behind follow in sequence. It was scary to feel just how powerful the
river current was even though it was only knee deep.
As a welcome relief after the nerve racking river cross only the brave tried Mac's 'Power Shower', lying down on a shallow but strong part of the river and ducking our head under water, exhilarating!
We tested setting the radio
and aerial up, had medical training from the Medics and made our various first
Raleigh rations meal of mock duck (don't ask!) noodles, chop suey and tomato
puree, surprisingly good! Some teams even managed to make a starter and
dessert. Mmm mmm living the high life!
After a good feed we made our
way upstairs in Bamboo hut, the place where alot of the theory training took
place and were greeted by the local Malay jungle trek guides who would be
leading our treks the next day.
Then it was time for a bit of entertainment
where we were the stars. Drum class! We all picked a musical instrument and
took part in a group musical session - turns out we are not tone deaf afterall!
Before we headed off to our
bashas we all shared our highlights so far over a hot chocolate, and psyched ourselves up for the day's trek ahead the next morning.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Here come the Project Managers!
26 plane journeys
20,000 miles (approx!)
17 plates of plane food
400kg of luggage
21 bottles of factor 30
one green feather boa
and 4 secret stashes of chocolate...
...can only mean one thing, the Volunteer manager's have arrived!
Selamat datang! Welcome!
So how have we initiated the volunteer project managers into Raleigh fieldbase life?
Take a look...
After a warm welcome from the fieldbase team we spent the afternoon getting to know each other and letting the Project managers settle in after their mammoth journey to get here.
Dinner that night was Malaysian style at the local restaurant 'Salim Restauran' in Lintas.
The speciality is Roti which is basically a form of malaysian bread, roti meaning bread in Hindi, Urdu, other North Indian languages, and Malay.
The dish is composed of dough made of ghee, egg, flour and water.The entire mixture is kneaded thoroughly, flattened, oiled and folded repeatedly. It is then allowed to proof and rise, and the process is repeated. The final round of preparation consists of flattening the dough ball, coating it with oil and then cooking on a flat iron skillet with a lot of oil. The ideal roti is flat, fluffy on the inside but crispy and flaky on the outside.
We tried various types of roti:
Roti kosong, a flatbread pan-fried till crispy on the outer layer. Served with curry sauce or Dhaal.
Roti susu, a sweet version which is drizzled with condensed milk and rolled up.
The ultimate roti is the tallest roti in the world, roti tissue which was definitely a show stopper and has an almost melt in the mouth texture. Roti tissue is a much thinner version of traditional Roti canai, almost as thin as a piece of 40-50cm round-shaped tissue. The wafer thin bread covered in sugar is wrapped into a cone shape and stood about 3 foot high on the table! Delicious.
20,000 miles (approx!)
17 plates of plane food
400kg of luggage
21 bottles of factor 30
one green feather boa
and 4 secret stashes of chocolate...
...can only mean one thing, the Volunteer manager's have arrived!
Selamat datang! Welcome!So how have we initiated the volunteer project managers into Raleigh fieldbase life?
Take a look...
After a warm welcome from the fieldbase team we spent the afternoon getting to know each other and letting the Project managers settle in after their mammoth journey to get here.
Dinner that night was Malaysian style at the local restaurant 'Salim Restauran' in Lintas.
The speciality is Roti which is basically a form of malaysian bread, roti meaning bread in Hindi, Urdu, other North Indian languages, and Malay.
The dish is composed of dough made of ghee, egg, flour and water.The entire mixture is kneaded thoroughly, flattened, oiled and folded repeatedly. It is then allowed to proof and rise, and the process is repeated. The final round of preparation consists of flattening the dough ball, coating it with oil and then cooking on a flat iron skillet with a lot of oil. The ideal roti is flat, fluffy on the inside but crispy and flaky on the outside.
We tried various types of roti:Roti kosong, a flatbread pan-fried till crispy on the outer layer. Served with curry sauce or Dhaal.
Roti susu, a sweet version which is drizzled with condensed milk and rolled up.
The ultimate roti is the tallest roti in the world, roti tissue which was definitely a show stopper and has an almost melt in the mouth texture. Roti tissue is a much thinner version of traditional Roti canai, almost as thin as a piece of 40-50cm round-shaped tissue. The wafer thin bread covered in sugar is wrapped into a cone shape and stood about 3 foot high on the table! Delicious.
Over the next two weeks everyone will be trained up and visit base camp in the jungle, visiting projects and preparing for when the venturers arrive, which we can't wait for!
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Over 100 venturers are about to ‘Get out there’ as we mark the start of Expedition 12A!
What will you be doing over the next three months?
- Pushing yourself to the limit?
- Trekking hundreds of miles?
- Camping in the jungle and washing in the river?
- Seeing creatures you didn’t know existed?
- Achieving more than you thought was ever capable to help communities in need?
No?
Well you might not be, but over 100 brave, bold and courageous venturers will be arriving in the Malaysian state of Sabah in a matter of weeks from America, Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and West Malaysia (including Sabah) for the adventure of a lifetime.
A team of field based volunteer managers have arrived this week to prepare for the expedition. Follow their stories as well as the venturers when they arrive for their once in a lifetime experience in the Borneo jungle.
The Borneo expedition is going to be doing some amazing things over the next few months and we are going to be bringing it to life on these very pages. Get involved, post your questions, comments and support.
Let’s start with an introduction to the field based team.
Fieldbase is the hub of Raleigh Borneo where the behind-the-scenes action happens. Venturers don’t come to fieldbase so to them it remains a mystery, but here is a sneaky pic...
Head of operations, Country Director Mac.
Mac has run 12 expeditions in Borneo and first got involved with Raleigh International in 2005 when the British Army sent him to work as a project manager in Borneo then in 2007 for Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
Country programme manager, Sarah and Deputy programme manager Stephen.
They make sure project managers are fully trained and that projects are supported throughout expedition, as well as ensuring that fieldbase runs smoothly.
Sarah works full time in Borneo after ten years of work in the London hotel industry and taking part in expeditions as a venturer and deputy programme manager.
This is Stephen’s fourth expedition, he took part in an expedition as a volunteer Logistics manager in Borneo in 2004 and prior to that expeditions in Ghana and Fiji. Back home Stephen runs a performing arts school but in his role as volunteer Deputy programme manager he is responsible for the day-to-day running of expedition and keeping the fieldbase team in shape.
Fieldbase cook, Loli
Loli is the fieldbased cook. She is currently back home in the Philippines for her son’s wedding but we are all looking forward to meeting her and her famous cakes.
Hot off the plane (literally!) this week are volunteers…
Jerry and Natalie: Keeping on top of the accounts and making sure everything is bolted together are Finance Manager Jerry and Admin Officer, Natalie.
Natalie caught the Raleigh bug after doing an expedition in India a couple of years ago and since then has been working for Tesco but she has been itching to get back out on expedition again. Natalie will be using her professional skills to keep us all organized.
Louise, Alex and Kim: Sorting out all the supplies and making sure equipment is safe and ready to get out there, are our logistics team. They’ve switched their office day jobs to plan the delivery of vital equipment and supplies to projects.
James: Trek leader James is a civil servant for the Ministry of Defence but is ready for a new challenge . James has an affinity for the great outdoors and is eager to lead a trek through the jungle. He is also married to Louise from Logistics and they will be celebrating their 2nd wedding aniversary during the expedition!
Richard and Catriona: Doctors Richard and Catriona arrived from opposite ends of the earth New Zealand and Aberdeen respectively. Spending the first few days doing vital checks on medical equipment, ordering supplies before the rest of the medics arrive on Saturday.
Rachel and Greg: Photographing expedition is photographer Greg who is keen to boost his portfolio with exciting jungle shots. Reporting on the projects and putting words to Greg’s pictures is me, Rachel the Communications Officer, my background is in marketing and internal communications working for brands such as Shell, Mars and Northern Rock and I'll be writing this blog!
Have you got an expedition inside you? Find yours at raleighinternational.org
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Expedition 11K is officially closed
Ten weeks after starting out on six projects in remote and challenging locations across Sabah, 61 Venturers and 26 Volunteer Managers returned to Kota Kinabalu. Feeling tired, proud of their achievements, sad, excited, we joined together to mark the closing of a successful expedition and incredible experience.
Thanks to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Sabah, firm supporters of Raleigh's efforts in Borneo, we celebrated the end of Expedition 11K with a formal ceremony, showcasing traditional music and dancing.
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| A sea of Christmas red: 11K in their expedition t-shirt designed by the Alpha 1 phase 1 team. |
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| Traditional dancing |
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| The Magu Natip (Bamboo dance) |
 |
| We all had a go. |
Datuk Susannah Liaw, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Sabah gave a speech, paying tribute to the hard work of everyone on expedition.
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| Datuk Susannah Liaw chats to Venturers |
Datuk Susannah's son was a venturer on last spring's expedition so she understands the journey that every participant goes on and is proud of everyone's achievements here. She said that apart from never wanting to eat baked beans again, her son gained new skills, learnt about other cultures and made news friends.
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| Sarah also gave a speech and exchanged gifts with the Ministry in appreciation of their ongoing support. |
As well as guests from the Ministry, project partners, guides, sponsors and members of the local press joined us.
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| Long Pasia trek guides attended the ceremony. |
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| Watching the slideshow, even the rain didn't dampen spirits. |
Everyone has lived out of their comfort zone for a three months and throughout the expedition have discovered their own abilities and pushed themselves to achieve more than they thought they could.
Now it is time to say goodbye.
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| Ready to leave the hotel this morning. |
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| Hard to say goodbye. |
We'll be waving everyone off at the airport this afternoon. Good luck to everyone who has taken part in expedition 11K, thank you for being here and giving it absolutely everything.
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| Merry Christmas everyone! |
A big thank you to everyone who has been following us on the blog and sending messages through it. We hope it has given you a good taste of the stories in store for you from your friends and family when they return. Your messages had a huge impact and provided so much support, laughter and interest throughout the expedition.
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