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So, what is this all about? Raleigh International is a UK-based youth development charity that aims to inspire young people from all backgrounds and nationalities to reach their full potential through working together on challenging projects, benefiting the environment and communities around the world.

I will be volunteering on a Raleigh International Expedition to Borneo (Sabah) from 29th January 2012 to 7th April 2012. This amount raised will help fund necessary community and environment projects such as:

- Kindergarten construction
- Community marine park development
- Trekking trails development
- Gravity feed water systems construction
- Supporting infrastructure development
- ...and also to support me over the 10 weeks in these projects.

Your kind support towards my fundraising target will ensure the success of important conservation and community work run by Raleigh International in Sabah, Malaysia. 

Take some time to browse the photos of past expeditions!
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001818308364  

Finally, thank YOU for helping us make the world a better place.

I will ensure that your donation is used carefully and I thank you for your trust in us.

 

Background Information:
Located on the island of Borneo, Sabah has it all: stunning mountain terrain, equatorial rainforests, and some of the most beautiful islands in the world. Borneo is home to a unique range of plant, insect and animal species found nowhere else on the planet. It also boasts rich marine life with some of the best dive spots in the world. But it is its rich mix of cultures, people and history that Sabah has most to shout about. Over 30 different tribes live in Sabah speaking over 80 different dialects. The people of Sabah practice many different religions, all living and working together to make this a wonderfully friendly place to spend time volunteering on a Borneo expedition.

The expedition is usually made out of three phases (10 weeks total)

 

Community Projects
Borneo community projects are based in some of the remotest and poorest parts of Sabah. Volunteers work alongside the local community building a much needed kindergarten or maybe a gravity water feed system that will supply a community with a reliable source of fresh and clean water for the first time. However, it's not all about the projects; in the community phase it's about learning as much from each other as possible: language, traditions, cooking and many other skills.

Kindergarten - Kampung Minusoh, Tongod District
Education is a basic need which most western societies take for granted. In Malaysia the Government provides educational facilities for children aged 6 and above with primary and secondary schools. Often young children have to travel for several hours to reach their nearest primary school.

The main difficulty however is that before a child can be entered into school they must have a minimal standard of reading and writing. In the remote Kampungs where many of the elder generations did not attend school this is often not possible. Raleigh has worked for a number of years with a semi-government organisation called KEMAS. They report to the Ministry of Rural Development and are responsible for Kindergarten education. Their aim is to provide the basic level of education needed so that when a child reaches 6 years old they are able to start school, and not find themselves years behind their peers.

The Tongod region of Sabah is approximately four to five hours drive from Kota Kinabalu. The communities are predominantly of Sungai Makiang origin living in traditionally built housing of bamboo and leafed roofing. In some houses there are up to 2 families habiting. The kampongs have become increasingly isolated over the past few years due to the deterioration of the main track into the area. There are very few community facilities available and the area has been earmarked for assistance from various NGOs to improve the standard of living. PACOS our long standing project partner will be working with our volunteers on this project and will ensure that the Kindergarten is maintained and staffed in the future

Gravity Water Feed Systems - Many remote communities within Malaysia still do not have access to clean, drinkable water. Villages without a water source will collect their water in large tanks and barrels from rainfall. The rainfall in many areas is insufficient to meet their needs all year round so water is often taken from polluted rivers. This has obvious knock on effects of ill health through water borne diseases such as typhoid. Many communities use these rivers to wash in and there is additional contamination from chemicals used in agriculture, in particular from oil palm plantations.

Kampung Pinapak Gravity Water Feed System
Kampung Pinapak is approximately 4-5 hours drive from Kota Kinabalu. This is the first kampung of 54 that our new project partner Asian Forestry are looking to support by helping them with land rights issues and social infrastructure development. The community is from the Dusun Kimaragang ethnic background with a religious mix of Muslim, Christian and pagan. The majority of people live of subsistence farming, with a few crops sold to nearby markets. Typical crops grown are: paddy, vegetables, coconut, corn, banana, oil palm and also rubber.

Sources are generally several kilometres from the kampung and are hard to reach areas. They are usually springs or small streams which are free from pollution or human interference. Once a source has been identified, it is dammed using wire cages filled with rocks and/or cement. Piping is then laid to several reservoir tanks which enable a head of pressure to be established as well as to cope with periods of high demand. From these tanks, piping is then laid into the kampung; this will usually involve digging the pipe into shallow trenches to avoid it being damaged. Finally connectors and taps are installed as the system is established within the community to provide the most efficient supply. During the whole process the local community assist with the work and are educated on how to maintain their system in order to provide a sustainable solution to their water requirements.

Volunteers working on these gravity feed projects will be building dams and installing the piping to the villages so they can finally get fresh water into the village. By building these gravity fed water systems or repairing an existing one, volunteers are providing a simple and often inexpensive solution to getting fresh water into a community.

 

Environmental Projects
Volunteers working on environmental projects in Borneo carry out conservation work in areas not accessible to tourists to increase access to environmental resources, conduct research, or raise awareness. Raleigh Borneo have a long-standing partnership with Yayasan Sabah, working together to build infrastructure in Imbak Canyon, a class one protected rainforest. More people have been to Everest base camp than have ever been to the Imbak Canyon, as Yayasan Sabah has exclusively asked us to help them protect the area.

MORF - Reforestation project, Kampung Bowang Jamal, Kudat District

MORF is a new conservation programme designed to actively pursue re-forestation through collection, cultivation and replanting of forest trees in order to reclaim barren areas. The initial objective is to establish a ‘field base' and ‘rainforest nursery' to supply indigenous tree species to land obtained through donation, purchase on behalf of the organisation or any other means possible.

This project is only just starting and will benefit hugely from having Raleigh International volunteers involved. During the project Raleigh plans to; build an accommodation area for future volunteers to work on the project, create a nursery to provide trees for replanting on land obtained by MORF, to collect saplings from the local area.

The project is located approximately 4 hours drive from Kota Kinabalu and is quite close to an active community, the real bonus about this project is that it is only a short walk to a beautiful beach.

Sepilok - Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Probably the most exciting new conservation initiative in Borneo, this is a truly unique project. The Sun Bear is the smallest of the nine bear species in the world. With little known about the animal and its numbers decreasing something needs to be done to secure its future. The new Conservation Centre was conceived by leading researcher Wong Siew Ti. The idea is a very similar model to that of the neighbouring Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary.

The centre will aim to raise awareness of the plight of the Sun Bear. It will allow for the rehabilitation of Sun bears that have been kept in captivity or orphaned. Those that can't be released back into the wild will have the best life possible. Through a visitor programme the centre will become self funding with any profits used for further research of the species.

The BSBCC is completely unique as it is a collaboration of so many different bodies working for a common goal. Raleigh groups will be supporting the project by helping with the construction of parts of the conservation centre, mainly fencing, enclosures and boardwalks. The project is being overseen by LEAP whom is working very closely with two government bodies, The Department of Forestry and The Department of Wildlife.

Raleigh volunteers will be involved in a variety of work to help the bears to be released into their new homes at the start of 2010, this work is most likely to include fence and boardwalk construction and possibly an access bridge. This is going to be a truly challenging start to this project. Sepilok is on the eastern side of Sabah, a 7 hour drive from Kota Kinabalu, on good roads.

 

Adventure Phase
The adventure phase in Borneo is a tough physical and mental challenge. During the trek volunteers learn jungle skills to survive one of the most arduous environments on earth and when you finish you will feel confident that you can do and overcome anything.

The trekking element of this project will see teams trekking from Long Pasia for up to 11 - 12 days unsupported; teams will be carrying all their own supplies and equipment for the duration. The trekking will be across arduous and physically challenging terrain, which will often mean they are extremely remote and will need them to be fully self sufficient. Teams will camp wild near the trail, ensuring they have a minimal impact on the local surroundings which will include leaving nothing behind. Where necessary teams will assist local guides to upgrade the trail through the dense vegetation since the jungle very quickly grows back across trails. Teams will obviously have the opportunity to learn about the pristine rainforest environment as they progress.

As well as trekking, volunteers will get the chance to scuba dive off Mamutik Island gaining open water, advanced, or rescue PADI course's. In partnership with Borneo Divers and Sabah Parks, Raleigh volunteers spend 4 days doing their PADI Open Water diving qualification followed by 2 days of either reef survey work, an underwater clean up or collecting data (coral condition, fish and invertebrate counts) for the international Reef Check Project.