8 days left

In the months where there hasn't been a lot to do apart from buying things, preparing and otherwise twiddling my thumbs I can blog regularly YET when I am doing lots of Borneo related things I have nothing to say?!? Silly Sarah.

The last 6 weeks or so have been all go on the Borneo front including a staff development and first aid training weekends. The former was a useful experience, and taught me as much as possible about expedition life. There was quite a lot of soft skills training - coaching, leadership, you know the sort which I was surprised by how much I enjoyed. It really dawned on me (largely due to being told this expressly and repeatedly) that PMs have to be on all the time. It's essential to remain level headed, fair and rational when dealing with the the venturers at all times which will be a real challenge. I'd love to say this weekend I bonded with the other PMs and had a great time, but I actually found it a bit overwhelming and didn't gel with people the way I thought I would. This didn't put me off the idea of expedition, it was just a bit of a shock, and I'm sure (and hoping) that it'll be a different tale once we get to Borneo. What else did I learn....

1) The leeches will get me, there's no point trying to avoid it
2) There is such a thing called a Tiger Leech in Borneo, which can jump at you from trees. Disgusting.
3) Nothing ever dries ever as it's so humid.
4) Deet, Deet, Deet.
5) bringing my own herbs and spices will be my best friend.
6) Malaysian culture is very conservative so despite the 35 degree heat I will need to be covered up pretty much all the time, which remaining cool and comfortable.
7) The mix of volunteers we manage will be self fund raisers, partnership programme participants (mouthful!), locals and some internationals.
8) The two main projects I could be on are a gravity feed water system in a local community and building facilities in the national park - Imbuk Canyon.
9) It's really hot all the time.
10) the time plan - we arrive, receive in country training for two weeks learning practical & soft skills, get partnered up for our projects, plan our projects, volunteers arrive, we teach them everything we know, trek out to project sites, do project, come back, have one day to chill, then go on our adventure phase of trekking/white water rafting/mountain biking etc, send volunteers home with a big goodbye party, have a project wash up, go home after our own huge good bye party. Phew, not too much going on then!
11) The staff at the Raleigh Borneo HQ are lovely and I felt very safe in their hands
12) Conflict resolution
13) I can't cope without coffee.

So, on the learning front a very successful weekend!

Next challenge... packing...



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The official Raleigh Borneo Summer 09 blog

For all the happenings in Borneo over the summer please check out this blog:

http://raleighborneo.blogspot.com/

It'll have photos (possibly even of me when I finally get there!) and updates on what everyone's doing, which will be useful as I own't have access to a computer.

A more me specific blog about recent devlopments and prep is on its way...

T minus 5 weeks!

So peeps, 5 weeks left and my credit card bill is going through the roof getting all my equipment together, I went on a training residential on the weekend just gone (which was quite the experience - it needs a post to itself really) so I'm all clued up about Raleigh, their projects and Borneo.

One of te things we learnt was that letters from home are like gold, and can really help lift your mood and make you feel great in tough conditions with people you don't know. We have no access to email/mobile phone signal or any of that new fangled technology lark so hand written word is the way to go.

Should any of you get the urge to write me something nice and/or encouraging (no abuse please!) then feel free to do so to this address:

Raleigh
PO BOX 14182
88848 Kota Kinabalu
Sabah,
Malaysia