Miscellaneous missed-out bits…

As you’ll probably have gathered, it’s been a packed schedule for the last few weeks here at Raleigh Malaysia. Hopefully all the most important info has appeared on the blog already, but now that there are a few spare minutes, here are a few bits and pieces that didn’t make it until now. (For an update on how things have gone for the Alpha Groups during their first week out on project sites, please check back here around the middle of next week.)

4 February 2008: volunteer managers’ karaoke night
Karaoke is huge in Malaysia and an essential part of any cultural induction. However, to save all our blushes, it would probably be kinder to quietly gloss over the staff team’s karaoke night… But of course that’s not going to happen! So here are a few selected highlights:

· Martin W’s Hawaiian shirt
· Bev singing in Malay
· Jon’s Elvis impression
· The boys sing Spice Girls
· The girls sing Tiffany
· Sancia, Carolyn and Alex get Bootylicious
· Penny’s FAME dance

[Ever the dedicated roving reporter, your very own blog correspondent was on the scene as always. I won't give up the day job yet though - my full-tilt rendition of Hey Big Spender was met with slightly stunned silence broken only by Country Director Jim: “Blimey, she’s got a pair of lungs on her”...]

6/7 February 2008: participants arrive!
The expedition properly kicked off with the arrival of our nine host country participants, from here in Sabah as well as from West Malaysia. After a quick stop-off at Field Base, they headed over to the camp site where they would be spending the next week or so. The next day, and coinciding with Chinese New Year (sort of the Malaysian equivalent of arriving in the UK on Christmas Day, only with fireworks) it was the turn of the rest of the participants, who reached Kota Kinabalu safe and sound if a bit tired and bedraggled after their long flights.

7–11 February 2008: participant induction
With the whole expedition now in one place – the same fantastic riverside camp site where the staff had their inductions a few weeks ago – the Raleigh timetable kicked into action like a well-oiled machine. (Well ok, maybe more like a slightly rusty second-hand machine, but we are operating on Sabah Time!) The participants were put into temporary groups known as Delta Groups (before their final Alpha Groups were confirmed) and over five busy days they took part in ice-breakers and name games, a swimming test and admin sessions; they had their photos taken individually and with the whole expedition; they learnt about health and safety, and first aid; they were trained in camp craft, river crossings, radios, navigation and tools; and for a bit of light relief, they joined in quizzes and games, and watched staff make idiots of themselves performing skits.

Probably the biggest event of the inductions was an overnight trek into the jungle. Just like the staff volunteers a few weeks ago, the participants packed up all their stuff and carried it over a steep hill to a spot where they would set up camp for the night. The weather was not especially kind and there was plenty of rain and mud. However, it was a great opportunity for participants to put their new-found camp skills to the test when rigging up their hammocks and tarpaulins – some of which turned out to be more sturdy and weatherproof than others (although there was only one reported incident of the thud...ouch that signals a hammock giving its occupant a rude awakening in the night).

12 February 2008: Opening Ceremony
The day before they headed off to their various project sites, all participants returned to Kota Kinabalu to find out their final Alpha Groups and sort out all their (mostly already pretty muddy) kit, ready for an early start on the 13th. The whole Raleigh group was also treated to a buffet dinner and traditional Malaysian dancing at the official Opening Ceremony for the expedition, courtesy of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Sabah. Tiredness soon evaporated as everyone tucked into some fantastic Malaysian food and willing volunteers got up on stage to join in the dancing.

Then it was finally time to go: after a 5 o’clock start the next morning, Field Base staff waved off the project managers and participants as each Alpha Group headed off – with lots of hugs, a few tears and plenty of bleary eyes – to their first projects…