Project sites revealed

Over the last few days all Project Managers have been out and about around Sabah, “enjoying” long and bumpy – in some cases very long and very bumpy – bus and 4x4 journeys. They’ve visited their project sites and met the project partners and communities they will be living and working alongside for the next ten weeks. Now, with just hours to go before the first participants arrive and the Raleigh Malaysia Spring 2008 Expedition swings fully into action, we can exclusively reveal details of projects and staff teams*.

[* A note on Raleigh jargon: all project groups are known as Alpha Groups and each project is allocated a number 1–6. Each Alpha Group has two or three Project Managers, who will be joined on each three-week phase by around 15 participants from the UK and Malaysia as well as other countries. Please come back for another look at the blog in around a week’s time to find out which participants will be in which Alpha Group for the first phase of their expedition...]

Community Development Projects

ALPHA 1: Building a kindergarten in Kampong Tampasak
Project Managers Izzy Noble and Clare Bethell (aka Betty) and Youth Worker Penny Hinchcliffe had an eventful trip to their project site in the rural village (kampong) of Tampasak, where over the next ten weeks Raleigh volunteers will be helping to build a kindergarten. Despite it being closer to Kota Kinabalu than any of the other project sites, they managed to take a whopping two and half days to get there, due to a combination of slow buses and not just one but two broken down cars. Undeterred, and fortified by avocado ice-cream and a slap-up curry resourcefully rustled up on trangia stoves in a car park, they eventually made it to Tampasak to meet the local school teacher and staff from the project partner, PACOS Trust.

ALPHA 2: Supporting the community of Batu Puteh with eco-tourism initiatives
Raleigh International has been working with the community of Batu Puteh since 2002, helping to develop a cutting-edge eco-tourism project. Alpha 2 will live in an environmentally sound jungle camp, just 10 minutes up river from the site of the eco lodge that they will help to construct. The team will also help develop trails, plant trees and support the local community in its battle to rid the Tungog Lake of invasive weed species Salvinia molesta. Last week Project Managers Bev Salmon, Jon Rowe and Kelly Rheam headed off to Batu Puteh to meet the community and plan the work their volunteer group will be involved in over the next ten weeks. Living in an amazing riverside setting in the rainforest, and with recent elephant and orang-utan sightings in the area, Alpha 2 are promised a fantastic project!

Environmental Projects

ALPHA 3: Trail and infrastructure development in Imbak Canyon
Yayasan Sabah (Sabah Foundation) wants to preserve Imbak Canyon as a natural gene bank to help protect future biodiversity of the whole region, and has asked Raleigh International to help. In this expedition, Alpha 3 will be helping complete the field centre complex, develop trails into the canyon and upgrade existing tracks to a waterfall and jungle camp. The team will also begin work on a new suspension bridge across the Imbak River. Project Managers Claire Skinner, Sancia Keogh and Bec Atkins travelled to Imbak last week to meet the rangers, check out their camp site (as featured in BBC documentary “Expedition Borneo”) and hug some trees.

ALPHA 4: Trail clearance and camp construction in Danum Valley
In the world-renowned Danum Valley Conservation Area, Alpha 4 will help to improve access for scientists so that they can carry out further research. The group's ctivities will include continued trail clearance and maintenance, and building a satellite camp site near the bridge for scientists to base themselves there while conducting research. Alpha 4 Project Managers Kate Parkinson and Alex Zawadzki, with Medic Carolyn Henry, headed down to Danum last week to check it out. They soon got to know the local population of extremely large bugs, as well as a few of Danum’s famous leeches, and even spotted elephants on their first day!

Adventure Projects

ALPHA 5 & ALPHA 6: Trekking and diving
Representing Alphas 5 and 6, Trek Leader Mike Reilly, Medic Antonia Stocken and Photographer Mark Larner (he's not in this photo because he took it) headed off last week to the village of Long Pa Sia, in the south-west corner of Sabah on the Kalimantan and Sarawak border. They braved yet more leeches, not to mention a local dog taking an unusual interest in their radio log book, to meet the local guides and plan a 12-day trek through this beautiful and challenging terrain. As well as trekking, adventure groups will also qualify as scuba divers and take part in an underwater conservation programme in the stunning Tungku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. Lucky them!