Selamat datang!

Welcome to the official Raleigh International web log (blog for short) for the Spring 2008 programme in Malaysia. We'll be updating the blog regularly* between now and the end of the programme in April, so this is the place to come for all the news, gossip and photos from Raleigh's projects around Sabah, and to leave any comments of your own.

[* We're aiming to post blog updates around the middle of each week, but please bear with us if it's a day or two either way. Keep checking and there will be more news and photos soon!]

To find out more about Raleigh, please click here to visit the website.

Wednesday, 16 April 2008

Farewell, so long, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye

That's all, folks. The Spring 2008 Raleigh Malaysia expedition is now officially over! At the time of writing, all the participants are either en route to the airport to catch their flights home, or have been released into the big wide world (well, Kota Kinabalu backpacker hostels) to continue their travels in South East Asia and beyond.


We've had a brilliant couple of days here to round off the expedition, with plenty of sunshine and a packed schedule. The official Closing Ceremony, hosted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Sabah, took place on Monday evening. Last night was the participants' party, which was held a couple of hours along the coast at a longhouse right on the beautiful white sand beach. The sun shone, lots of silly games were played, DJ Gerard rocked the place, and a great time was had by all. The stunning sunset was a fitting end to what's been a really successful expedition.


We wish all the participants the very best in whatever they move on to next, and huge thanks go to the entire volunteer staff team, who have got a couple more days' work to do before they can chill out on the beach for a well deserved rest!

9 comments:

Nick said...

Many thanks to the Raleigh team for providing such a great experience for our daughter. She has told us that she has had a wonderful time and met many great people, both locals and travellers. While hopefully being of use to others, this type of experience is of huge value to young adults and provides life long memories. Please provide tips as to how you get them to do work such as digging up rotting elephants and clearing sewerage channels. Before she left, we could not even get her to clean up her bedroom!

Thanks also to the much valued blog writers and photographers. We have checked the blog daily and each update has been eagerly awaited. We know that it takes some effort to keep it going, but it has been of great value to the many concerned parents and friends at home.

Now our daughter is travelling with friends, without the Raleigh umbrella to shelter her or blog to keep us informed, we will be even more concerned. Hopefully she will keep in touch through the wonders of email.

Thanks again and we hope that everyone has a safe return home.

jamil said...

I join in to express absolutely the same sentiments as have been expressed by Nick.Its so true about our daughter Ariana too vis a vis cleaning her bedroom but then that is now a issue with parents and kids all over the world these days and completely understandable.what is important is that they learn willingly and the Raleigh project is a God send.
please convey our thanks to all the volunteer managing staff and esp the blog writer.
we look forward to see our daughter soon and hear from her of memorable experiences.
Thank you all for having our child and helping her develop and grow into a better human being ...

shahida and jamil (mad, as in mom and dad )

chongch said...

Similarly, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all Raleigh International staffs, members, participants and friends who had unconditionally taken good care of all members' affairs throughout the 10-weeks, rendering undivided support and encouragements making all planned programmes many lifetime success stories to tell when they return to their respective homelands. Cheers...

Jia Loon CHONG's dad

Felicity said...

I'd like to say thank you too. It has clearly been a great experience for all. Hope the project managers enjoyed it too. Thank you.

Paula said...

I'd like to thank the blog writers for keeping us informed about the expedition. I've been checking it fairly obsessively, and it was always such a relief to hear what was going on.

Raleigh International is a wonderful organisation, and I am very glad that my daughter has had the opportunity to join one of your expeditions.

Thank you all for taking good care of her; and thanks to the blog writers - for telling us that you were!

Many thanks,

Paula. (Anna's Mum.)

Jon's Rents! said...

To the Raleigh team -a huge thank you to each and every one of you for all your efforts, support, organisation and encouragement over the last ten weeks. To the blog writers - excellent work and very much appreciated by us at home.

Jon [Peters] has had an 'awesome' experience and made what hopefully will be friends for life. He probably quizzed the medics to distraction but made a decision about the next phase of his life based on expert advice.

Our heartfelt thanks to you all and we wish you all the best for your future endeavours.

Jon's Rents!

kt said...

Katie and Jeremy Hill - belated thanks too from parents of Chris Hill for all that you have offered the group over the last 10 weeks. It must be exhausting managing them all, but it is a wonderful opportunity for them to learn so much. Thank you very much indeed. And thanks for the blogs too.

Pat said...

At the risk of boring everyone, I want to add my thanks for the blog. It was brilliant to be able to follow the teams' progress on their projects. It sounds as tho the participants had a fantastic experience, so thanks and best wishes to all who organised and supervised it.
Mike A's mum

kelly wilson xx said...

helllooo lee how are you hope ya ok missen ya loads carnt wait till ya back love ya love ma and stacia-lea x x xx