Borneo Blog
Here you will find news from the VolkerFitzpatrick project directly from Borneo
First steps into Borneo and meeting the team
Corina and Carl touched down safely after their long flight and were greeted by 35 degree heat and 80% humidity, a sign of conditions to come! They have now made their way to the project fieldbase where they met their fellow volunteer managers and the Borneo country staff.
Their first day was spent getting a tour of Fieldbase house, learning about a few important Raleigh-isms like the three bowl system (dipping all kitchen utensils in purified water then bleach after washing, to stop the spread of germs), and the important energisers and name games for the 75 venturers who will be arriving soon.
Together with the other 20 volunteer managers; they spent the evening getting to know each other over roti and lemon ping in the local area of Lintas.
The next few days were spent in important in-house training with Borneo country staff. The sessions covered a range of leadership skills and team management, sustainable development and cultural awareness, as well as introducing some technical skills such as using the radio system, voice procedure, and equipment and tool safety.
They were then given an overview of the upcoming projects and Raleigh’s programme areas: community resilience, natural resource management, youth leadership and water sanitation health and hygiene (WASH).
Both Carl and Corina will make up a team of two or three volunteer managers leading a group of nine to 13 venturers. In the next blog we will be revealing some of the adventures and challenges faced by the volunteer managers during their training at Basecamp and Jungle Camp.