On the 29th July 2009 myself, Rebekah Sinton, 25 other participants and 4 leaders departed from Manchester airport for desintation Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Here the team spent a few days visiting attractions such as the Patronas towers and china town and the Malaysian scout HQ, whilst acclimatising to the heat and humidity. On the evening of the 1st august we were invited as guests to the local scout’s centenary meal where were surprised when the song and dance they performed for us was ‘the birdie song’. 
The next day we boarded the short flight to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, where we spent one night before travelling to Sepilok orang-utan sanctuary the following day. The first night here wasn’t very comfortable for me when an army of biting ants decided to try and eat their way into my tent, at which point I fled for the safety of the cabin. At the sanctuary our project was to clear a large area of jungle where the board walk to the new sun bear sanctuary will be built. Also we built a mock bridge over the river which will be replaced by the bridge that we designed, to be built by professionals in the future. We were slightly slowed at the start of the project by a lack of tools but once that issue was resolved the team worked hard in the heat and we managed to complete the project just in time.
One of the most surreal moments of the trip has to be when we met Tony Blair, in the middle of the Borneo jungle, for some pictures and a chat. Whilst at the sanctuary we also got the opportunity to visit the tourist attractions of the orang-utan feeding and the rainforest discovery centre.
The next stage of the trip was the project at the orphanage in Kudat where the contingent split into smaller teams to do specific jobs such as concreting, plumbing and the group I was in; fencing. Over the week we had working at the orphanage we removed the 2 existing fences and replaced them with new 6 foot high security fences. The atmosphere was so friendly and the children in the homes were always willing to help with the work. The most touching part of this part of the project for me was when we visited the church that the orphanage is linked to. The service was inspiring, how these children who have so little in life could be so passionate and joyful in their performances. For our last night in Kudat we went to the tip of Borneo for a dip in the sea at sunset; one of the most beautiful moments of the trip. After the two weeks of hard work was complete the final part of the trip, reward and relaxation, was spent in Kota Kinabalu. Here I spent time shopping for souvenirs, an afternoon jet skiing, a full day scuba diving and snorkelling as well as many hours in the Irish bar.
For me the worst part of the trip was waking up on the last day knowing we were about to begin the 31 hour journey home and our family of 30 people, who had become such a close team, would be split up. Looking back at it, fifteen months ago I was debating whether or not to apply for this project until eventually after some persuasion I decided that it would be worth the effort of the training weekends and raising the money. Thank god some people knocked some sense into me otherwise I’d be regretting it now! Defiantly a once in a lifetime trip, full of incredible experiences shared with some amazing people.
