A Camps International Case Study

Hip hip hooray, it is that time of day again, with the third instalment in our series of  7 “Veteran Volunteers” blogs. All the best things in life are in groups of 7 do not you think…?! 7 days in the week, 7 series of The West Wing, the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World, the best line in that classic Christmas song, “7 swans are singing” and the not forgetting the Secret Seven stories from Enid Blyton…..I seem to be getting off topic somewhat. 

I shall now hand you over to……..

Name: Lauren Pullin

Year of Travel: 2010 & 2011

1) Where did you travel with Camps International?

Borneo.

2) How long did you travel for?

A month in 2010 and another month is 2011.

3) Did you take a full gap year?

No.

4) How did you make the decision to take a Gap year?

I decided that I had the opportunity and time to do it now rather than later on in life, or, miss the opportunity all together. It also occurred to me that it would benefit me to do it now before applying for jobs or university etc, so as to stick out on application forms and show I have experience in a variety of things.

5)  Why did you choose to travel with Camps International?

I chose Camps International the first year because they came to my secondary school and did a presentation. I was pretty much mesmerised by the pictures and descriptions they gave, I think I fell in love with the idea straight away.

When I got back from the first trip I managed to resist for four months until I phoned Camps up and asked for more information about a gap year. Within the week I’d paid my deposit.

6) Which was your favourite Camp and why?

Mantanani, without a doubt. It is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. The people are amazing, friendly, strong, funny, kind and so much more.. The island and camp itself was perfect, you did your work for  the day, came back and went for a swim or relaxed in hammocks, all the while chatting and laughing with the other people on your trip. Without realising it, you form this little family.

7) Has your experience with Camps helped in any University/Job interviews? If yes, how?

Definitely, during my job interview I was asked if I had ever worked in a team before, straight away I explained about my Borneo teams and it was only as my employer asked more I realised how much we accomplished as a team and how well we worked. After I mentioned my trip, they asked more questions about it and seemed genuinely interested in what else it had given me.  I got the job!

8) Do you feel that your time volunteering changed you in any way? How?

Definitely. I always had an open mind and a bit of wanderlust, but my trips to Borneo gave me the opportunity to learn more, do more and want less. The work itself gives you a sense of pride, watching it develop while you’re there, and more so when you’re back.  Camps International, really makes you feel like you’re a part of something.

I also did my Padi Open water and Advanced Open water diving qualifications while I was there, that was one of the main reasons I wanted to go back. I now have a passion for diving that I intend to continue with for the rest of my life. I realised that even though I knew there was a world out there, I could access all these different cultures, traditions and places that I never knew about. I now intend to travel as much as I can, within reason.. and around work, of course!

You also realise that the people you meet out there, don’t have a lot, the people on Mantanani don’t have playstations or iphones, and instead of being so focussed on things that don’t matter, they communicate, they learn how to play guitar by themselves, they climb trees and play games and for the first time in a long time, you don’t want to check your facebook or charge your phone. You are grateful for the here and now, and that’s what the trip is all about, enjoying every moment.

9) Please describe your expedition in five words.

Best. Decision. I’ve. Ever. Made.

..if that doesn’t count, Beautiful. Unforgettable. Experiences. Happiness. Different.

10) Would you recommend Camps International to others?

- Yes, even ignoring the trips, the people you meet in country are some of the best people I’ve ever met, people I still keep in touch with and the UK team are very helpful and always there.

11) What do you spend your days doing now?

Working and looking through pictures, saving up and planning future trips. Eating and sleeping between!

Lauren, I think it is safe to say that everyone that reads this will wish they were currently at, or  going soon, to Camp Mantanani. You have really painted a picture of what a trip away with Camps is all about and the team here at the CI HQ are very grateful that you have shared your experience. THE PYGMY ELEPHANTS OF BORNEO SALUTE YOU!

We recently ran a school trip for the British School of Nanjing, China, to our camps in Borneo.  The lead teacher, Richard, worked hard with our team to pull the trip together and then accompanied his students on their Borneo experience.  Here are a few words and some incredible pictures which Richard has pulled together after his trip which i think give a really good summary of some of the sights, sounds and experiences his team of students had.  Thanks Richard, and thanks to the team for their hard work on the projects and look forward to seeing a team from BSN next year.

In the past 3 months, Safuan, our architect intern from Arkitrek have been working on our long term plans for a more sustainable and environmental friendly /green building project by continuing bio-crete brick mix experiment on site apart from working on the final phases of the Community Centre at Camp Bongkud. At the final stage [...]

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 A few weeks ago, we were invited to attend the Global Issues Service Summit (GISS) in Nairobi. This annual, 3 day event, encompassed practical workshops, guest speakers, discussions, community service and drama, all related to conservation and the environment, water, art as social awareness, HIV/AIDS, peace and reconciliation, grass roots solutions and the digital divide… [...]

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They may be a small group but this certainly had no impact on the fantastic time that our 5 gappers had during their stay at Camp Tsavo. As they left to move onto Camp Makongeni they shared their adventure with us….

The 5 of us volunteers arrived at Camp Tsavo at lunch time after a gusty ride from the airport on our jeep! We were introduced and welcomed by Sammy K (‘The name’s on the belt’) and given a tour around our new home.

 Our first day was spent at Sasenyi School, a 40 minute drive from Tsavo Camp. As we pulled up to the school, we were greeted by waves and ‘Jambo’s’ from the students which made us feel warmly welcomed!  We began our work digging out the foundations of a recently knocked down classroom in order to re-build a new one. Steve, our group leader, managed to keep us motivated and entertained through the blazing heat by his constant funny outbursts … Sledgeeee HAMMER! These were consistent throughout the whole fortnight which always kept us going.

The hard work was followed by a more relaxing day making elephant dung paper. We were definitely hesitant to get stuck in originally but were equally intrigued as to how it was made and found ourselves eager to try it out. We were all astounded at how resourceful the local community are and how they have the ability to make things out of nothing!

For our R.R (rest and recuperation) days we would take the jeep to Voi which was roughly an hours drive from camp. We were able go to the local supermarkets, internet café, restaurants, souvenir shops and a swimming pool at Galaxy Hotel. On our first R.R, we visited a Massai village nearby to be shown around the tribes’ homes (bomas) and way of living. It was so surreal to see the difference between their culture and ours, especially when they began their tribal chants and dances in their brightly coloured garments and makeshift sandals. Furthermore, the extreme lengths the males go through to show their right of passage – burning circular marks onto their skin and removing their two bottom teeth at the age of five,not forgetting being circumcised without pain relief! OUCH!! They taught us how to make fire out of rubbing sticks together on top of elephant dung and grass, as well as teaching us about their Lion hunting tradition, whereby they show the slaughtered Lion’s tooth to the parents of the intended wife they want to marry in order to prove their worthiness.

Going to visit the Imani women’s group was definitely one of the most powerful and inspiring experiences of our lives. We were told by Mama Mercy how ‘Imani’ meant faith, which is most definitely an appropriate name to give to such a humble group of women. This group was started by Mama Mercy originally due to the growing rate of HIV/AIDS within the community. She began to provide these jobs which meant a sustainable income for women who otherwise would have fewer opportunities to be able to support themselves and their family. It empowers women to be self sufficient and has also stood up for girls with the controversial tradition of arranged marriage in young teen girls. We were all led by the women to plant seeds in their field which will allow them to sell the crops in three years time.

A 5.30 am start to the day awaited us in order to get to Tsavo East national park on time for our SAFARI! Thanks to Steve’s excellent observation skills, we were able to see; Twiga, Ndovu, Pundamilia, Mbuni, Duma – (Giraffes, Elephants, Zebras, Ostriches, Cheetahs and many more).

Highlight of our day = Monkey snatching one of the volunteers sandwiches at the picnic park!

The heaven’s opened as we sat in the open jeep on our long journey home. Despite it being fun at first it was a shock to be so drenched after such a hot day but luckily the staff at Tsavo took care of this and had teas and coffees laid out for our arrival back home. This became a common occurrence and they consisted to exceed our expectations of hospitality and made us feel more at home than ever.

Climbing Mt Kasigau was a challenge we weren’t expecting! A four and a half hour trek up the mountain was topped off by a 500 metre vertical stretch to the peak. An overwhelming amount of exercise sent us all to sleep at the top of the mountain when we were suddenly awoken by our guides warning us of the torrential rain to come! This led to a humorous slide down to the bottom and we were SO happy and proud of ourselves to finally reach the end of the challenge.

Throughout our stay, we spent a few more days at Sasenyi School plastering classroom walls and planting trees that will be used for health purposes for the students within the school. We became more and more familiar with their way of working and it was a breath of fresh air to see such happy students that were more than eager to help out … they showed us how it was done. We felt so privileged to be surrounded by such good natured people and loved the opportunity to talk to them (and practise our Swahili).

Above all of the amazing experiences we have had over the last two weeks, the best thing about camp Tsavo is the extremely friendly, accommodating, funny, welcoming, happy and supportive family of staff that work here alongside us. They have truly made our trip unforgettable and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to start our trip to Kenya! Although we are excited for the next adventures at our new camp, we will be so upset to leave our Tsavo family behind!

WE LOVE CAMP TSAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dubai International Academy’s (DIA) trip of Tanzania!

From the sand dunes of sunny United Arab Emirates to the muddy foothills of rainy Kilimanjaro.

I have never witnessed a group so excited about rain like DIA. We have been hosting many School expeditions over the years and one almost expects them to ask “where is the sun” when they arrive and the skies are grey. Well, it all came clear that this lot do not experience much rain, if at all any. It was great to see them celebrating with a little rain dance.

Immediately after exchanging pleasantries and the group had settled in, we took them on a familiarization tour of Mbokomu village and the school that they’ d be working at.
As the Swahili saying goes “Be a good host to your visitor on their first day, the next day give them a hoe to plough”. And so we did. Honeymoon was over, the Team was taken to Kiboriloni School to literally get their hands, shorts, t-shirts and faces dirty. They painted and drew murals on two classrooms in two days. With the short trips, students realize that they have very little time on projects and have targets to meet so what they tend to do is work their socks off on every activity that is thrown their way.

We changed the pace and engaged them in a typical Chagga (local tribe) cultural tour. The tour included helping a local lady with her daily chores such as; tending to her goats, fetching  water from the stream, and farming. Basically the students get to experience a day to day life of the locals. The tour is not considered complete unless everyone is wrapped in kanga’s (sarongs) and put in the mama’s smoky little kitchen to prepare lunch for themselves. Nothing could stop them from their cookery lesson, they were brave enough to stick around the kitchen despite smoke from burning firewood causing tears and sweat dripping from their eyes and faces!  Once in the village, you are considered one of them and you are expected to do what local people do including having your food while seated on a mat and using your hands to eat.

As we still had a bit of time left on our schedule, we  organized a football match with a group of local boys. Although the locals are used to playing all boys teams, they did not mind playing a mixed school and it was awesome to see boys and girls sharing the same playing field, which is a rarity in these parts of the world.

The day that needed everyone to be well prepared was here. The Kidia waterfall trek. It had rained through out the night and morning so the Team woke up thinking they had got away with it. You should have seen their faces when I announced to them that the trek was still on. Whilst we waited it off, they enjoyed a trip into town and spoiled themselves with Pizza’s at Indoitaliano restaurant followed by a supermarket run to get a few goodies before heading off to Kidia. In the meantime, the staff, and especially the local guide, were doing some Chagga rituals to the gods so that they could blow away the grey cloud that was hanging  over Moshi town. All the prayers and traditional chants worked. By the time the students had finished munching on their Pizza’s, the skies had cleared up and the sun was shinning.

The adventure ensued. The team had to take it slow and easy as the ground was still a bit wet and slippery and the trek was steep. With the help of the local guides, the entire Team managed to get down to the falls. Such an achievement and great feeling for the students as it was both fun and a challenge as some of them used their bottoms to climb down and the heavy rains made the waterfalls drop with such force. It was not just the trek down to the falls that took their breath away but the gauges, little farms, the beautiful, plentiful flora and fauna, greenery and the ever friendly locals who smiled and waved at the students whilst going about their daily chores.

   
The next day the group left bright and early to go to Tarangire National park for their safari. They saw loads of wildlife and enjoyed the game drives in their entirety.

On their return to camp, we had prepared a barbecue dinner for everyone as their last meal in Camp Tanzania. The group appreciated it very much as it was a great way to end their expedition. After dinner, the speeches ensued and we had a chance to ask the volunteers to sum up their entire trip in just one word. This is what they had to say;

It was great to see all the activities that we’d organized completed and the students and Teachers taking on all the tasks with a positive attitude and enthusiasm.

We were honored to host you and thank you for a great effort!

I wanted to post a few pictures from the recent IB Conference in Kuala Lumpur.  We normally have a stand at these sorts of conferences, once or twice a year, and gives us a chance to speak with a wide range of International Schools from across the world.  Ann our International Sales guru was running the stand this time around and did a fantastic job of making it appealing and snazzy.  The star of the show were the amazing bracelets made by the women of Mantanani out of plastic washed up on the beach – they are now the must have item in all IB schools around the globe! 

Recently, GEMS World Academy from Dubai, visited Borneo on a service project trip, staying for a week, working hard and seeing lots of interesting things.  They spent the majority of their time in our camp at Tinangol which is in the north of Borneo, where they stayed in our traditional style longhouse, conducted worthwhile service project work as well as gaining an understanding of local culture and issues.  The team had a great time and really got stuck into the work which was based around our kindergarten project in the village of Tinangol.  They also visited the Tip of Borneo, tried their hand at some traditional dancing and some basic English lessons with the local pre-school.  Thanks for all your efforts guys and hope to see you out here again soon.

Team shot after the dancing

The girls showing how its done!

Team shot at the northern most tip of Borneo

Making traditional style bracelets and necklaces, Rungus style

With the children who will benefit from the completed kindergarten

Working on the entrance area to the new kindergarten

Putting the finishing touches to the bannister leading up into the kindergarten

Last week we were lucky enough to host a group of students from Dubai American Academy in Borneo for a service project trip.  They were with us for a week and got stuck into some hard work at our camp at Bongkud.  The project work centred around the community hall which we are in the process of re-building and is now starting to near completion.  The team were kept busy with mixing cement for the walls and floor, learning new skills from our onsite foreman and all the time working in very hot and humid conditions.  It wasn’t all work and no play – the team had the opportunity to watch a cultural performance of dance and music from the local youth of the village before having the chance to try it for themselves, as well as trying their hand at some traditional cooking techniques.  Thanks to the team for their hard work on the project site and of course your enthusiasm during all the other activities and visits.

Trying out the Bamboo dance

The professional cement mixing team, happy in their work !

Hard graft

Working on an imaginative traditional cake design

Increasingly, interventions to eradicate poverty are beginning to take a more holistic approach. Rather than only focusing on water security or just education, organizations are now trying to address the multiple complex problems that affect any one community. For example, improving agricultural produce for farmers when there is no access to markets due to bad [...]

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