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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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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nicole Jeary completed her Gap Year programme in Borneo over a month ago. Here she tells of her CB1 experience...

Before embarking on our 3 hour trip to Camp Tinangol, the group spent the weekend in Kota Kinabalu getting to know our surroundings. Although awkward at first, after a trip to the beach on Sapi island and some snorkeling the group began to bond, even managing to find Nemo (yes, he really does exist)! The following day we had an opportunity to discover the culture and history of the diverse island of Borneo with visits to a museum in Kota Kinabalu. Unfortunately, jet lag did get the better of us and we were unable to see the Chinese Temple that had been arranged for us.

Upon arrival to Camp Tinangol we were warmly welcomed with fresh coconut juice and necklaces that were hand-made by members of the Village. Then later that evening we learnt and performed the Rungus traditional celebratory dance (and my bad co-ordination was exposed).

The nights were mostly spent playing card games, reading and chilling in the long-house. We were kept amused by the various bug scares and dramatic yells, but don’t worry, we all made it through unscathed. The camp got pretty wild some nights, with some of us even making it past 9.30pm. A definite highlight was the camp crew and the fabulous cooking!

Although hard work, it was nice to be so hands-on with building the Community Learning Centre for the local Village. Mostly the work consisted of cementing, plastering and some saw and hammering. When  some of the group lost motivation we were able to visit the local school and remember why we were here. There was no denying that the work days were long, however our progress was evident and we were always rewarded with delicious meals.

Our weekends were spent mostly relaxing (aka doing our washing) and on organised activities. These included a trip to the tip of Borneo, making rice wine, a trip to the beach and a local market However, truthfully the thing we were all mostly looking forward to was the internet cafe and to the supermarket to stock up on Dairy Milk.

To Summarise, Borneo was definitely a once in a life-time experience, which has left me with wonderful memories and 200 mosquito bites (and counting)!

Please call us on 01425 485390 or email gap@campsinternational.com should you want to know more about volunteering in Borneo or any of our other Gap Year Programmes.

The last couple of months, Natalie & Eva have consistently brought their stories of great experience and challenges to Gap year programme in Borneo through blogging. Eva did a very interesting topic on her previous blogs on Scuba diving, Camp Mantanani and more. This week brings you how Natalie and her team conquered Mt. Kinabalu, [...]

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We are proud to share this with you on press release of our recently launched Community Learning Centre (CLC), one of our projects on Mantanani island on a few major Malaysian newspapers today.  Below are an article publicised on New Straits Times.

News on the newly built CLC also appeared on Daily Express and featured on The Star online today as well!

From the east coast to the north west coast of Sabah, Eva’s Gap Year programmes in Borneo brings you to the lovely paradise island that is Mantanani!

Hope you are all well! We’re all great here (and very tanned). Hope you’ve not been worrying these last ten days; Mantanani Island, whilst beautiful, was devoid of both wi-fi and phone reception. Warning: prepare to be extremely jealous after reading this blog entry…

This week’s new and exciting location was Mantanani Island, just off Borneo’s north-western coast. Camp Mantanani (Camp Mosquito Bite would also be an accurate name) is arranged much the same way as Tinangol, with a squat toilet/shower block and communal living/dining area, surrounded by greenery.

The sleeping quarters are basically dorms of fifteen bunk beds in a three-walled room (privacy, what is this privacy you speak of?). Small villages lie about a kilometer on each side of the camp. Then, there’s the addition of an amazingly blue stretch of beach just outside the gate. In short, an amazing place.

The weekends were spent in a truly ‘tropical island holiday’ style – a mix of swimming in pristine blue waters, exploring the (fairly small) island, tanning, watching sunsets and lounging in hammocks.

The week’s project work was once again construction; this time we were putting the finishing touches on a learning centre that has been under construction since 2010. This included painting signs, lacquering wall panels and testing our skill at landscaping.

Our stay at Mantanani also had a particular focus on environmental conservation. Our camp manager Aida taught us about the biodiversity around Mantanani (did you know the South China Sea holds a third of the entire world’s biodiversity?), why it’s threatened and what can be done to decrease human impact on marine ecosystems. These lessons we attempted to pass on to the local village primary school children in two hour-long classes, which we had to plan for and teach in small groups (without outside help!). Honestly it was a bit daunting, but the kids proved attentive for the most part – as long as we interspersed the teaching with lots of games!

We also undertook a beach clean up. On a 320m stretch of beach we collected 200kg of rubbish. This included a whopping 700 plastic bottles. By the end of the clean-up everyone was fairly disgusted with humanity, with good reason. However, we still live in hope that this beautiful island will one day be rubbish-free. The camp itself was living proof of the benefits of recycling, with a beach hut made and decorated with almost entirely recycled materials such as driftwood, plastic bottles, dried coral and shells.

Apart from project work we were always kept busy and learning new things, participating in evening activities such as palm weaving, hammock making, night walks, creating eco-purses out of plastic wrappers, and even coconut tree climbing (which Tom got particularly good at, while others preferred NOT being precariously perched ten metres above ground)… Long walks on the beach, morning swims, jumping off jetties, building sandcastles, beach bonfires, star-gazing, listening to the crash of waves: these were the kinds of simple pleasures life was made up of for ten days on the beautiful Mantanani Island. I, for one, was quite sorry to be leaving.

Well, I’ll take my leave now – the group’s got to rest up properly before the next stage of our big adventure: climbing the 4km giant, Mt Kinabalu!

Hugs and kisses to all!

This is Eva Reda signing off for Blog 5
Team Borneo 2012

Forest Research work in Borneo completed! After 5 grueling rounds of data collection spread over 8-months ( read more about Stage 1 , Stage 2, Stage 3 here ) involving the collection of all above-ground trees (>10cm) and dead wood in 22ha of virgin, degraded and plantation forest, Michael has finally completed the data collection stage of the research and will now move on to the final stage of data analysis and write-up.

During the final data collection, Michael and his team journeyed to Sapulut Forest Development (Tibow district) and Sabah Forest Industries (Sipitang district) which saw the team clock an impressive 9 hours of walking/hiking a day that averaged 11km a day! Tidak Jauh!! (not far!!)

“It is a feeling of accomplishment that my team faired so well in the field. Considering the distance traveled and its weight, I am very impressed by both the professionalism and determination the team displayed throughout this period. This was by far, the most challenging phase of the research, and to finish so strong is an understatement” stated Michael. “The boys did a wonderful job learning about the forest, the species, its composition and how it represents a true potential to climate change mitigation. The core team demonstrated their sincerity towards proactive forest management and have all pledged to submit applications for service in the Sabah Forestry Department. This is truly a fantastic outcome of the research” he continued.

The next phase of the research will consist of data analysis and interpretation with acute guidance by the PhD supervisory and advisory panel. “The next phase of the research is going
to be really exciting as the information will then be able to tell how the story finishes. I truly hope it is positive” stated Michael. The final research stage may be completed within the next 10-12 months that will see the completion and publication of the PhD to the global community.

Camps International will continue to support Michael’s research through proactive engagement where Michael will be presenting his work to the international community in the upcoming months. This in turn will provide the impetus to increase the awareness of forestry and climate change and proactively endorse the presence of Camps International and our programs to communities and countries further afield.

Well done Michael and team, keep up the good work!

Those wishing to learn more may contact us at info@campsinternational.com or Michael directly  at m.v.galante@sms.ed.ac.uk.

Gap Year in Borneo with Eva Reda gets really exciting to read every single time she gets us a blog update. The last we heard from her blog here  she was going to take up a Open Water Dive course  … What has she been up to in her second month in the program?

Hello! Hope you’re all well! Get comfy in your seats now, because this blog is going to be a long (but hopefully informative) one…

As promised, this week I was going to talk about our scuba diving experiences, and boy is there a lot to say!

Scuba diving was for the most part an activity that not many people thought about actually doing, but once they’d had a taste, they were really thankful they’d signed up. After learning the tricks of the trade (like how not to die a gruesome death by decompression illness) from our awesome PADI Instructors Dan, Eugene, Franz and Richard, we were literally ‘thrown in the deep end’ and taken for our first real scuba adventure. Honestly there was a lot of freaking out, partly because equalizing (popping) our ears is initially tricky, and mostly because knowing you’re separated from the surface (and precious air) by a 10m wall of water is actually quite scary…

All anxiety aside, there’s just something so special about being under water with only the sound of your own breath to keep you company, and exploring a new world teeming with fascinating and beautiful life that  you never even knew existed. And then there’s that amazing moment when a huge school of fish swims right at you and all you can see for a few seconds are silver glinting scales in every direction…and yes, we saw multiple Nemos (moreaccurately named ‘Clownfish’) poking their cute little heads out of their anemone homes. Other sightings included rainbow hued Parrotfish, Cuttlefish, long stripy Pipefish, Angelfish, Lionfish and even a sea turtle! All in all a wonderful experience, and we’re all dying to dive again very soon.

In the meantime, the non-divers had time to relax and explore the many sights, sounds and tastes of Kota Kinabalu.

This week we also made our sad, yet excited farewells to Camp Tinangol and all its lovely staff. It had really felt like home over the last two weeks, so we made sure to go out with a bang – festivities involved
traditional Rungus dance performances, karaoke, a few drinks and of course a feast! The following morning we made a gruelling ten hour bus transfer to Batu Puteh, a small town located by the 560km long Kinabatangan River (Malaysia’s second longest!) in Borneo’s east.

Batu Puteh was a new and exciting change in both living style and project work. For five days we were placed in traditional Malaysian homestays, and truly experienced everyday life in rural Borneo. This included eating delicious meals with our right hands (pffft, who needs cutlery anyway?), waking up at the crack of dawn, playing with numerous children or grandchildren, being hot ALL the time, and on our final night even dressing up in Malay evening wear whilst watching traditional dance and martial arts performances the locals put on for us. And once again we were unable to escape the wrath of squat toilets and bucket showers…

The project’s aim this week was rainforest conservation. This involved a jungle trek to collect seeds, transplanting seedlings, and then using machetes to clear away weeds in the damaged areas of forest and replacing them with small established native trees. Between twenty people, 230 trees were planted in one afternoon. Quite an impressive effort, in my opinion.

We also did a lot of sight-seeing,  including an overnight jungle camp in hammocks, and multiple river cruises. Along the Kinabatangan we spotted proboscis monkeys, a family of gamboling otters,
Hornbill birds, Long tailed macaques, a tortoise, monitor lizards,tiny swarms of fish that ate the dead skin off our feet (nature’s pedicure!), a few leeches, and who could forget Jennifer, the lovable 15cm
long millipede? The highlight was probably seeing three pygmy elephants whose trails we’d been spotting during our treks. Granted, we only saw their silhouettes from a distance (for safety reasons), but it was still amazing to be in their presence.

‘And what about the orangutans,’ you may be asking. Well, there were a few intense ‘almost’ moments where there was a promising looking silhouettes winging through the trees, but by the time we’d gotten close enough it’d gone… However, our final day in Batu Putih included visits to the Sandakan Prisoner Of War Memorial, a beautiful Buddhist temple, and finally the long awaited SEPILOK ORANGUTAN SANCTUARY! We were lucky enough to see five of them – and beautiful creatures they were, they were almost human! Emily even shed a few tears of joy, which was, frankly, adorable.

Wow, what an extensive list of sightings! It’s truly been a fantastic week for wildlife spotting. Actually, it’s just been a fantastic week in general.

Thanks for staying awake (I assume) through that guys, more news on our upcoming stay on the beautiful Mantanani Island.
Best wishes to everyone in Australia, we love you all!
This is Eva Reda, signing off for Blog 4
Team Borneo 2012

If you are interested in joining Camps International on any of our gap year programmes please contact us 

Mantanani Community Learning Centre (CLC) has been officially handed over to the community on 18^th October 2012. Following Rory’s blog today on Wow! Completing Borneo Project Work  , I would like to share some photos documented from when it all first started building  in June 2010 to October 2012 feeling how amazing it is to get very committed and hardworking volunteers getting stuck  in every part of the built. We have had many challenges throughout the completion of this building but it is one that we had great experience with everyone involved and are really proud of.

Earlier during the start of this project we have blogged about what you will be doing as volunteers coming to Camp Mantanani.

We also shared the day we raised the roof on the CLC. One of our biggest challenges!

In February this year, we had our Camps Directors visit and Stu blogged about his trip and the progress on tough day at the island office.

Summer this year, we had more hands to help complete this project and Anna Nicholls, one of our Arkitrek interns who stayed as long as 5 months on the project this year, sums up perfectly the end of the CLC summer progress report.

How it all started by the seashore…

More photos on the soft opening day here and handover to community here.

I have just returned from a 2 day trip to Mantanani where we opened the Community Learning Centre (CLC) which we have been building for the past 2 years or so as part of our ongoing Borneo Project Work.  I started my opening ceremony speech with “wow” which was ably translated for the local audience also as “wow” and I think that sums it up very nicely.

During my 8 or so years in Borneo I have been privileged to see some great things and also to be part of constructing many buildings in rural villages.  But I have to say the CLC on Mantanani is perhaps one of the most impressive and beautiful buildings I have worked on.  From the outside the bamboo paneling forms a protective shell which is intriguing to the eye – from the inside the different designs of panel allow varying levels of light through, creating a mosaic or light and shadow, making the interior fascinating to just sit and be inside of.  These panels combined with the huge towering drift wood columns around the outside make this building a truly iconic and inspiring place.  The design is innovative and unique; the craftsmanship impressive; the intensity and passion of all those who have worked on the building is apparent.  I would like to personally thank everyone involved in the building – the architect interns and permanent team from Arkitrek who have overseen the plans and construction throughout; the skilled labour of Albi, Hashim and Normin who have toiled everyday to complete the construction work; and of course every single volunteer, whether they be gap students or school team, who has put blood, sweat and tears into making this an awesome building, something to be really proud of – thank you all.

It was also a time for reflection after 4 years of working on Mantanani, part of our ongoing Borneo Project Work – my first visits with Mel where we discussed our plans with Albi, and we walked along the seafront where our camp now is (and the Mari-Mari buildings).  There was nothing there then, just a winding track and loads of driftwood on the beach with the occasional cow going past – we paced out into the undergrowth what Albi thought was the extent of the land that was available for us to rent.  We discussed with Albi what Camps was all about and I don’t think he really understood it all, but in true Albi fashion, after looking slightly serious and if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, he smiled broadly, we shook hands and hugged – the deal was done.  Its been a long road since then, often challenging and difficult, mixed with some mistrust and resistance, uncertainty and problems.  But it finally struck me that slowly, very slowly, things are changing, and changing for the better for those on Mantanani, whilst also holding onto their identity and sense of belonging.  It was the little things – our team of cooks, 4 girls, thick as thieves, giggling to each other as they prepared our food, working hard but happy, earning some money, learning, growing in confidence.  These same girls led the dancing at the opening ceremony – and where initially a year or two ago the dancing was limited, wearing their company T-shirts, shy and embarrassed, slightly awkward, yesterday it was vibrant, confident, in full costumes and proud – proud to be there performing their traditional dance, proud to be an “Orang Baju Laut”, bursting with confidence, leading 4 young girls from the school who were also part of the dance.  Their eyes caught mine, sat as the main guest in the front row, but instead of shying away, they held my gaze, brimming with pride.  It brings tears to my eyes and makes the hair stand up on the back of neck to consider and write this now, and I hope you can share and feel that with me.  And to cap it all they performed again in front of the whole village and a plethora of visitors and big wigs during a huge “Community Policing Programme” yesterday – and they were awesome again, young and old in the village captivated by their moves.  And it was then that I realized, we were making a difference, an intangible difference, and that its not about the buildings and facilities we construct, but simply about our presence, our love and giving people a sense of their own power and abilities.  Wow!