Nearly three years to the day since I left for my first adventure with Raleigh I’m off again. This time to Southern India as part of the volunteer staff team.
My time in Chile was so inspirational I knew that I had to do it again and give other young people the chance to experience what I did on expedition. So a few months back I decided to apply for a staff role not really thinking that I would get through. After a gruelling assessment weekend in the pouring rain and an intense staff development weekend there is just over a month before i fly. It is all very real and slightly scary!
So, what will I be doing I hear you ask?
Most people tend to think that I’m just off on a jolly around India and when I mention charity work the image of working for an aid agency building mud huts for poor people in the jungle springs to mind. Both of these views are nowhere near the truth. Raleigh’s mission statement is:
“Raleigh expeditions inspire people from all walks of life, ages and nationalities to make a difference to communities and environments. Through adventure and challenge we help them reach their full potential as global citizens. Our vision is to awaken a sense of life-purpose and belonging, creating a united global community working together to rise to the challenges of the world we live in.”
I fit into this by volunteering my time and skills to ensure that the projects that we will be working on are run smoothly and safely. The main aim of the projects and expedition as a whole is the personal development of young people and every activity and project is geared toward this.
There are three phases to a 10 week expedition, adventure (trekking), community and environmental. I’m don’t know what projects I will be working on as yet but the adventure phase is a 200km trek through a national park. The community phases involve building eco sanitation compost toilets and houses for local communities, not mud huts though! A far as I know the environmental projects haven’t been confirmed as yet but previous projects involved reducing human/elephant conflict and anti poaching projects.
Take a look at this video for an idea of what it will be like on expedition.
More videos here : www.vimeo.com/tag:raleighinternational
Field base is located just out side the city of Mysore in the state of Karnataka. While I am away I will try to keep this blog updated with where I am and what I’m upto but this may not be possible due the nature of the work.
If you want to sponsor me and support this very worthwhile charity you can donate here: www.justgiving.com/neildakeyne
More soon.
Neil
Sunday, December 21, 2008
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