gravity phase 1

So onto the main event and preparation for the venturers arrival was under way with the official raleigh olympic committee (myself, nat, komal & alex) creating a challenge of tug of war, welly wanging & an obstacle course, obviously we had to try it out first on ourselves & spent a fun afternoon testing the events.

Dress rehearsal, olympics planning

We then went onto the airport to meet 50+ venturers, split them up into delta training groups and welcomed them to Borneo with an immediate swim test & some quite frankly awful cheese & cucumber sandwiches.

Olympic competition, with added water

We spent a couple off days passing on our newly acquired skills and trekking into the jungle for a night before the allocations for phase 1 and heading off to the project site for the expedition to begin for real.

Delta 2 heading to the jungle
ruth, noah, ruben, serene, kenly, laura, john, becky, simon, nat, lara, emma, kitty, tom

Delta 2 enjoying life in the jungle

We were incredibly lucky to begin the phase with an invitation to the wedding of the head man's daughter.  Despite the slightly awkward feeling of turning up to a wedding when you've not met either the bride or groom, we had a great time and presented the newly weds with raleigh t-shirts - surely the highlight of their day.

Wedding shot with the happy couple
nat, meghan, laura, simon, kenly, barnaby, steffi, jon, john
jake, kate, bou, thijs, eddy, anna

We then got down to some real work with the creation of a concrete base for the water tanks, fencing off the water source and laying pipes along the main route which is due to feed most of the village.

Starting the water tank foundations

The walk to work

Carrying pipes

unravelling pipes

Our housing was an enviable, half built, construction at the top of the village, where we slept upstairs and created a kitchen and communal area downstairs.

Kitchen

Wildlife was not exactly abundant but there were a few odd visitors to the house and around the village

A visitor in the food store

Dragonfly at the water source

The most dramatic thing was sunrise, from around 5.30 nearly every morning we were treated to spectacular views , always worth getting up for & since we were without any electricity following the light became the norm, starting working at 7 to avoid the heat of the day and often in bed by 8 or 9 after a couple of hours of darkness.

Sunrise in Nungguh

We finished the phase with the water tanks in position, fencing completed and most of the pipes laid, not bad for 18 days.

Alpha 2
barnaby, thijs, jake, simon
kate, bou, steffi
nat, laura, jon, kenly, meghan

Get out there

The last few days of training have been completed, brushing up on first aid, visiting the air ambulance people to check on our proposed helicopter landing site & getting a full tour of the choppers.

There was also time for a bit of organised fun, including fancy dress olympics, quiz night & karaoke.   

toys & games theme

Mario & luigi

Tango 3 celebrating a gold medal olympic performance

We even managed to get a day off, visiting the nearby islands of Manukan & Mamutik, tow of the islands in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, just a short speedboat ride from KK.  

speedboat to the islands

Manukan

looking back to KK

Manukan

But now it's time for the real work to start, 60 odd venturers (the volunteers) are turning up over today & tomorrow so we'll be off to Base Camp to train them up ready for starting the project work next week.  This will also be the last time I see internet until the end of the expedition so you can keep up with the official  raleigh blog: http://raleighborneo.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Project Planning



me, John & Nat & our new home in the background



The next couple of months are going to be split into 3 main phases.  Phase 1 & 2 will be building a gravity water feed in a village (kampong) Nuguh. With my fellow phase 1 project managers we went out to visit the site, meet the locals and our project partner and prepare for the 12th when we finally head back with another 10 volunteers in tow and the responsibility to provide 20 homes with water.



meeting the head man & family


After a few hours of taxis, minibuses and 4x4 we arrived at the village, about halfway between Kota Marudu & Pitas for anyone who wants to look on a map. 
First stop was meeting the head man with our project partner Eddie.  Without Eddie we would have been lost, not only is he able to expand on our Malay (hello, thankyou, rice & noodles only get you so far) but he's also built some of these things before and knows what to do with a strap wrench

 

view from my bed


We spent a couple of nights in the village in the place we will soon be calling home.  The head man's son is building a new house, it may only be half finished but most importantly it has a roof, a first floor, which once the floorboards are all nailed down will be a sleeping area with a view - no walls for extra ventilation & uninterupted sunrise & sunsets.


my new quarters





current water supply


The second day was spent surveying the village by GPS.  We visited the 20 houses & church to confirm the gravity aspect of the system really will work.  There are around 100 people currently living in the village & this gave us a chance to meet a number of them.

We also got to check out the local school in the neighbouring village, 300 kids aged 7-12 come in from 6 villages.  It's the other side of what will be our swimming & washing facilities the river at the bottom of the hill.


a local house




washing facilities




Tobacco drying