Our current UniBreak students in Borneo, have very limited phone reception during their 4-week community placement. So, rather than blogs from abroad, we asked two members of the group to write about their feeling prior to departure!
RICHARD ALLCHURCH
Well it’s almost here. 6 months of planning and preparation has finally brought me within reach of going to Borneo! I’m very nervous but am very much looking forward to getting out into the villages to meet the local people and to help out with the reforestation and teaching projects and to see what it is like in the jungle along with a few other like-minded volunteers.
I don’t think I fully realise what I’m getting myself into yet but I know that it will hit me when I get there; the heat, humidity, culture, language, food, facilities, bugs, people etc. Part of me certainlythinks that I’m mad to go to a more difficult and basic way of life leaving behind the comfortable luxuries that I am well and truly used to here.
I have got everything packed from medical kit to mosquito net to water filter unit so
I think I am well prepared. I’ve read up a bit on some teaching techniques that I could use and learnt some words in the local language as well as organise some travel with the group after the placement!
I am most excited about getting out there in the jungle doing work that I am passionate about with good people in a country that I have wanted to go to for a number of years. I’m basically looking forward to seeing another part of the world outside of Australia and experience a wildly different climate, ecosystem and environment as well as coming to terms with a unique culture’s take on life.
I am most nervous about leaving behind the niceties of Sydney and the ease of life
here and my family to take on a hot, somewhat hostile place that will spring up surprises that I won’t be able to prepare for. What am I doing! But I know that it will be worth it in the end and that I will have a great time.
ANGUS DONOVAN
From the outset, the idea of packing up for a month of uni holidays and going to a remote community in Borneo seemed unreal. I’ve had friends mention how cool the jungle was and how different the culture was. I’ve recently felt a little bit more mature and decided that helping preserve the communities over there seemed like a great way to give something back.
The most nervous part was actually making the decision to go to this faraway place, without the vast majority of the things I’d come to rely on in Australia. It was almost purely a sense of adventure that compelled me to say ‘whatever, I’m just going. Come at me jungle!’ and maybe a very old idea that I could be like Mogli in the Jungle Book hanging out with all the animals.
I think it will be harder than we expect when we get there - like a tough day of physical work however I feel that the sights and sounds of the rainforest will be enough to remind us of how fantastic and unique this experience is. It sounds romantic but I’d love to find respect for and be at peace with the dense forest environment that dominates the way of the life.
I'm looking forward to the experience of living in a different community particularly where family and particularly extended family will probably be a greater feature than it is in Australia. I’m most excited to come back to Australia knowing that I’ve been making a difference (however small) in preserving a part of the rainforest and helping the communities that live there.
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