Fun run and familiar faces...

Namaskaara you good people, its changeover morning and we’re busily getting field base ready for the return of the troops. So we’ve warned Betty not to pop round for a few days, asked the mouse that I just found in the bin to go and squeak elsewhere and told the toads that there will soon be hundreds of new (but very stinky) boots for them to hide in.

As well as this exciting news, we also bring you details of a fundraising event we’ll be doing at the end of expedition before the sad farewells begin. Oh dear, can’t even start to think about that yet it’s all going to be too emotional! Sniff sniff...

Right, where was I, oh yes, I remember now – once everyone is back from their final phase at the start of April, we’re all going to be taking part in a 10k run and will be asking for sponsorship to raise money towards an extra project for the next expedition.

We’ll be working with our partner CTRD to build eco-sanitation units in a tribal village called Kotapadi in the Nilgiri Hills, but we would also love to be able to build a house for one of the village families that are currently living in a tarpaulin shelter. 

The house will cost 85,000 Indian rupees to build which is the equivalent of about £1,300. So if you know family and friends on expedition or have been here yourself and know how hard it’s going to be then it would be brilliant if you could sponsor us to help us raise the funds we need to help this family.

To sponsor us just head on over to our fundraising page - 

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/raleigh11afunrun

It’s going to be around 40 degrees in April and even now just walking 10 yards is enough to make us break out into a sweat so it’s going to be tough, tough, tough. And we’ll be posting all the sweaty photos on here just as soon as the feeling in our legs has returned and we’ve got our breath back.

Two guys that we would love to have running with us in April are Sam Ummat and Dharmendra Patel who provided us with hours of entertainment as explorers but were here for the first phase only. Sadly they left us at the last changeover to head on to new adventures but they managed to find time to fill me on how they felt about their time with us... luckily they had a blast!

Sam, 19 from Reading

I started Raleigh and, to be honest, was a little bit unsure on what it would be like. But looking back on it now it was some of the best three weeks of my life and I wish I could have stayed for all ten! I made soo many amazing friends and saw some things that simply took my breath away and have soo many memories that I’ll remember for the rest of my life!!

It was such a worthwhile experience and I feel that I grew as a person, despite the lack of food and showers!! Thank you so much Raleigh for making it such an amazing experience and will definitely do another project in the future. Thanks!

Dharmendra, 21 from London

I can't believe its already been 8 days since I got back from my 4-week expedition in India! Four weeks at home here in London seems to take forever but with Raleigh, time certainly flies by because you're always having fun. 

I chose to do the community phase - Charlie 1. In just three weeks in Vellary Village, my team and I (along with a lot of help from the masons and the locals) managed to build a cow shed, a bio-gas unit and the main structure of a house! The locals that we stayed with in Vellary considered us part of their family. They are such loving people to be with.

They gave us tea and biscuits every day, fed us with delicious spicy meals and even joined us when we had a few dance parties in the evening. When it was our time to leave to get back to field base, the family became very emotional and that made some of us cry a river too. We will all truly miss them and the beautiful, tropical, mountainous village of Vellary.

I've learned so many life skills during my time on Raleigh. How to make a successful camp fire, how to cook using trangias, basic first aid action, how to mix cement using the simplest of tools, how to sustain hygiene using the 3 bowls, how to dig a long drop toilet! The list goes on...

The people at Raleigh, staff and venturers alike, are the friendliest, kindest, most welcoming and most fun people I've ever met in my life! The irony is, now that I'm back home, not being at field base with everyone is making me feel home-sick :( I am missing them all dearly and I can't wait to meet up with some of them when they get back to London. I have made so friends and memories that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. I would definitely recommend Raleigh to anyone interested in taking an exciting journey abroad with amazing people to make a difference.

My advice - if you do chose Raleigh, DO THE FULL 10 WEEKS! :)

Now he’s set me off blubbing again! Thanks so much to those guys for their enthusiasm, hard work, fun and laughter. I know you’re both badly missed here by everyone, and Sam, I miss the messages from your mum Denise!

Right, better start doing some serious training for the run I guess. Just ran away from a dead spider and had a chocolate bar so that’s a pretty good start me thinks...