The Venturers Arrive!

Today is an exciting day for us here at Raleigh India and Fieldbase is buzzing with activity and noise.

Yesterday our eight Host Country Participants from the state of Kerala arrived and they were joined this morning by our 33 new venturers! It is absolutely fantastic to have everyone here and ready to get started.

Our slightly jet-lagged and bleary-eyed participants, having travelled from the UK and Holland were put into their training groups where our Project Managers got everyone energized with some name games and ice-breakers. After dinner, they were then whisked away for their swim test and admin sessions.

Over the next five days, the participants will receive all their training in communications, cultural awareness, first aid and health and safety not to mention the practical trekking skills on our mini-trek complete with lessons in camp craft. After this, they will be fully prepared and ready to set off with their alpha groups to the project sites on Saturday.

This afternoon our Raleigh participants still found the energy for an impromptu cricket match!

We’ll certainly be keeping them busy, but will let you know how they are getting on...

Staff Return to Fieldbase

Our Project Managers and Medics have now all arrived back at Fieldbase, having completed their Project Planning Visits at the three sites where we will soon be living, working and trekking with the Venturers.

In order to get more of an idea of the projects, we interviewed each team to find out what the Venturers can expect.

Alpha One: Hosekerasunda Community Project

Otherwise Known As:
“Project Compost”






Message to Venturers:
Building eco-sanitation units may not sound very glamorous, but if you watch Property Ladder or Ideal Home, this is the project for you. This is the perfect opportunity to get integrated into the community and see the “real India”.

Introduction to the project:
You will be building eco-sanitation units for each of the thirty families in the village of Hosekerasunda, which will amount to ten toilets every phase. The work is supported by MYRADA (a local NGO) who have already completed the same project in the village next door. More importantly you will be living and working directly alongside the community, who have already contributed some building materials to the project. This is a grass roots project, getting your hands stuck in; bricks, cement and all!

An eco-sanitation unit

Brief Description of where the Venturers will be living:
Home is the local Primary School, which is used by the village during the day. Your ‘supermarket’ is a typical Indian kiosk, which can source most things from sweets to soap. It is 100% community based living with a great opportunity to see the outcome and physical impact of your work.







What are the highlights of the project:
Living and working within the community. Everyone is so friendly and interested in what we will be doing there and cannot wait to meet all our venturers.

What else will be happening on the project:
Plans currently being discussed include a local cricket match, a shopping spree in the market at the nearby town of HD Kote, a swimming excursion and loads of time to play with the children of Hosekerasunda and teach them ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’.





Don’t leave Fieldbase without:
Your work gloves and mosquito nets. Also keep an open mind and a big smile!

The team:





Sally

The Pocket Rocket. She’s full of energy and likes to party and cause mischief at any opportunity.




Kate

Our Feisty Kiwi with plenty of energy and a terrific sense of fun. She’ll ask lots of questions so bring lots of answers and if nothing else her accent will always make us laugh.




Claire L.

An English Rose of a medic. She may speak like she’s got a plum in her mouth but she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty!

Alpha Three: Chattamunnar Trek


Otherwise Known As:
“The Mountain Goats”

Message to Venturers:
This is your chance to see some stunning scenery. It will test your endurance to the full but is also going to be such a laugh. Don’t feel overwhelmed: it will certainly be a challenge, but is do-able. Just be prepared.

Introduction to the project:
Get ready to face the greatest challenge of the moment and what you will get in return is an experience not to be missed. You’ll be trekking through privately owned tea plantations and up the second highest mountain in Southern India, then cycling and lastly canoeing in the backwaters of Kerala.

Brief Description of where the Venturers will be living:
Home will be your camp that you must make along the way. You will be sleeping in tents by the campfire, creating and breaking camp every day.

What are the highlights of the project:
The journey is long with highlights throughout. This will probably be the biggest challenge of your life. It is also the perfect opportunity to see a diverse range of wildlife and in particular, monkeys in abundance!

What else will be happening on the project:
The tea plantations and national parks you will be visiting offer a diverse cultural experience with all the sights and smells of the “real India” that a tourist trail could not buy. Other plans include a possible trip to a tea factory and plenty of time in the evenings for rest, relaxation and reflection around the campfire with only the stars above you.

Tree House

Don’t leave Fieldbase without:
Your platypus water bag, blister plasters, puritabs, a sense of humour and a can-do attitude!

The team:

The trek team: Claire M., Dominic and Matt

Dominic

Dependable and reliable, he will get you through anything with his good sense of humour. He will bond the team and is up for the challenge.

Claire M.

Trustworthy and loyal, she makes you feel comfortable and is someone you can confide in. She is also very knowledgeable about the practical side, motivated and fit!

Matt

Our down-to-earth Northern doctor that will motivate the team and keep your spirits high with tons of jokes. He’s certainly got the chatter but with practical skills to match.

Alpha Two: Metakuppe Environmental Project


Otherwise Known As:
“Project Dark Horse”

Message to Venturers:
Get ready to burn the candle at both ends.

Introduction to the project:
The venturers will be involved with the reinforcement and rebuilding of elephant-proof trenches in the National Park. These provide bilateral protection to the elephants in the park and to the tribal communities whose land surrounds the area. At certain points these trenches have eroded allowing easy access for animals to pass from one side to the other.

Your task: an example of an elephant-proof trench

Brief Description of where the Venturers will be living:
Your home for this phase will be in the Inspection Bungalow in Metakuppe, within the National Park. The building, which is exactly 100 years old, was a gift from the last king of Mysore and is situated one kilometre down a dirt track in an area of secured land, patrolled by the park rangers.

The Inspection Bungalow

What are the highlights of the project:
You will have plenty of opportunities to see a variety of wildlife, on our Project Planning Visit we were lucky enough to sight an Indian tiger, close to our camp! This is apparently very rare and so an extremely exciting event for our first night. Other wildlife in the park includes: elephants, leopards, spotted deer, sloth bears, snakes and frogs!

Jenny and Suzanne in discussion with the Park Rangers

What else will be happening on the project:
There are lots of options for further exciting projects around the Inspection Bungalow which will be revealed on a phase-by-phase basis and plenty of ‘down-time’ to give you energy for the elephant trenches.
Also on offer is a chance to brush up on your languages. Suzanne (Project Manager) can give the group Irish lessons and there are plenty of park rangers around for lessons in Kannada language (the local language here in Karnataka). Watch out for Jenny, who will be rounding up the team for sessions of kick-boxing and yoga.

Don’t leave Fieldbase without:
Your work gloves and party hats! Any games or accessories to keep everyone entertained when not at work.

The team:

The team relax together outside

Project Managers Suzanne and Hana

Hana
The blonde bungalow bunny, always bouncing with energy.


Suzanne
An Irish party animal who will provide a huge amount of hilarity.


Jenny
The mad adventure medic. She may be small, but certainly makes up for it with speed and energy.

The trekking groups in action

Cooking by night

Staff teams for Phase One are announced

Our Management team revealed to us today where each of the Project Managers will be working for the first Phase of our expedition. For the current line-up for each project site in Phase One, see below

In Alpha One on the Community Project in the village of Hosakerasunda are:

Kate Morten – Project Manager
Sally Jupp – Project Manager
Claire Lehman - Medic

Once the participants arrive, the group will be living and working alongside the community to improve facilities in the village with the construction of eco-sanitation units.


In Alpha 2 on the Environmental Project in Nagerhole National Park are:

Hana Manthorpe – Project Manager
Suzanne Leamy – Project Manager
Jenny Newman - Medic

This group will be based in the stunning location of the Nagerhole National Park to repair and maintain elephant trenches which are vital to protect villagers’ crops.


And in Alpha 3 on the Adventure Phase to the backwaters of Kerala on the Arabian coast are:

Dominic Short – Project Manager
Claire Morris – Project Manager
Matthew Mudford - Medic

The trekkers will undertake an arduous and remote 19 day route over physically demanding terrain through some stunning scenery in the state of Kerala. Each night the group will have to set up wilderness campsites, carrying all their equipment between sites.


Now that the groups have been decided, each alpha group will spend four days on their Project Planning visits at the project location. During this time careful consideration will have to be made in order to decide what activities the participants will be involved in during their time on that part of the phase, looking at the facilities are available, all the health and safety measures that will need to be put in place and what equipment may be needed for a successful expedition.

Once all this preparation has been laid out, the groups will be ready to present their findings and ideas back to Fieldbase and start getting ready for when the participants arrive here at Fieldbase on Monday the 11th February.

Day Two of Trek Training

After waking up before dawn to make our breakfast of porridge and tinned pineapple (surprisingly tasty), the site was packed up again and we were ready to set off for our second day on our feet. Friday’s trekking tested our navigation and map reading skills, taking us on a route up to the top of Chamundi hill (a total of 1,100 steps) to the breathtakingly beautiful Temple at the top.



Once back at the camp area, we barely had time to check our feet for blisters and try to stretch out our backs a little before the tents went up again and dinner had to be cooked. Once everything was cleared away, we were able to relax under the stars and reflect on all the experiences of the day. Despite overwhelming tiredness and sore feet, the group was still able to remain positive and felt a real sense of achievement from the trip and all the experiences we had shared.



It was an interesting sight on camp this morning when the group improvised a yoga session to stretch all those tired muscles.

Trek Training

We’ve now returned from our trek training, out and about in the heat of the Indian sun. In temperatures of up to 30 degrees and carrying around 20 kilos of personal and group kit on our backs, we had to put all our training into action. After a few hours walk on Thursday afternoon, we arrived at our location and had to rapidly construct our camp before darkness fell. Tents were erected, a toilet site set up and we all had our first experience of cooking and eating Raleigh trek-style.



In the evening, we were extremely lucky to have a presentation by Mr. Ravi Kumar, a specialist in Indian snakes. Mr. Kumar was able to give us plenty of useful advice and information on some of the local snakes we may encounter during our time here.

Staff Birthdays

Wednesday marked our first Fieldbase birthday celebrated with the whole staff team: our Team Coach, Claire Morris. After indulging in some lovely birthday cake, the group had a great excuse for some extra team building and relaxation by celebrating with a few laps on the local go-cart track. Congratulations to Paul, Logs Manager and Kate, one of our Project Managers, who currently hold the fastest track times!






Next up, we have one of our medics – Jenny Newman. As a special birthday gift, we allowed Jenny to be first into the showers this morning, after our three days out on trek training. See Trek Training post for details.



Happy birthday to both!

Your Raleigh International India Staff Team

Well, here are the Raleigh International India staff for January 2008.

(L-R, back row: Mark Ashby, Sally Jupp, Paul Burgess, Matt Mudford, Dom Short, Tim Berrman, Deepak, Kate Morten, Gavin Shelton; front row: Sally Dalman, Suzanne Leamy, Claire Lehman, Claire Morris, Hana Manthorpe, Rosie Palliser, Miranda Corti, Amanda Ockwell, Jenny Newman)

Today is an extremely exciting day for our staff – it marks the beginning of our trek training, where we can begin to put our hard earned skills into practice. After three days covering important know-how on GPS navigation and communication procedures, as well as essential health and safety practices and hazard analysis, we can finally venture out into our amazing surroundings here at Mysore.

These hard-skills are not only vital for the Project Managers themselves but will also be passed on in turn to the participants during their first few days of training at Fieldbase, so that all are fully equipped for their time on expedition.

Not to mention, that once we return to Fieldbase on Saturday, it will be time for all the Project Managers to find out what project sites they will be working on. It will then be their task to visit their allocated site at either Nagerhole National Park, Hosakeresunda or on the backwaters of Kerala on the Arabian coast in order to learn more about their locations and carry out their Project Planning.

It’s been serious instruction for us all; however, there has still been plenty of opportunity for entertainment. Indeed, our Health and Safety session saw various innovative dramatic performances, demonstrating correct and incorrect procedure on an expedition. For this we had some great impressions of big cats, elephants and even crocodiles.

Main Staff Arrival

Things at Field Base are starting to heat up!

We had our main staff arrival this morning and they were promptly introduced to their new home, with full guided tour and games.

It's been a great opportunity to all get to know each other and settle in as well as a fantastic chance to practice all the Raleigh name games and ice-breakers that will become essential to all our staff over the programme.

But it's not all play for our staff - this afternoon has already seen the beginning of the staff training programme that will fill our days for the next two weeks, along with some time for tea and chats.

As the sun sets, it's time for some much needed rest for our new staff ready for the new day ahead...

The Advanced Staff Team has arrived!

So 3 become 10! The pre-expedition staff team Gav, Mark and Hayley have now been joined by the superstar that is Deepak who is the Fieldbase Facilities Manager. Deepak is the ultimate "Fixer" and has helped us from laying broadband cables to sourcing laundry facilities! Last week the Advanced Staff Team also arrived and have spent the last week working furiously to prepare Fieldbase for the Main Staff arrival on Monday 28th January.

So the "All Star Cast" is:

Gav Shelton - Country Director


Mark Ashby - Country Programme Manager


Hayley Bonner - Host Country Participant Coordinator


Deepak - Facilities Manager


Tim Berriman - Deputy Programme Manager

Matt Mudford - Medic


Paul Burgess - Logistics Manager


Sally Dalman - Assistant Logistics Manager


Miranda Corti - Finance Manager


Amanda Ockwell - Administrator