Borneo Trip 2017

Danielle Lim, Upper Sixth, describes the incredible experiences of 18 St Edward’s pupils who travelled to Borneo in July. A full report on the 2017 trip to Borneo will follow in The Chronicle.

Our school trip to Borneo this summer was the experience of a lifetime. During the trip we had the opportunity to work closely with three different local communities. In some, we helped them with community projects such as concreting, painting and teaching the younger children English and, in others, we were told about the effects that forest fires and deforestation has had on the jungle in Borneo. Following that we were able to make a difference by de-vining and planting trees in order to help the trees regrow and help the jungle return to normal.

We were very lucky while we were there to work along the Kinabatangan River, which flows through the Borneo jungle and while we were there we were fortunate enough to see a wild orangutan, crocodile and proboscis monkeys among the many other birds and monkeys in the jungle.

While we were there we also had the opportunity in every camp to really integrate into the communities. We were able to participate in daily Zumba sessions after work and the community taught us local dances and songs, and they even took the time to teach us how to play volleyball.

Overall, even though we started this trip thinking that this was going to be a very difficult four weeks, which it was, we were still able to make the most out of every opportunity and have loads of fun in everything that we did and, in the end, we came out with lots of new friends and experiences which have changed our lives forever. 

You can view a gallery from the Borneo Trip by clicking here.