Brilliant Borneo!
Cameron successfully applied for a small grant from FoYPiB to help fund a trip of a lifetime to Borneo, where he helped build for a local community, gained confidence and learnt to Scuba Dive.
This is what Cameron said about the process of applying for funding from FoYPiB, how he felt when the small grant was awarded, how the money was spent, what he gained from the experience and his next steps going forward.
“The application process was quite clear in its requests for information. It enabled me to identify the specific reasons for my enthusiasm about attending the expedition and understand how I could contribute to making significant changes in small ways. Once I completed the form and submitted it, I was kept well informed of the next steps and received confirmation of my success very promptly.”
“When I was told that I was successful in receiving a grant from FoYPiB, I was honestly ecstatic.”
“The grant was paid towards the funding of my Expedition to Borneo in association with the Camps International organisation. It was used as part of the total sum paid towards £4,580, to allow me to travel to and work in Borneo and ultimately have one of, if not the best experience of my life. The funding will have been split between the costs of: paying for the concrete and equipment used in my projects; the cost of the flight; the food provided to all Camps International groups in Borneo; & the funding towards my Scuba Diving qualification. It helped me partake in a life-changing experience which has opened my eyes to the wider world.”
“This was a four-week trip to Malaysian Borneo, during which I and a group of peers from my school travelled to the northern region of Borneo, Sabah. We visited many small villages across the island and helped with the beginnings of community projects related to refurbishment and infrastructure. Tasks included clearing dead flora to create better spaces for the public, bricklaying, mixing cement (28 batches, to be exact), and creating the foundations for infrastructure e.g. a new path up to the community church, the beginnings of a new toilet block, creating a usable walking and running track for the Locals to use, or the maintaining of a building to be used for schooling. All of the Villages visited had very unique and different traditions and cultures and being able to see such a wide range of people and places was truly amazing. At each camp, my team was lucky enough to make great relations with the locals and get on very well, being welcomed so nicely and treated like a part of the village during our stay.”
“The expedition included a day visiting Sepilok: the Orang-Utan nursery in Sandakan, North East Sabah. Here, we were able to understand more about the wildlife of the region we were in and how Borneo is very special as it is one of only two islands where orangutans are now present in the wild. We were also able to witness the feeding of the orangutan youth in a semi-wild environment like they were collecting food without the input of the Sepilok team.”
“The expedition also included a 4-day PADI divers course on Mamutik Island, in which I completed 5 open water dives with my group and I am now officially a trained PADI Scuba Diver. This process helped in the understanding of Malaysian culture and traditions as a lot of Malaysia borders salt water. We were able to speak Malay to our instructors and was very impactful to me as it felt like I was properly appreciating & respecting the country we were visiting.”
“This project has helped me build confidence and has helped motivate me to strive to help those who unfortunately cannot always help themselves, to bring together people who would usually never meet, and overall strengthen the relations people should have worldwide, bringing people across the globe together to bring forward the big movement of caring for other people even if they are not known to you.”
“Going forward, I have been able to add the experience from Borneo and the work completed onto my UCAS reference, which piqued interest from the universities I have applied to and I now have 3 conditional offers”.
“I can use the skills learnt from this experience to apply them to my skills and CVs in the future”.
Well done Cameron, we’re so pleased your trip was a success and we wish you all the very best for the future.
If you have a project you need funding towards please read the criteria and information on how to apply by clicking this link Apply for a Grant
