Onto the first week then.
Now considering most of the projects would be deep in the rural areas of Sabah where there is absolutely no cell service much less internet connectivity how were we to keep in contact with FieldBase? It's important to maintain contact so that at all times our movements were to be accounted for and also in case of an emergency they would know where to find us.
The main form of communication would be our radios. This was no basic walky-talky kinda thing. It was a proper radio system which we had to learn to set up. Setting it up involved firstly putting up the dipole antenna which always proved to be the most difficult/annoying part as you had to get it up a certain height and aiming for a branch on a three was clearly not a skill that was required in our day to day lives. The rest of it was a breeze with just having to plug things in into the main unit. We also learnt radio speak which is well awkward as you are trying to use as few words as possible while sounding official. I did find it fun though with learning the phonetic alphabet and all.
Next form of communication would be using the satellite phones. Which we never actually did use at any point because the radio always worked. And when the radio didn't work, neither did the sat phone.
And of course with Raleigh being very careful about things. There would have to be an in case of emergency option. The PLB. A Personal Locater Beacon. Basically just a big red button to push that would then bring emergency services in. But only in case of dire emergencies. Like if everyone was dying. Not dead. Dying. Grim but true.
We also covered some basic first aid. Always important when the nearest hospital could be hours away. Although there would always be a medic with us during projects that were more remote. So really, no worries cause the medics are well prepared. Other important things we learned were stuff like how to set up our bashers(involving putting up the hammock, tarp and mosquito net), where/how to dig our long drop(toilet a.k.a hole in the ground) and the etiquette behind it to avoid accidentally walking into someone doing their business
So after all the theoretical learning, it was now time to put out knowledge to the test!
We had all been split into different groups and my group Delta 5 got to be one of the first to go for our practice trek alongside two other groups. Packing wasn't such a chore yet as we were only going for one night so there wasn't really much to take. So after dividing up the food and group kit such as cooking tools, radio(which in total weighed 8kg), shovel, jerry cans(for water), we were off! There was also the matter of the group tarp also known as the sausage which two people had to carry at all times. It was heavy beyond imagination and carrying it for just 10 minutes over the uneven terrain was a test.
Now considering most of the projects would be deep in the rural areas of Sabah where there is absolutely no cell service much less internet connectivity how were we to keep in contact with FieldBase? It's important to maintain contact so that at all times our movements were to be accounted for and also in case of an emergency they would know where to find us.
The main form of communication would be our radios. This was no basic walky-talky kinda thing. It was a proper radio system which we had to learn to set up. Setting it up involved firstly putting up the dipole antenna which always proved to be the most difficult/annoying part as you had to get it up a certain height and aiming for a branch on a three was clearly not a skill that was required in our day to day lives. The rest of it was a breeze with just having to plug things in into the main unit. We also learnt radio speak which is well awkward as you are trying to use as few words as possible while sounding official. I did find it fun though with learning the phonetic alphabet and all.
Next form of communication would be using the satellite phones. Which we never actually did use at any point because the radio always worked. And when the radio didn't work, neither did the sat phone.
And of course with Raleigh being very careful about things. There would have to be an in case of emergency option. The PLB. A Personal Locater Beacon. Basically just a big red button to push that would then bring emergency services in. But only in case of dire emergencies. Like if everyone was dying. Not dead. Dying. Grim but true.
We also covered some basic first aid. Always important when the nearest hospital could be hours away. Although there would always be a medic with us during projects that were more remote. So really, no worries cause the medics are well prepared. Other important things we learned were stuff like how to set up our bashers(involving putting up the hammock, tarp and mosquito net), where/how to dig our long drop(toilet a.k.a hole in the ground) and the etiquette behind it to avoid accidentally walking into someone doing their business
So after all the theoretical learning, it was now time to put out knowledge to the test!
We had all been split into different groups and my group Delta 5 got to be one of the first to go for our practice trek alongside two other groups. Packing wasn't such a chore yet as we were only going for one night so there wasn't really much to take. So after dividing up the food and group kit such as cooking tools, radio(which in total weighed 8kg), shovel, jerry cans(for water), we were off! There was also the matter of the group tarp also known as the sausage which two people had to carry at all times. It was heavy beyond imagination and carrying it for just 10 minutes over the uneven terrain was a test.
My first basher. Please excuse my socks they needed drying out.
The group leaving.
It was quite a challenging experience. What with me not having gotten my jungle legs yet. There was a lot of slipping and sliding along the way as while we did follow a sort of path, it was still a venture into the jungle. And for those who know me know that I tend to trip and fall even on completely flat ground for no reason whatsoever. Considering that, I think it was a pretty good trek with nothing broken or sprained. Haha. I did end up with lots of bruises and scratches though.
With that done and dusted, I had gotten my first taste of the jungle life and while it wasn't the easiest thing, it also wasn't the hardest.
I think I must also mention the first day of team building exercises. Not for the exercises themselves but for the conditions that we were to do it in. Let's remember that the end of the year is monsoon season over in Borneo so we were having downpours pretty much everyday. So the first time we were out on the field doing some team building thing it started pouring down and of course our first instinct is to run inside for cover. However, we were ordered to march back out by our PMs(Project Manager) and continue because rain will and should not stop us. The idea is that even while we are trekking in the jungle, we aren't gonna stop and seek shelter when it starts raining so we were gonna have to get used to being completely soaked through.
Overall the first week was quite a learning experience. But that would prove to be only the tip of the iceberg because we still had another 9 weeks to get through with many other difficulties which meant a lot more learning about the jungle, our fellow group members and ourselves.
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