An intrepid group of adventurers from Trent College will brave jungle creepy crawlies, wild animal life and the stifling heat and humidity of the rainforest when they set off on a three-week trip to Borneo on Monday 11 July.
A total of 14 Sixth Form pupils and three staff members, headed up by Geography master, Peter Shuttleworth, will enter into a world far beyond anything they have ever experienced before as their skills of leadership, self-reliance and teamwork are fully put to the test.
The group will undertake a five-day jungle trek, sleeping in hammocks alongside mosquitoes, insects, snakes, spiders and other fearsome and not so treacherous creatures that inhabit the rainforest, take part in a three-day community orphanage project at Bundu Tuhan Children’s home and climb the 4,095m Mount Kinabalu.
They will also get to experience first-hand the widespread deforestation that threatens Borneo’s delicate tropical rainforest ecosystem. The palm oil plantations are one of the biggest contributors to the rate of deforestation, but they also bring considerable economic and social benefits to Borneo. Any conservation efforts are therefore bound to come into serious conflict with the powerful palm oil industry.
The Trent team is made up of pupils studying, amongst other subjects, geography, biology, chemistry and economics and whether their specific areas of interest are in culture, ecology, wildlife botany, meteorology, history or physical geography, they cannot fail to widen their understanding and knowledge of things that up until now had only been seen in classrooms.
Student Rachel Glendening, who lives in Nottingham, said: “I wanted to do the trip for all the challenges involved. We have done a lot of preparation for the trip over the past year including training weekends in the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales as well as learning all about the culture, history and geography of Borneo, which has been fascinating in itself. I’m actually looking forward to sleeping in a hammock although I’m not relishing the prospect of the humidity. I’ve already been given my role in the group while we are away; taking leeches off of people!”
Greg Britton, from Bramcote, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity. The mosquitoes, leeches and other poisonous animals all sound a bit scary but getting to experience the sheer variety of life in the rainforests and seeing how different other cultures can be makes it all worth the risk. I can’t wait to go jungle trekking.”
As part of their trip preparation pupils have undertaken a number of fundraising events including car washing, baking and taking part in the Long Eaton Five Mile Race last month.
Mr Shuttleworth said: “The purpose of the trip is to expose the students to a range of different and unfamiliar environments and experiences. The teamwork aspect of expeditions develops organisation, collaboration, mutual support and determination, all inherent in Trent’s whole school ethos. We are encouraging the students to fully throw themselves into the whole experience because while the direct educational benefits are undeniable, the sheer wonder of visiting such a place is about so much more than being able to better understand a textbook.”
Trent College has previously run expeditions to Greenland, Mongolia, Iceland, Bolivia and Morocco. The Borneo trip is being organised by Adventureworks, part of Jagged Globe.