'I enjoyed learning about other countries and cultures, I want to travel'

Travelling on her own to Nicaragua and Costa Rica and working with a group of strangers was a daunting prospect for the shy teen.

“Even my momma didn’t think I could do it,” said the 18-year-old Berkeley graduate.

Jungle

But she overcame her inhibitions to complete the 10-week Raleigh International project in Central America.

Protecting turtle eggs from poachers at a jungle outpost and building a community centre and pre-school for families in a rural community gave her insight into life beyond the 22 square miles of Bermuda.

She said: “I liked meeting the local people and trying to learn their language. It’s given me more confidence. I want to travel. I don’t want to keep waiting for things to happen. I want to do them right away.

“I really enjoy learning about other countries and other cultures.”

Some might consider life in the Nicaraguan mountains backward.

Families live together in small wooden homes, horses are still one of the main modes of transport and an outdoor shower is a luxury.

Farming

But Miss Dunlop, who stayed with a large family who ran a shop selling donuts and candies to the farming community, said simple life has its benefits.

She added: “Call me blind but I didn’t really see poverty in this community.

“I envied their lifestyle. They don’t really stress about anything, they just enjoy life.” In La Playa Camaronal, Costa Rica, the main stress is about turtles.

Miss Dunlop was among a group of volunteers tasked with collecting and protecting turtle eggs on nightly patrols along the 3km stretch of beach.

She also helped build a hatchery for the turtles and maintain pathways at a ranger station for visitors to view the animals.

The toughest part of the Raleigh Project for Miss Dunlop was the Guanacaste Trek — a 135km, 16-day hike through Costa Rica’s volcano-country.

She did not like trekking and struggled to keep up.

She said: “It was really difficult. I kept thinking, ‘Why am I here? What am I doing?’ But I’m glad I did it.

“My mom was more proud of me about the trek-king than anything else.”

‘I’ve got a huge sense of achievement... now I can do anything I want’

Mica Fubler had dropped out of school and was working part-time when his granny suggested he do something more with his life.

The next thing he knew, he was in a jungle camp in Borneo sharing his supper with an orangutan.

The 20-year-old spent his summer camping out in the wilderness and helping to build new facilities for struggling communities.

He worked on a ‘long house’ for tradesmen to sell their wares and built bridges and viewing platforms at an orangutan and sun bear sanctuary.

The 10-week Raleigh International project was backbreaking work. But Mr. Fubler said it has given him a sense of self-belief and motivation to do something with his life.

He added: “Just looking back at something and saying, ‘I helped to build that’ gives you such a sense of achievement.

“Now I feel I can do anything I want. All you have to do is put your mind to it and work hard.”

Anglers

Mr. Fubler, who quit school at 16 after a bike accident put him back a year, plans to go to the adult education centre to get his GED.

He said making friends with other students on the project has made him more outgoing and willing to try new things.

The first few weeks in Borneo were spent on Meliaging Island building a shelter where weavers could sell mats and other products to visitors. He lived and worked among a community of anglers who had their livelihood taken away when dynamite fishing was banned in the region.

The second phase of the project was at Sepilok Jungle Camp, where he built facilities at a rehab centre for sun bears saved from the illegal pet trade and orangutans rescued from deforested areas.

Mr. Fubler said: “The orangutans came real close to our camp. One night one walked up to where we were eating, grabbed my boy’s bowl, ate his food, put it back and went back into the trees.”

The final phase of the project was spent learning to scuba dive on Mamutik Island.

Mr. Fubler said: “Just being underwater was amazing. I had no idea what it was like down there. It’s beautiful.”

‘I don’t want to go back to the naive person I was, I feel like I can conquer the world’

Taylor Eve never believed she could last a day without her cell phone.

But 10 weeks trekking and working in remote Indian communities has given her a new perspective on life.

She admits she used to be a problem child — getting into fights and hanging with the wrong crowd.

But she overcame those challenges to graduate from CedarBridge Academy last year.

She believes the Raleigh International project transformed her life.

The 19-year-old helped build a school for an underprivileged tribal community, dug trenches to protect farmland from marauding elephants and trekked for 200km — about six times the length of Bermuda – across India.

She said: “The trek was the most challenging thing I have ever done. My biggest lesson was that I am able to push myself beyond my comfort zone. I was ready to give up numerous times but I kept going.”

The two-and-a-half week trek in Kerela, southwest India, also involved scaling Meesapulimala mountain — the second tallest peak in the country.

She spent a further three weeks in Tamil Nadu, in the far south of India, living among tribes who had been relocated by Government after spending generations living in forests.

Miss Eve said: “The pre-school we built was to equip young children in these tribal communities to go to mainstream schools.”

The days were spent mixing cement and laying bricks for the school in Koolal Village.

Evenings passed with the locals, learning to cook Indian food and getting to know the culture.

Miss Eve said: “It has absolutely, 100 per cent, transformed me and my whole way of thinking.

“There are so many things I took for granted, like running water. I didn’t miss my cellphone or TV like I thought I would.

“I needed this time to look at my life and where I want to go in the future.

“My self-esteem has sky rocketed. I always felt like I had to be this hard person. I used to fight and get into trouble but it is not worth it. I don’t want to go back to the vulnerable, naïve person I was. I feel like I can conquer the world.”