Editorials

#YEAR11PROBLEMS

4 July 2016

By Lauren E. White

I’m going away for a while…

It’s not often I focus #YEAR11PROBLEMS on something particularly personal, but this week it is absolutely necessary.

As you can tell from the title, I’m going away for a while. In fact, I’m going to Malaysian Borneo for one month which means that this column is the last one for about five weeks.

While I’m in Borneo, I will be working to sustain the environment and the orangutan habitats as so much of the Bornean jungle is lost to palm oil plantations. I will also be helping with the children’s education over there as less than 20% go to school. This will involve building schools and helping the children learn conversational English and teaching them about preserving the beautiful environment surrounding them. Oh, I forgot to mention that I spend four nights and five days camping and trekking through the jungle. Wish me luck.

Aside from the obvious reason I’m telling you about this, I also wanted to address my expedition in this week’s column because it ties in with the subject of going away from home. Not many 16-year-olds embark on an almighty one-month trip away from home with no mobile or WiFi for the first time. This being said, it is a daunting experience.

I’m not usually the type of person who gets very homesick as if I’m honest, I always want to be away from Gateshead. The world is a bit more than the Angel of the North and the Metro Centre. But going away for a month without communication with home is a bit worrying because it’s such a long time without speaking to the people you see every day.

However, if any of you are going away from home this summer I’m sure you’ll realise that the daunting feelings are just pre-departure jitters and not something we really need to be worrying about. It will simply make the expedition or trip far more real and, certainly in my case, give me a taste of the lives the Bornean people live.

Thanks for reading- I hope you have the most amazing summer whatever you’re doing. I’ll see you when I get back.

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