Thailand 2003

During the summer of 2003 I took part in a one month "Team Challenge" expedition to Thailand organised by World Challenge and my sixth form, Shenley Brook End. Even during the planning stage of the expedition, the emphasis was on the students doing the work. The expedition was broken down into four main stages:

• Acclimatisation - A few days to get use to the drastically different environment
• Project Phase - 5 days working with a community in Thailand
• Main Challenge - 1 week of Jungle Hiking
• Rest and Relaxation - A few days at the end of the month to rest on a nice tropical beach

For each stage, World Challenge offered our team a number of possible options to choose from. We then had to spend hours in meetings as a team to reach a united decision about what we wanted to do during our expedition. These meetings were lead by the students, with a representative from World Challenge visiting us to answer any questions we had and to provide more details about the different options we could pick from.

Even before we had decided what we would be doing, we had to start raising funds to finance the trip. Each student going would need to find over £3,000 to pay for the trip, as well as paying costs for equipment and vaccinations. We organised a number of fund raising events as a team such as non-uniform days in school, from which we raised just over £400. I also took up a part-time job at Safeways to pay for the remaining costs after the fund raising efforts.

As well as raising money and planning our trip, we also needed to spend time training for the expedition. As we would be spending a week hiking, physical fitness was essential, but we also needed to be able to work well as a team. World Challenge organised a three day team building exercise in the Peak District during November, where we learnt the basic skills we would need during our expedition. We also spent a day hiking to get a feel for the "Main Challenge" phase we would be facing in Thailand.

After over a year of planning and training, it was finally time to go. Due to a lack of numbers, our team had been paired up with another school's team at the last minute. Many of us would be meeting them for the first time when we started the expedition. Our team met up outside our school on the 13th of July, and from there we travelled on as a team to Cator Park School in London to meet up with our new team mates.

During the 30 day expedition, I played many different roles within the team including Leader, Accountant and Travel Organiser. The running of the expedition was left entirely to the students on the expedition, including organising accommodation, food and travel from one activity to the next. The four adults who were a part of our team did not play any active roles in the running of the expedition, as they were merely there to ensure our safety. Things did not always go smoothly, as on the second day of the trip our group was accidentally split into two while travelling to the airport.

Minor set-backs aside, I really enjoyed the expedition, as well as learning a lot about team work. The entire team faced a number of challenges but by working together and looking out for each other we managed to overcome them. The expedition has left me with memories that I hope will last for the rest of my life, and I would definitely do it again if I was given the chance.