In just two more days another group of Young Explorers will join the Mike Horn Team in the Swiss Alps. This international group of youngsters are preparing their bags in eager anticipation for an exciting 10 days of theory and fun.
It started raining in the night and continued into the afternoon – this is the start of the monsoon season, after all. So it was a damp group that hailed a handful of taxis this morning and sped off to a clinic in the town – since orang-utans are extremely sensitive to human diseases, we had to get health certificates from a local doctor confirming that none of us had colds, coughs or flu. The taxi drive became an adventure in itself for one group of four YEPs: when they mimed that they wanted to go to a doctor for the orang-utans, he delivered them to a veterinary clinic!
General visitors don’t need certificate; we needed one as we’re being allowed closer to the these animals than the public usually are, because this is one of the Borneo programme’s Act project – we’re there to assist at the sanctuary, not simply look at the animals. The Sepilok sanctuary is a peaceful place set in lush jungle and surrounded by towering, vine-covered trees. A long, circular boardwalk snakes through the jungle, in between overgrown bush and tall trees, leading to viewing and feeding platforms. The jungle is surprisingly noisy – low hoots from some of the monkeys, screeching insects and loud birds calls.
Sylvia, the sanctuary’s manager, had plans for us: to spend the next two days dismantling an unused feeding platform deeper in the forest. But she underestimated the energy and enthusiasm of these YEPs (and Mike…). After a great deal of banging and crashing, the platform had been demolished and the wood stacked – a two-day job was completed in under two hours. But the YEPs weren’t the only ones doing the exploring … While the team was at work, several leeches slithered into socks and up trouser legs, to latch on and become engorged with blood. Our doctor, Mark, distinguished himself as the leech collector – he scored two!
We spent the night and today sailing for Sandakan on the north-eastern tip of Borneo, with two dive stops on different reefs to practise the survey technique, which involves counting and noting the fish and invertebrates – sea cucumbers, sea urchins and so on – on a marked area on the sea bed. In particular they’re looking for ‘indicator species’ that suggest the health of the reef as a whole.
And that’s no mean feat when many of them are only just getting comfortable with being 10 or more metres under water and breathing through a mouthpiece. The first reef had a high diversity of living coral, but sadly the second dive, just an hour or two’s sail away, presented a very different picture. “The second reef had no live coral, very few fish, and little biodiversity,” said Eugénie Guillaume, 18, of France. “There was no colour down there, it was deserted; very sad.” “It was a coral graveyard,” said Daniel Kotze, 20, of South Africa. “It’s only after seeing sites like this that I’ve realised how prime and well protected Sipadan is. That was like diving in a BBC documentary.”
Among the reasons for the decimation of the reef could be sedimentation, too many nutrients from the land, or even fishing with dynamite. “People don’t think about what happens after the dynamite,” added Dongkyun Seo, 20, of South Korea. “You can’t blame them – it’s their life. We need to raise awareness and educate.” But even if there was not much to see, the exercise was good training for group organisation on the survey. “We have to take it seriously as the data is going to be published and used, and there are plans to come back in a few years to measure the differences,” said Rodrigo Steinman, 16, of Brazil.
“We’re always hearing things like ‘30% of the fish are dead’ but we don’t know where these numbers come from. Now we can say for sure what is happening – we’re doing it ourselves.”
After breakfast Mabul Island was left behind and a course set for Sipadan, with the Young Explorers getting their first taste of hoisting the sails, learning the difference between halyards and sheets, and that Lazy Jacks are ropes, not sleepy kids.
Sipadan is all you want in a paradise island – powdery white sand and coconut trees in a clear turquoise sea. “We have found an untouched piece of art,” said Jacques Cousteau, who ‘discovered’ it in 1989 (according to the guide books) and spent months diving here from his boat, Calypso. (Interestingly, Mike was inspired by Jacques Cousteau and Calypso as a youngster, and he dreamed of doing something similar. Which is proof that if you want something badly enough, you can make it happen!) But what sets Sipadan apart from a million other tropical islands is that it’s not attached to the continental shelf; it perches on a towering ‘stalk’ of limestone and coral. Which makes it the most awesome place to dive, because just a few metres from the beach you reach the end of the world. After that the reef plummets in a sheer drop 600 metres – and in places over 900 metres – to the ocean floor.
“It was fantastic,” said Michelle Nay, 19, from Switzerland. “It’s a very strange feeling when you look down and there’s absolutely nothing there but blue ocean. We saw so many fish – sharks, barracuda and turtles come to the island.” Turtle Cave is a famous landmark about 20 metres down, which has been closed for safety reasons after divers (and even turtles) have become disorientated in it. But you can swim a few metres in. “We swam up to the roof of the cave, and all the bubbles collect there,” said Garret Celestin, 15, of the USA. “I put my hand up into the air pocket and it was all dry up there. It’s amazing to have no gravity, to just drift up to the roof and down.”
The man who helped put all this together joined us on board Pangaea yesterday: Malaysia’s deputy minister of tourism, Sulaiman A. Rahman Taib, organised permits for us to dive. Sipadan is very well protected by the Malaysian government: all the resorts on the island were closed in 2004 – guests now stay on other islands nearby – and only 120 dive permits issued a day, all to try and protect its stunning natural environment.
“What you’re doing is so exciting,” the minister told the YEPs, “because you’re seeing what even most Malaysians don’t see. Mike is doing a very good job. It’s rare to find an expedition that gives youths the chance to see the environment, and let’s them see the difference they can make. I’d like to join you for the whole journey!”
A morning and afternoon dive were followed by a trip to the island for a game of volleyball, and then a fairly long cool-off swim back to the boat. Swimming is a relatively new skill for Dongkyun Seo, 20, of South Korea, who learnt on the training camp in Switzerland. “That swim reminded me of the training camp, and how I’d be half dead after swim training each morning. But I did it. I kept thinking ‘almost, almost, almost…’ And I felt really proud when I got back to Pangaea.”
A palm-fringed island across a turquoise sea, with chalets on stilts dotted along the shore. And we had our first dive! There was a measure of (fairly organised) pandemonium getting eight YEPs, crew and guests kitted out and into the water, but it was a successful familiarisation dive to get everyone comfortable in the water. Because there’s plenty more to come – probably another two dives today!
But almost immediately Mike had them back on shore for their first challenge: to visit the local fruit market in steamy downtown Tawau, to buy last-minute provisions for the journey. Armed with some Malaysian currency, they had to negotiate their way through a shopping list and some “brain-twisting fruit”, according to Simon, such as litchi-like rambutan, scaly snake fruit and seriously smelly durian.
We left Tawau at about five in the afternoon and then sailed for about four hours to Mabul Island, close to Sipadan – one of the world’s legendary dive sites, with sheer sea cliffs dropping straight down for over 900 metres.
Mike calls the evening of the 8th to say that Pangaea and her crew have arrived safely in Singapore harbour. Only the following morning of the 9th will they be able to enter into the ONE°15 Marina Club during the daylight where provisioning will begin for the Young Explorer Camp in Malaysia.
"We have a few very busy days organised here at the marina" says Mike. "There will be a lot of press visiting the boat. Pangaea and her mission is creating a lot of interest here in Asia."
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written by Simon Straetker
About two or three months after the training camp, long boring and lonely months, Simon Straetker and I just couldn't wait anymore.We had to do another YEP-action!
After some discussions, we decided to do promotion for pangaea, actually I have to admit it's one of the best things you can do! It's fast-organisated and doesn't need a lot of preparation. Just a train ticket, a lot of flyers and enthusiasm. And it's effective!
So that was the idea. Then we just set a date on the computer and a week later we met! As simple as it seems, it was a great feeling to meet again and see each other.
We distributed flyers the whole day. Nice weather, a good friend to talk with and a message to spread. What more could you ask for?
We informed about 50-100 young people about the project and what Mike Horn does. Then we took pictures and who knows, maybe you'll meet some of the people here on the site.:D
So as a conclusion I have to say that it was a great day, we probably will do it again in another city I guess.=D…And you could do it in your hometown! Just order some flyers and spread the message among young people!
Awakening early the following day, ready for the heat and a long walk in the island’s tropical bush, Mike and the team set off to a village called New Tenabuti. Four hours later after a climb in altitude, transferring from jeeps on rough pitted roads to narrow logging paths in dense bush, the team finally arrived at the village of New Tenabuti.
The 200 or so village people greeted them in fine Solomon style with a feast of native food, lush tropical fruits and a refreshing coconut milk drink served in the coconut shell. Speeches of welcome and thanks followed as the village people expressed their sincere gratitude to Pangaea and Geberit for their efforts to help supply their village with water.
Another walk followed for the team. This time to the water source high above the village, the same walk the women of the village must do each day in order to have water for their families daily needs.
We could understand the needs of the village folk and their desire to have the water channeled directly into the village. No longer would water be scarce in their village. No longer will the women need to walk high to the water source to collect water for their daily cleaning and cooking and at long last the local medical clinic would have running water. The lives of these village folk was about to change drastically. Water was about to become a commodity for these people and now they will learn how to use it correctly, keeping hygiene and proper sanitation in top priority. To do this, village pastors and officials from a local NGO known as ADRA (Adventist Development Relief Association) engaged themselves to ensure correct education and utilization of the installations as well as proper maintenance for the long term. This of course, an important step in creating a sustainable project for these village folk for years to come!
From this day forward work would begin. Geberit pipes and tanks had already been delivered and the village people were ready to do the work. We would visit the village again in two days time to check on their progress.
The following day, events were concentrated further south of New Tenabuti, this time in a village called Babala, where Pangaea and Geberit would install toilets to the Babala Primary School.
Babala and the surrounding district have a population of 1000 inhabitants, with 200 students going to the school. Traditional drop toilets would finally make way for new flush seat toilets with basins and taps for hand washing.
As Mike Horn, the Pangaea team, Christian Stauber and brother Andrew Stauber from Geberit approached the district on the Pangaea sailboat the ceremonies began. Small boats approached Pangaea with hand made Swiss flags waving their friendly welcome.
Crew and team disembarked from Pangaea onto small motorboats and started their ride to shore. Ready in place, school children were lining the banks of the river, eager to greet the foreign visitors with flower necklaces. Floating platforms of flowers had also been placed in the river mouth for decoration.
As we approached the shore aggressive warriors dressed in leaves, loincloths and facial paint jumped out of the bushes and in traditional style tried to scare off the unknown visitors. Our team were touched by the efforts taken by the village people and thanked them for their kind welcome before returning to their boats to make the ride downstream.
More school children in traditional costume and floral necklaces lined the riverbanks so we stopped to acknowledge their kind gifts of welcome and friendship. It was further down the river when we disembarked. We had arrived at the village of Babala.
Walking closer to the village we were once again in the hands of the enemy. The meagerly clad warriors lurched at us with pointed spears, shouting wildly in their native tongue. We pushed our way through to the gates of the village where 500 or so people had gathered to greet us.
Speeches and a feast followed along with a tour of the school and its decrepit abolition blocks. We were going to change this and the people of this district did not cease to show their gratitude. Once again Geberit had already delivered the materials, piping, paint and cement, etc. Now the work would start and the village inhabitants were ready to engage in getting the toilets built as soon as possible.
The education process would also begin so that the village people would know how to use the facilities correctly and how proper hygiene can be maintained.
Day 2 was a day full of experiences and emotions for our team. We spent time with the Solomon Island people getting to know them and discovering their culture. The children sang us their songs. We laughed together and played soccer with them on the field beside the school. Alas the day came to an end. We thanked our new friends for their hospitality and bid them goodbye.
Our third and final day in the Solomon Islands. Today we returned to New Tenabuti to look at the progress achieved over the last few days and to assist in whatever way we could. With spade in hand we dug a large flat area where the water tank would be built. As we did this, the local men carried 25kg bags of cement up to the water source from the village. As soon as the land was ready they would start building the huge water storage tank that would collect the water coming from the source. The village was buzzing with activity and excitement. In about one weeks time the village would finally have tap water in their village.
We left the Solomon Islands after spending three memorable days with its inhabitants. We also left the Islands with a sense of pride and happiness in our hearts knowing that we have bought something good to these people. Our actions including all our Pangaea Partners who make the expedition possible will help these people to live a better life, to reduce illness and deaths within the communities.
The people from the Solomon Islands have been striving for over 20 years now to have running water in their villages to enhance their living conditions. Unfortunately with no money and only broken promises disappointment came too often. This Pangaea Initiative has finally rewarded these people for their motivation and perseverance. Thank you Geberit for making this possible!
The jury finally decided that the following candidates will join Mike Horn in Indonesia in October:
Garrett Celestine, 15, USA
Eugenie Guillaume, 18, France
Simon Havas, 15, Czech Republic
Daniel Kotze, 20, South Africa
Dongkyun Seo, 20, South Korea
Rodrigo Steinman, 16, Brazil
Kerstin Doerner, 18, Germany
Michelle Nay, 18, Switzerland
These 8 Young Explorers will have the chance to live an amazing experience during three weeks with Mike Horn in Indonesia.
They will have the opportunity to dive, but also to learn about the local environmental problems and meet the communities to discover the traditions of this country.
The application window for the next YEP Expedition in India is now open. All young adults between 15 and 20 are welcome to apply. More info on https://www.mikehorn.com/index.php/site/page/application_form1/
Mike Horn is currently with his sailing vessel around the Solomon Islands. He is launching two water and sanitation projects supported by the Expedition Official Presenting Partner: Geberit. While Mike Horn and his team have spotted the specific needs of the local communities, Geberit have supplied their knowledge and workforce in order to improve the access to the clear water for the villages, especially for a clinic and a school.
In a few days, Mike and the crew will set the sails up and start their long journey to Yokohama, where they should arrive for the last week of August.