The group at an old railway bridge, where they carried out a risk assessment.Wednesday, 30 September 2009
The volunteer managers take on the jungle.
The group at an old railway bridge, where they carried out a risk assessment.Sunday, 27 September 2009
The project managers arrive
The last two days have seen the arrival of the lovely project manager or 'pm' team and after their long journeys here, everyone has settled in well.
Meet the pms: .from left to right Guido, Michael, Guy, Dani, Tara, Dania, Norman, Ed and Sheila
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They got straight into the swing of things with a jam-packed training schedule. After doing swim tests in the morning, the team went on to some radio training. Radios are crucial for keeping in touch with field base while groups are out on project and so it is important to know how to set them up and use them correctly. During projects groups call in a ‘sit rep’ or situation report twice a day so that field base know how they are progressing with the projects and if they need anything. After learning a bit of theory, the volunteer managers were then tested on the phonetic alphabet to see who knew their deltas from their foxtrots before going off in groups to set up a radio and call in a sit rep to Ross at field base.
Ed, Guy and Dani with the radios
Last night, everyone got the chance to relax and get to know each other a little bit and this morning it was straight into health and safety training. We were divided into groups and bought the health and safety manual to life by making it into a series of skits.
Guy, Raquelle, Sarah, Sheila and Ed do the YMCA!
The team also received training from the medics on everything from dealing with sore feet to giving injections .
Thursday, 24 September 2009
A trip to volcano Irazu and some new arrivals.
Back at field base, we welcomed Norman, one of the Costa Rican volunteer managers, and medic Richard. Over the next two days, the rest of the volunteer managers will arrive, and we are really looking forward to meeting everybody and welcoming them to field base. Watch this space for the lowdown on the new arrivals over the next few days!
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Field base team complete.
Buenos dias!
Well, field base has been a hive of activity since the arrival of the field base team. Yesterday, our accountant Colleen arrived, completing the field base team. Not one to let jet lag get the better of her, she threw herself straight into Raleigh life, getting the accounts into order and even heading out for a six o’clock run this morning!
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Everybody else has been busy getting on with the preparations for the arrival of the rest of the volunteer managers and the venturers. Alex, Becka, Zoe and David have also been doing their driver training, learning everything from changing tyres to Costa Rican driving rules.
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After all of that hard work, last night we got the chance to let our hair down with a field base salsa class. The team made some impressive moves on the dance floor, although we probably shouldn’t give up our day jobs just yet! After working up a hunger with all of that dancing, we were treated to David’s delicious chocolate and aubergine chilli for dinner- yum!
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Yesterday also saw the pitter patter of tiny hoofs as one of the resident cows in next doors farm gave birth to a very cute calf as the field base staff watched. Here you can see the mother proudly showing off her new offspring!
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Well, that's all for now but I'll be back very soon to keep you up to date with what's going on here at field base.
Ciao for now!
Sunday, 20 September 2009
And so it begins........
First up we have the permanent staff that live and work at field base all year round to make sure everything runs like clockwork. Country Director Julian(above) and Country programme Manager Ross (below) work tirelessly and often with very little sleep to ensure that Raleigh is a fantastic, worthwhile and rewarding experience for the venturers, staff and of course for the communities that raleigh work with (although as you can see, Ross can always find a moment to check out how his beloved Hibs are doing!)
Alejandra also works here throughout the year and is in charge of the Costa Rican and Nicaraguan venturers, known as HCVs (host country venturers). Having previously been a HCV and a project manager, she is a Raleigh expert and the perfect person to support the HCVs and ensure that they get the most out of their Raleigh experience.
Rachel, or Raquelle as she is known here, was in charge of admin during the 9F and G expeditions and is back in her new role as Logistics manager. In her normal life, Raquelle is an anthropologist and is actually writing her thesis about Raleigh, and so as well as making sure that all of the logistical systems are in place for the upcoming expedition, she is also busy observing all of the goings on at raleigh as part of her research.
Joining Raquelle in the Logistics team is New Zealender Alex. He recently completed his Pilot training in the UK, and so should find his role as driver a piece of cake!
Also staying on from the last expedition is the lovely Zoe, who having just come back from a few days of well deserved R and R at the beach will be taking over the admin role from Raquelle as well as keeping the whole team happy and motivated in her other role as team coach.

Next up with have super medic Sarah, who at the moment is busy putting together the medical kits for the expedition and who along with Clint, Richard and Sandeep will be keeping the venturers volunteer managers fit and healthy over the coming months.

This expedition we are also lucky enough to have an official artist. Becka has swapped her glamorous life as an actress for the slightly less glam but equally fun challenges of a Raleigh expedition. Becka will be inspiring the venturers and also members of the communities in which we are working to get creative and express themselves through a variety of exciting projects- watch this space!

Also leaving behind a glamorous existence in the UK is our photographer David, who in his regular job as a fashion photographer is more accustomed to taking pictures of models in haute couture than muddy venturers in wellies. He will be busy snapping both staff and venturers throughout the expedition to make sure that you guys at home can share the journey with your friends or family members here at Raleigh.

And finally, me Rachel, known at Raleigh as Ray Ray due to my amazing Ray Mears style survival skills…. or something like that! Having just completed a fantastic 5 week expedition as a project manager, I am back as communications officer, writing the blog and keeping you all up to date with what’s going on at field base and in our projects around Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Well, that’s all for now. I look forward to reading your comments and hope that you enjoy the blog!
Hasta pronto!














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