Who?

My name is Sandra Millin and I am from Wolverhampton. I have completed my A-Levels at Thomas Telford School, did a Trekforce Expedition as part of my Gap Year . After I have completed my Gap Year, I will be going to Durham University to study French, German and Spanish.

Why?

I first looked at doing a Trekforce Expedition to complete the residential section of my Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. Trekforce attracted me in particular because of the opportunity to teach Malaysian children English, and possibly learn some Malay. It will be a chance to try out Teaching English as a Foreign Language which I hope will be my future career.

The opportunity to live and work in the jungle, and help to preserve an area that is under threat from a variety of sources, while also experiencing the adventure of seeing parts of the world never before seen by human eyes was an added bonus!

All of this combined made me sure that Trekforce was the organisation was for me - and it was confirmed when I went to an Open Day and heard the experiences of other volunteers who had already done expeditions. This is what I wanted to do!

Was it all worth it?

Doing Trekforce was the biggest thing in my life so far. I learnt a lot, both in terms of practical skills, like how to live in the jungle (something which I know I will be using every day for the rest of my life :) ), how to hammer a nail and how to handle a class full of small children who don't speak your language, as well as about myself and how I deal with life. I have made loads of great friends, and had an experience I will never, ever forget. It was definitely worth the money and the effort it took to get there! I would highly recommend doing Trekforce to anyone and everyone and hope that they continue their work for many years to come.