Borneo Malaysia

The schools are located on Melangking Estate, 15km from Sukau village.  Sukau
is a 2 hour drive from Sandakan Airport, Sabah, Malaysia

Minimum of 4 weeks, you can stay for as long as you like

Starts on Sunday 2nd January 2011 and then every fourth Sunday until 1st
December 2011

As a volunteer you will be teaching in the schools individually, not with the other volunteers, but you will be with the Borneo Child Aid teachers.  It is important to take your role seriously and ensure you prepare and plan the lessons the day before.  You will have a facilitator for the first week to help you settle in and teach you some basic Malay sayings.  After the first week the facilitator will not always be with you but the Borneo Child Aid teachers and Mr. Chee and Mr. Wong will assist you in anyway possible.

Teaching English
The teachers at the Learning Centres are mostly from Indonesia or the Philippines and their understanding of English is not very high.  The children follow text books and you will be expected to teach each group (ages 7-8, ) of children for 1 hour depending on where they are in the text book.  The best way to teach the children is to make the lessons as interactive as possible.  Competitions and songs with actions are always a firm favourite with the children.  You do have access to the Internet and basic stationery to help you prepare for each of the sessions.  The learning centres want to start small libraries so donating short English reading books and reading with the children is encouraged.

Informal Afternoon activities
The afternoon activities are being introduced in January 2011 as a result of the volunteer programme.  Each volunteer will be expected to lead these activities at their specific learning centres.  The activities can change depending on the volunteers’ skills and interests.  The children love doing fun activities like sports, singing, arts and crafts and even reading.  The afternoon sessions will passively help improve the children’s confidence in using English.

Environmental club
The main area of focus for the volunteer program is in the Sukau region.  Sukau is part of a large wildlife reserve.  Increasing the environmental awareness amongst the children of the Palm Oil Plantations will help to reduce pressures on the wildlife living on the borders between the plantation and reserves.  Our pioneer volunteers have already introduced recycling centres.  The next step is to continue the recycling centres and to encourage the children to respect the environment and its living creatures.

Possible weekend excursion
Borneo and in particular Sabah is blessed with several natural wonders which can only be seen on these shores.  Three endemic species, the Borneo Orangutan, Pygmy Elephant and Proboscis Monkey can all be found in the Sukau reserve. You can stay in lodges at Sukau or go for nightly river cruises.  However If you don’t get to see an orangutan in the wild you can always go to the world famous Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre just a 30 min. drive away from the Sukau Junction.  If you prefer to get wet, you may want to take the 1 hour journey to Sandakan to catch a boat to the Turtle Island Marine park or drive south to Semporna where you can scuba dive at one of the worlds top 10 dive sites Sipadan island.  Sipadan is home to vibrant corals, and schools of Barracuda, bumphead parrot fish and turtles and sharks abound. 

The Melangking Palm Oil Estate is privately owned and is one of the best examples of good practice in Palm Oil Production.  The management, being led by Mr. Chee, believes in improving the lives of the workers and their families making this the perfect estate for the first Borneo Child Aid volunteer programme.

The estate is huge and it takes 20-30 minutes to drive from the main entrance to your accommodation.  The accommodation is twin-share with a shared balcony.  You have access to a fridge and kettle. The balcony overlooks a small lake that has 3 resident monitor lizards, the larger two are named Donna and Jody, and the baby one is Arsalan, all named after our pioneer volunteers.

The estate has three main schools and 1 smaller school.  Estate 1 school is the largest with 60+ children and just a short walk from your accommodation.  Estates 2 and 3 have approximately 40 children each.  The schools are very small and basic. They each have two main rooms which are separated by a thin wall.  One room is for the kindergarten while the other room is for the junior students.  You will teach mainly the Junior students.  The children are great but their concentration can be limited at times so the best way to teach them is through activities like games, art, dances and songs etc. 

The estate is located just 15km from the world famous Sukau Village which is on the Kinabatangan River.  At night you can arrange to go to Sukau for river cruises or at weekends you can spend your time relaxing in the local resorts and going on river cruises to see wild Orangutans, pygmy elephants, and proboscis monkeys.

Code of Conduct
This code has been designed by Ecoteer and Borneo Child Aid Society.  The code of conduct ensures all volunteers are aware of their obligations and responsibilities to the schools, teachers, children, estate employees and other volunteers.  By accepting the intent of the code and through complying with its provisions, Ecoteer volunteers acknowledge their privileged status as representatives of Ecoteer within the local community. Failure to comply with the code may lead to the withdrawal of a person from a project.

Before you volunteer

Before you come on this program you must research about travelling in Malaysia and the Malay culture, if you have any questions we are more than willing to talk with you

You must buy yourself suitable travel insurance

If you cannot join the programme, for whatever reason, please contact us as soon as possible

Whilst on the expedition

Listen to, and follow, the instructions of your facilitator and the Borneo Child Aid teachers

School starts at 8am – please always be on time, you need to set a good example to the children

You need to judge any activity from the point of view of the benefit to the Learning Centre and NOT to yourself or the organisation you are with. All too frequently, we hear of ‘good hearted’ intentions that end up causing more damage than good. Having a group visit where kids with all sorts of gadgets and toys visit the Learning Centres and expose the children there to the reality of what they are lacking is such an example. It emphasises what the children lack in the form of material things and can have a detrimental effect. So remember to focus on what they need rather than what you want.

VERY IMPORTANT - During the morning sessions, volunteers should never remain alone with the children.  The BCAS teacher must be present.  For informal afternoon activities, there is an open door policy.

Volunteers should not seek out opportunities to meet with the child(ren) outside programme activities / off-site.  Never invite or allow children into your accommodation

All children should be treated equally.  If you purchase any toys/materials, they should be for the entire group – not just for specific kids

Care must be taken when photographing the children as we have a responsibility to protect the children’s identities and to respect their dignity.  While we understand volunteers might take photographs for your own personal memories, volunteers are not permitted to publish the photos (in print or social media) without consent

When you volunteer with the Learning Centres, you will be privy to personal details not only of the children but also of the staff. You might also gain information of the Local Community.   All this information should be regarded as private and confidential and should not passed onto anyone else or made into ‘local’ gossip.  Do not get involved in discussions of any personal nature regarding people in the Learning Centres.  If forced to hear, do not offer opinions especially when you are only there for a short time and will have no way of determining the truth

You will be working in the tropics.  The temperature can exceed 40°C so when you are outside ensure you drink plenty of water, wear sun block and a hat

Dehydration and heat stroke is a serious risk and all precautions must be taken to prohibit them

The plantations have mosquitos so when you are outside please ensure you wear mosquito repellant.  A low concentration of Deat repellant is best.

VERY IMPORTANT - You will be working with mainly Muslim children so when teaching (inside or outside) all participants must wear conservative dress - t-shirts and not small vests. You must also ensure your knees are covered.  If you are playing sport then baggy sport shorts are fine but nothing tight.

Display respect and courtesy for the teachers, the children, other volunteers and the plantation workers

VERY IMPORTANT – Volunteers must understand some cultural differences may disturb them, but their feelings should be kept under control. Please respect our children’s religious beliefs – evangelizing is not permitted.  If volunteers have a significant problem they should discuss this with their facilitator, the Borneo Child Aid teachers, Mr. Chee or Mr. Wong who may help to explain more about the issue and act upon it suitably

If you are feel sick, notify staff and please take care of yourself to keep the illness from spreading. Consult with our staff members if you need to see a doctor or go to the hospital

Overnight visitors are not allowed in your rooms and visitors are not allowed on-site without prior authorisation

Volunteers and staff are not allowed to have intimate relationships

Respect the accommodation you are using and pay for any damage you may cause to the property

No smoking or drinking of alcoholic beverages is allowed in the presence of the children

Be aware that there will be no refunds for food/accommodation if you decide to go on trips or leave early

Pickup at Sandakan airport before 3 p.m. where a team member will pick you up. (D)

8 a.m. each volunteer will be taken to a different learning centre and introduced to the teachers and of course the school children.  You will be expected to lead 3, 1 hour English lessons for approximately 10-15 children per grade.  In the first session we always recommend you do an ‘introduce yourself’ session.  The school day finishes at 12 noon.  There are no scheduled afternoon activities for the school children however the volunteers are initiating informal afternoon activities for the children. The children love to play sports (badminton, volleyball and football), sing, arts and crafts etc.  After dinner you will be given some Malay language lessons and all volunteers will be encouraged to discuss their lesson plans for the following day. (B, L, D)

Friday is sports day for the children so with the teacher you will organize sporting activities which is normally badminton.  School finishes early today at 11 a.m.     

At midday on Friday you will have the option to leave the plantation for the weekend.  Transportation will be arranged for you to the Sukau Junction where you can get cheap public transport to various natural wonders.  Within 3 hours you can watch wild pygmy elephants, orangutans and proboscis monkey’s along the Kinabatangan River, dive at Sipadan one of the worlds top 10 diving sites, or quite simply relax in Sandakan and experience true traditional England at the English tea house. 

You will need to be back at the Sukau Junction by 4pm where you will be picked up and taken back to your accommodation. 

Follow the same weekly routine but with no Malay language lessons in the evening