IN the summer of 2013, a group of 24 students from St Edward's School are going on a month long expedition to Borneo.
We will be working in a village school, helping to create a well and to build a community centre which can be used by the villagers.
We will also undertake environmental projects such as tree planting to replenish the rainforest and clearing refuse washed up on the beaches.
The Borneo trip is not a holiday but a unique learning experience that will allow me to work on a community development programme and environmental conservation initiatives to help people who are a lot less fortunate than myself.
I have no doubts that this experience is going to be a real challenge but I'm sure that it will make me a stronger and better person.
I am looking forward to learning first-hand about other cultures, meeting people from other countries who are also joining the expedition and making lasting friendships.
I'm also looking forward to being a part of a team to bring about positive change for people in Borneo who otherwise would continue to struggle to build community centres or schools or provide running water for their villages – all things we take for granted in this country.
I am also really looking forward to learning more about the people, their lives, the wildlife, the geography of the land and the importance of the sea in the lives of the Borneo people.
To fund the trip I've been busy bag packing at local supermarkets, all of whom have been very supportive of our cause, baking and selling cakes at school and selling anything I can get my hands on at car boot sales or on eBay.
It's all been very hard work to raise the funds needed but to be honest I think the real hard work only begins when I arrive in Borneo.