Bursary helps James on ‘life-changing’ adventure
A young man from Mid Argyll was helped on his way to a trip half way around the world thanks to cash from a Mid Argyll group.
A bursary of £250 was given to James Urquhart in 2019 – the first award of its kind by the Natural History and
Antiquarian Society of Mid Argyll (NHASMA).
The grant was awarded to help James, from Kilmichael Glen, fund a trip to Malaysia with the 19th Argyll Scout Group.
The bursary is intended to assist any young person or group wanting to travel or engage in a project in keeping with the society’s interests.
With the 2020 application period now open, details and an application form are available the website @Kist. scot. The deadline is the end of March, so time is getting short to apply.
James prepared a report on his ‘life-changing’ Malaysian experiences for NHASMA, published here:
Malaysia trip 2019
In July of 2019, I embarked on a trip with Scouts from all over the west region of Scotland to the Malaysian rainforest to work alongside the native Orang Asli tribe.
We undertook several projects in the remote village including the construction of a play park for the children of the tribe; converting a meeting room into a classroom to allow a primary school teacher to be recruited; and the creation of a field to allow fruit, vegetable and herbs to be grown.
I was most heavily involved in the construction of the play park. This was challenging due to limited equipment and unexpected materials. On arrival, we had expected to have been using bamboo to build the park but when we arrived there were only steel pipes. Nevertheless, we manged to finish the park, and all the other projects, on time. We succeeded in building a large swing fixed with concrete and an exciting obstacle course and were proud to see the children of the tribe play in the park after completion. The village itself was very isolated and the villagers rarely travelled outside, partly due to the long distance to the nearest towns. Communication was difficult due to language barriers. However, we did spend time with the children, learn local dances and play football.
Belum rainforest, where we were working, is one of the oldest in the world and I was lucky to be give the opportunity to spend some time exploring it. I was taken on a boat ride through some of the rivers of the rainforest and travelled on foot to see a Rafflesia, the world’s largest species of flowers and to swim in a pool below a waterfall. The rainforest was very hot and humid with temperatures ranging from 35 to 40 degrees Celsius.
I am grateful for the NHASMA bursary that contributed to transportation costs (flight to Kuala Lumpur then bus to Belum rainforest), accommodation and equipment such as drills, materials and other construction tools. The trip to Malaysia has been life-changing.
I have learned many new skills and been given the chance to see and learn about a remote culture very different from our own and explore one of the oldest rainforests in the world.