Case studies : Raleigh expedition: Amy Gannon

Amy graduated from Exeter University with a degree in French. Keen to build her CV, Amy chose a Raleigh expedition to help her build her skills in a way that a part-time job would not. She took part in Raleigh’s ten-week expedition to India in autumn 2010 and is now working in HR as a project consultant - though considering returning to Raleigh as a volunteer manager in 2012!

Raleigh really attracted me in terms of how valuable it would be on my CV. I was keen to show a breadth of skills and wanted to develop myself. I was given advice from CRAC (Career Development Programme) who suggested I do a short internship to help my career prospects. Raleigh attracted me as it is a British organisation and has a strong reputation. The youth development aspect really sold it for me, especially hearing about the day leader system whilst on trek. I wanted to be challenged and gain leadership skills. We’re not just here to do something for India; you come back a changed person. You come back and change others.

We worked within a small farming village of 1,000 inhabitants, just on the border of Bandipur national park in Karnataka. Teaching us a little Kannada as we got to know each other, the community were extremely hard-working, friendly and inquisitive about us. As the village was settled just on the edge of the National Park, the farmers' land was extremely vulnerable to destruction from the elephants within the park because they were able to escape past the electric fences.

It was really valuable to see the people who are affected by our work. One man, Jana, came everyday to help us in communicating. What was amazing was that he didn’t own the land or work for the project partner, yet he turned up every day on time. What really brought it home was when we discovered that he only gets one new set of clothes a year on his birthday. It really opened everyone’s eyes. It made me feel very lucky for what I have and realise you don’t need three-quarters of what you have at home.

We lived on an unfarmed field immediately next to the National Park, in tents and bamboo and canvas constructions called 'Bashas' - open to the air. The farmers slept in the same field, living up high in elephant-proof treehouses to keep watch during the nights and to scare the elephants away for our own safety. Every day we dug an approximately two-metre deep trench along the length of the crop fields, to help prevent any further human-elephant conflict or crop damage. The villagers kindly transported all of our water to us in large barrels directly from the reservoir that they washed in and drank from.

It was a wonderful experience to live so closely with nature - working all day out in the sunshine, and trying to keep ourselves safe at night from the elephants and snakes. Overall, it absolutely cemented my love for real India, for rural India. The people and the experiences were so genuine and life was beautifully simple, with people working hard every day in order to survive.

I have learnt that whether it’s physical or mental anything is possible as you can make something your goal. I was self-conscious about my leadership skills, which I think is due to my age, but I’ve gained so many skills from doing it myself and watching others. Skills in particular I’ve developed are facilitating meetings and making contentious decisions. It has been so valuable watching others; seeing what they do well and what they could improve upon. I’ve noticed that communication is a big issue. People need structures and timings.
 
I’ve developed better leadership skills, my ability to listen more, think more before I speak and analyse other people’s ways of thinking. All the challenges I’ve looked at as a development opportunity.