Day 12- Team Work, Creativity and More Mosquitos !!!!

The day started with breakfast at a ‘reasonable’ 7:30am, with the usual choice of eggs on toast or jam on toast. After the group had enjoyed a good night’s sleep, the energy was high, despite the ever-increasing mosquito bite count. Jo is now keeping a personal tally, which has reached an incredible 94 bites… and counting!

The service project today was led by Ollie and Ffion, who were both determined to get the day off to a positive start, even if Ollie was late. Knowing that both the school and hostel would be empty by 12:30pm due to the early finish and the weekend, they decided our main priority would be to complete the Rungus art designs. With paintbrushes at the ready, cleaned by leader Louis from the previous night, everyone got stuck in straight away.

Mr Boughton, who is a firm believer of if you don’t ask you don’t get motto, managed to secure the use of the hostel’s manual washing machine, meaning that between painting sessions some students had the opportunity to wash their own clothes. For some this may well have been the very first time using a washing machine!!! No names will be mentioned… but there were certainly a few new life skills being learned today!

The morning was broken up by a visit over to the school during break time, where it was wonderful to see the children playing so happily together. This was followed by a heartfelt presentation from the assistant headteacher and the hostel manager, Nora Lloris thanking us for all our hard work. Ollie and Emily delivered a very—and we really do mean very—brief speech before the whole team was presented with a thank-you certificate and bracelets bearing the school’s name. It was a lovely gesture that was greatly appreciated by everyone.

It quickly became clear that today was going to be another scorcher. Temperatures and humidity continued to rise, so working on the hostel side, where there was plenty of shade, proved to be the right decision. Lily R and Anna made excellent use of their maths skills to design symmetrical designs.

After a productive morning, we returned for another delicious lunch… yes, you’ve guessed it—noodles! On the way back to work, we made an important stop for team ice creams. Unsurprisingly, most people stuck to familiar favourites, and nobody was brave enough to try the infamous durian-flavoured ice lolly, named durian lover- although Mr Boughton was tempted.

The afternoon followed a similar pattern as everyone worked tirelessly to bring the artwork to life. With every brushstroke, the Rungus designs really began to come together, despite the relentless heat and humidity. By the end of the afternoon, the finishing touches had been added to the pillars, and the team received some extremely positive feedback on what had been achieved.

As the clock struck 5pm, we headed back for the luxury of a cold shower before sitting down to enjoy a wonderful Malaysian curry. Emily H, not usually known for having the spiciest palate, once again embraced the challenge and gave it a go—another great example of our group stepping outside their comfort zones and trying something new.

The evening concluded with a brief team meeting, held in the dark thanks to a power cut, along with a quick budget reconciliation (huge thanks to Jo, Anna and Emily). As the day always has to be eventful, of course Jo was stung by an angry bee. After another day of hard work, everyone turned in early for a well-earned rest, ready to do it all again tomorrow!