FOR THOSE readers who have been following the adventures of an intrepid group of teenagers from the Greystones, Delgany, Kilcoole area who embarked on a one month expedition to Borneo, we are delighted to report the team are home safely.

The expedition was not without some excitement though and certainly some team effort was needed to enable them all to complete the four challenges they set themselves.

During the first three challenges of acclimatisation, project at a Dyak village and main trek, the students experienced some real adventures. Immersing themselves into the Dyak community for a week was a positive experience and the team learnt a lot about themselves as well as the tribes. The language barrier was not an issue, and the team adapted very well, collecting water from cut bamboo, cooking on open fires and sleeping between trees in hammocks or in huts on stilts.

Summiting the highest peak in SE Asia, Mount Kinabalu, was the 4th and final challenge. Several members of the team felt uncertain about their ability to complete this task, however David Flynn of the Happy Pear said 'the team got up at half one a.m. and hiked to the summit in the pitch dark for sunrise. Everyone made it. It was great fun and then we hiked all the way down the mountain. By 11.30am we had hiked for seven hours! Jasmine Hett said 'everyone got up to the peak, even though the two days before people hadn't been allowed to even try because of the weather and one group had to turn back 10m from the summit. We managed to get there for sunrise but couldn't stay for long because it was below freezing; it was so cold I couldn't even take a picture because my fingers were like ice. I got really bad altitude sickness but the guys decided that they weren't going to leave me and helped me with the last kilometre then dragged me up the last 500m.'

Calum Watson said 'Mount Kinabalu was unbelievable! We made it up, and I had to attach myself to Jazz Hett with a rope as she was suffering badly with her breathing and I helped her reach the summit!'

Caroline Burke whose son Keith went on the expedition said 'it sums up the whole experience I think - the guys wouldn't leave Jasmine behind! On that point alone this has been a great success. I am so proud of the whole gang. They are wonderful kids and this experience has been invaluable to them.'

The team were met with cheers, banners and crying parents at Dublin airport. Over the last week here in Ireland the team have had time to reflect on their adventures, and the parents have heard amazing stories and looked at wonderful photographs and video clips. Steve Rowe, Aisling's father, said 'they all look so well and obviously had such a fantastic time'.

Since their return David has been busy with his machete carving trees - Ross McCann and Ash Rowe were treated to a viewing of the jungle shelves yesterday and were suitably impressed. David added 'it was an all round great adventure - staying with a tribe in the depths of the jungle, showering under waterfalls, climbing the highest mountain in South East Asia, jungle trekking, snorkelling on a tropical Island and all with a really great bunch of 16 year olds from the Greystones area. Great fun, wonderful to see how all the kids grew and adapted.'

The team met up for an evening meal at the Happy Pear on Sunday prepared by Ross who discovered his culinary skills whilst away. Some of the team have said they would like to take up Yoga and a number of the team now prefer to eat a much healthier diet.

Clearly the students had a wonderful time. Jade Whelan said 'Borneo is an amazing place filled with inspiring people, mixed together made it a trip of a lifetime which I will never forget.' Jenny Healy said 'Borneo was an incredible experience I will never forget. I'm so glad I decided to do World Challenge because I got to experience a life changing trip with 12 friends and I'm only 16!'

The parents have been impressed by the achievements of a group so young. Rionach said of Jack O'Flynn-Martin 'I'd never heard of World Challenge until Michelle Hett, who bravely gathered together the motley Delgany/Greystones/Kilcoole crew, proposed the idea to us all a couple of years ago. The fund-raising task was a challenge in itself, but when you see your teenager come back from such a life-changing experience its worth all the time and energy spent. Jack is still regaling us all with stories of the jungle and the climb up Mount Kinabalu. The trip taught him so much about the joys of travel, about survival, about teamwork, and about how lucky he is to have food on the table. In an ideal world, every teenager would have the opportunity to do a trek like this. I'm eternally grateful to Michelle, to the local businesses who supported the group - especially David Flynn of The Happy Pear, who volunteered to go as the Local Team Leader and did his best to teach the kids about healthy eating while he was with them and to the World Challenge Organisation for giving Jack and his friends an experience they'll remember for the rest of their lives. Jack seems so much more confident than before - people have already commented on it! He had an absolutely fantastic time.'

Michelle Hett summarised the World Challenge experience saying 'although this has been a very hard programme to organise and run, not having a school or club as a base for meetings etc, it has been thoroughly worthwhile when you see the change in the students and hear the stories of their achievements since their return. Despite the recession causing the team to be imaginative with their fund raising efforts, their tenacity and determination has pulled them through, and they have experienced an expedition developing many skills they will now take forward into their adult life. The team are already talking about another adventure in two years time, possibly to Africa, after the Leaving Cert. This is a positive way to celebrate! With schools facing immense pressure to provide a productive Transition year programme with limited or no funding, this is a wonderful opportunity for the students to acquire skills such as IT, mini company, outdoor development, team building and life skills at no extra cost to the school. The students also completed two Gaisce adventure sections during the programme. World Challenge is the provider for such an expedition and without their operational support during the expedition, and guidance over the 2 year programme, these students would not have been in a position to take part in such an activity at such a young age.'

Meanwhile the younger brothers and sisters of this team have organised their own team and would like to complete an expedition after their Transition year 2011. Hopefully they can find a school willing to allow the team to base themselves from for meetings. For more information on the project contact Michelle on 087 9975207.