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Help on a beautiful beach site in Borneo, Malaysia

  • Favourited 22 times
  • Last activity: 6 Oct 2023

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    WE ARE NOT TAKING VOLUNTEERS AT THE MOMENT, THIS IS WHY WE HAVE PUT OURSELVES UNAVAILABLE. WHEN YELLOW/GREEN WE ARE READY TO RECEIVE YOU. UNTIL THEN, THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING US AND WE TRULY HOPE YOU FIND A LOVELY WORKAWAY SOMEWHERE ELSE!

    *️️️*️️️Note*️️️*️️️ Please excuse the third person writing! Roby (the guy in charge) speaks very good English and agrees with everything written below. However, his internet connection is very bad and his days are already packed so this profile is set up by volunteers. *️️️*️️️

    Secret Place is located near the tip of Borneo and Roby and his family live on the Secret Place beach. Roby and his wife manage a small cafe, a camping and their family here. A small amount of visitors, both local and international come to enjoy the beach every day. There's tents that can be rented and very good food that can be eaten. Since it is the only accommodation on the beach and there's no public transport around the area it never gets crowded. Often, you have the beach for yourself. It's a great place to disconnect from busy city life and enjoy beautiful nature. In fact, some people have a very hard time leaving; some guests stay for weeks, or months! There have been several people volunteering already before the project was on any website just because the place and it's people are so nice.

    Roby has lived on the beach his whole life, which is why he wants to preserve it so bad. Instead of building yet another bungalow park he wants to transform his place into a more self sustainable property for his guests and the future generations (Roby has 7 lovely kids). Running a cafe, camping and a family is already a full workload but he would like to see his place flourish. To make it more self-sustainable the family has a couple of ideas, they only need extra hands! They would like to have a garden full of organically grown fruits and vegetables and a herbs bed. The property is quite big so after some land clearance there's plenty of space to grow these beautiful fruits and veggies. They also want to have a more self-sustainable waste-plan. Organize a compost area, recycling station and compost toilets. New building materials (as well as plastic bottles and other strange objects...) arrive on the beach daily, so there's always something to do!

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Art Projects
    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Farmstay help
    Hospitality/Tourism
    General Maintenance
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Since the family has lived on Borneo for their entire lives there's loads you can learn about Malay and specifically about the Rungus culture. The Rungus tribe is one of the indigenous ethnic group in Sabah, Borneo. They love their culture and land and can show you the way they live and if you want learn the Malay language. Further, the project is located in a very rural area with only small villages, so you will also get a glimpse of what the 'kampung life' is like in Borneo.

  • Help

    Help

    Volunteers will be expected to help with the preservation of the land and building a self-sustainable place to live. Since this project is in its infancy there are a few things that need to be done, before others:

    (1) The area needs to be cleaned of all the rubbish, big branches and other random stuff that has piled up over the years. Also, some vegetation will need to be removed to make room for the veggie beds, the compost and the compost toilets.

    (2) Making and managing a good functioning compost place is top priority since no pesticides of chemical fertilizers will be used. We need to make a compost area, prepare the compost and keep it turning so it can be used in the garden.

    (3) When some of the land has been cleared it is ready for some veggie beds and hands-on gardening. They will need to be made and filled! This includes finding materials to make the beds, find and mix good soil to fill the beds with, germinate seedlings, plant baby plants and make them grow! They want to have a sustainable and organic garden, which means they want to have no chemicals and pesticides involved. They will make their own fertilizer and do the weeding by hand.

    There's more plans, and of course there's always room for new ones. They will appriciate the ideas you have! Ofcourse, your work can be tailored to your personal interests. They would rather see you happy and smiling while working than unhappy and working with your heart not there. Next to the priority projects above, they are also thinking about making a chickenrun for example (they have loads of chickens), and if you are artistic feel free to express it. Paint on the wall, make beautiful signs etc. But please, if non of your interests involve nature or gardening we would advise you not to come.

    In your time off you can relax and read a book on the beach, take a swim or go snorkeling and explore the area around. There is a small uninhabited island close to the beach and it is possible to walk to it when it is low tide! Go into the mangroves, watch the beautiful sunset in the evening or try to find a slow loris in the jungle behind at night! Oh, they also have fluorescent plankton at night, which is beautiful to experience!

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent
    Malay: Fluent

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    There is plenty of camping space for tents or hammocks which Roby and his family can provide (or you can bring your own). Present time, there is no plan to make bungalows or small huts for sleeping to preserve the place its natural characteristics. When it rains, and it will, it's Borneo, there is enough shelter to put the hammocks and tents under so you will not get wet. Maybe in a later phase of the project it will be appropriate to make extra shelter for sleeping.
    We have mosquito's around, so please bring some repellent with you! If you prefer to sleep in a tent, no mosquito net is required, but if you want to sleep in one of the hammocks it is highly recommended! Furthermore, please check your country's regulations about malaria. For some, you have to bring tablets and take daily/twice a week, but some countries only suggest you take a emergency packet or think it is safe to just use repellent. In this specific area there has never been a case of malaria or dengue though.
    There is one bucket shower (collected from the rain and the well) to wash ourselves and of course there is the sea. At the moment there is one squat-toilet and we are very eager to make some compost toilets. Making the compost toilet(s) is one of the priority projects at the moment.

    Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be prepared by Roby or his wife and can be eaten either together with the family or by yourself. What you prefer! You can eat everything we offer on the regular menu we also have for our guests. There are vegetarian options available. If you are vegan (or any other type of dietary), please let us know beforehand and we can see what we can do! We have a big common eating area to eat and socialize. This is also the place where the guests will eat and hang out and also where the children will do their homework.

    As the beach is very secluded, there is only a small shop near by (around 2 km). It sells basics and nothing fancy; think snacks, soap, fruits and instant noodles. A little bit further (4 km) there are some other cafes and restaurants if you want a change of scenery (or wifi) and a 30 min drive with the car you are in Kudat City. If you come and join the project, the best thing to do is to go to Kudat and we can arrange a taxi for you or we can pick you up from the city!

    *️*️Since no food is grown yet, we ask for a small daily fee, 20RM (about 4 euro/4,5USD), to be able to provide you food and accommodation. You can pick pretty much everything from the menu, as often as you need and like!

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    Because of the limited internet access at the beach, Frances and Sam (two friends of Roby, staying at this place in the summer of 2017 and wanting to help) offered to help set up this profile. Roby really cares about this place and about its future. He is a kind soul, works hard and has much to offer. He runs a camping and cafe with his wife and has seven kids and tries to maintain the beach and keep the area clean. To realize his goals he needs extra hands and we thought that workaway would be a good solution to this problem!

    Please understand that since we are managing the account, we might answer a bit late. We are traveling and will not always have a good internet connection or the time to answer right away. We will keep in close contact with Roby about all the messages we receive and if we and Roby think you guys will be a good match we will give you Robys phone number (whatsapp/SMS works much better than e-mail/the workaway website in this area) to have a more streamlined contact and not via us and the workaway account.

    We will do our best to have the most smooth communication and will answer as soon as possible :)

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 315923564815

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