Journeys - For 16 - 23 year olds/Gap

Sinai Summer Expedition

Introduction

The Summer Expedition is a three–week journey through the Sinai with the local Bedouin. It combines trekking in the high mountain region learning about team management and survival with working on community based projects for the Bedouin.

We have set up and worked on many different projects including environmental work, irrigation work, painting schools, medical work and regenerating gardens and we also encourage you to work on your own projects.

The Expedition runs from mid July to mid August and is open to students aged between sixteen and twenty-three. There are places available for Assistant Leaders.

There are many benefits to be had from this unique opportunity and students find qualities and strengths in themselves by learning new skills, making new friends and adapting to an extraordinary environment.

“Adventures are something else. They happen in places that are marked on the map but take you into another world – dreamscapes that are often rugged, frequently inhospitable, but awesomely beautiful. Adventures are revelatory, they change your perceptions. And they can be tough. You have to shape up because you can‘t ship out. Every minute is lived intensely and burns into the memory to become an important part of your life.” J.Campbell, Sinai, March 2001.

Wind Sand & Stars
Programme Summary
Below is a brief summary outline describing the opportunities that await you in the Sinai this summer. If you need more information on any aspect of the expedition please refer to the specific pages in the rest of the brochure or feel free to contact us at the office on 0870 757 1510.

The Expedition
It is difficult to describe in words what you will be getting out of the Summer Expedition. Many of the benefits are intangible – a greater sense of confidence, a deeper understanding of other cultures and peoples, an idea of what it means to work and live in a very different and difficult environment, and of course the indescribable feeling of achieving something extraordinary. We have outlined below the various initiatives that you will be able to participate in on the expedition. If you need more information please see the more detailed descriptions in the rest of the brochure and of course you can always call us at the office (0870 757 1510).

The Projects

During the expedition you will work on a project for the local community. These projects vary from year to year. They are chosen in conjunction with the Bedouin and designed in order to ensure they meet a very real need. By working directly with the Bedouin on local community based projects you will gain a very personal in depth experience of their cultures and lives. The work in the field can include:

• Garden Regeneration projects alongside the local Bedouin tribes within a mountain area
• Decorating schools in the local villages; Water Management & Irrigation Schemes
• Projects in conjunction with the National Parks and local Ngo's.

In addition, if you have your own project or research interest you would like to pursue we are happy to discuss these with you.

The most important aspect of the project is that it keeps open the belief that others from a world of inconceivable difference, are willing to display compassion and active concern for those who still struggle to meet the basic needs of their children.

Leadership and Participation
Wind Sand & Stars believe that every individual has strengths to bring to the group as well as believing in the creative synergy of the team. Sinai has proved itself again and again to be an environment where these can both be discovered and developed. Our experienced leadership allows for members of the expedition to learn to lead their peers with respect, to plan with safety and to participate with enthusiasm.

Sponsorship
Many people find raising sponsorship one of the best ways in which to fund their expedition. We have outlined a bit more about how to raise sponsorship in this brochure, and once you have joined the expedition a full ‘Sponsorship Pack’ will be sent to you to help you on your way. A percentage of the Expedition costs go towards our Bedouin charity but more importantly the work that you are doing while on the Expedition is invaluable in terms of the support it brings to the Bedouin and their communities.

Mountain Trekking
The projects are organised in order to give you the opportunity to explore the mountain environments of the Sinai and to live and work alongside the different Bedouin tribes that live in the area. We will spend time trekking in the high mountain region where few people, other than the Bedouin, have fully explored. The high granite mountain range lies at the heart of Sinai, and you will be able to learn about Bedouin mountain life, trekking along deep valleys lined with vivid green fruit orchards, filled with fig and almond trees, and over high passes with dramatic views over the surrounding mountain ranges. Trekking will be between four and five hours a day.

Desert and Camel Trekking
In the sandstone desert area you will have the opportunity to explore an environment very different from the high mountain region. You will be able to experience the beauty of Sinai’s golden valleys and hills, and the pleasure of sitting around the fire with the Bedouin watching the sun set and the stars come out. At the end of the expedition you will camel trek for a few days through the desert, relaxing after your project work and experiencing the slow traditional pace of desert travel.

Pre Expedition Planning and Training
When you send in your deposit and booking form you will be sent an Expedition Training Manual and a Sponsorship pack outlining the best ways for you to raise money. There is also a one day preparation and training course held one month prior to departure which all participants will be expected to attend. The first few days in the Sinai will be spent acclimatising to the environment and beginning leadership and remote camp survival.

Outline Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Cairo, transfer to Sinai.
Day 2-4: Acclimatisation and preparation for trek
Day 5-9: Trekking with the Bedouin mountain tribe in the granite mountains.
Day 10-11: Mt Sinai, St Catherine’s Monastery and Free time.
Day 12-17: Project work
Day 18-19: Camel trekking in the sandstone desert and Bedouin feast
Day 20: Swimming/Snorkelling on the Red Sea. O/n hotel on the beach
Day 21: Return home. NB O/n under the stars unless otherwise stated.

Wind, Sand & Stars
Summer Expedition Projects

“I have never worked so hard in my life…but I have never been happier”
John Bray, Summer Expedition 1998

Project work is a hugely interesting and exciting part of the expedition! It is the framework within which you can develop your leadership skills and also the way in which you can gain a personal insight into the lives and culture of the Bedouin people.

The project is based in and around a local Bedouin community and is decided upon in conjunction with them. You will then be responsible for helping to plan and implement the project, carrying out the work and producing any necessary reports. Your reward is the satisfaction of achieving something that will have a direct and positive impact on the lives of the community.

Regeneration of the Bedouin Gardens
Hidden within the high mountain region are a number of Bedouin fruit gardens and orchards that have fallen into disuse and disrepair. The Bedouin would like to find a way to rejuvenate the gardens as the fruit they once grew in them provided an important source of nutrition to their local communities. This project also involves rebuilding the dry stonewalling and the small huts that are in the gardens to provide a source of shade and replanting the fruit trees while recreating the irrigation channels.

The walled garden orchards of the mountains of the Sinai desert have for centuries been a source of food and clean water for the Bedu tribes people who live in a land of severe drought. The orchards provide crops of apples, olives, pears, quince, pomegranate, grapes, almonds, mulberry, dates and apricots. They're also one important part of the fragile chain of interconnected measures which together provide drinking water further down the valleys. The gardens have for centuries sustained life in this unique region.

The Bedouin enormously enjoy working on the project with the expedition members, and all concerned are able to see the immediate rewards as well as the long-term benefits.

The Benefits
Since September 2001 the South Sinai Protectorate, which has jurisdiction across part of the mountain region, has produced internal statistics suggesting that in the outlying populations beyond the immediate tourist centre at St Catherine's village, there is 40% malnutrition. The regeneration of these orchards and a better balance between traditional sources of food and modern income from the tourist trade at the coast would increase access to nutritional food.

It would be of particular significance and enhance the lives of those who are outside of the present tourist trade but who have become more disconnected from traditional methods of survival. Surplus fruit harvested in the mountain region can also be sold by garden owners to boost their income.

Personal Projects
We are also keen that people are able to pursue their own projects and research. There is huge scope for doing many different types of research, including anthropological and geological work. Although each person that comes on the expedition will be expected to take part in the projects we have organised, if you do have your own particular interest, than do not hesitate to get in contact with us to discuss what you would like to do in the Sinai. Students can also use the Summer Expedition to qualify for the Residential Project part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Examples of past Projects

Water Management and Irrigation Project (Sandstone Desert)
(see also Irrigation Schemes)
This was a long-term project, started by the Summer Expedition members in 1998 and continued each year by successive expeditions. Working with Sheikh Hamid, head of the local Muzeina tribe, students helped to implement an irrigation scheme and create a water management system that was suitable for the environment, using readily available resources.

Medical Project:
(see also Medical and Dentistry Clinics)
A project started in the summer of 1999, looking into the growth rates of the Bedouin children and studying the diseases and illnesses that affect the various populations. Future work includes continuing the research and looking at ways in which to improve nutrition/health amongst the Bedouin and access to medical facilities.

Environmental Work with National Park in the High Mountain Region:
(see also National Park Consultancy)
National Parks around the world encompass areas of outstanding beauty, and are often set up with the aim of helping maintain the balance between nature and development. Each year we work on a project with the St Catherine’s National Park on and around Mount Sinai, and with the local Bedouin tribe who have lived in the mountains for centuries.


Painting and decorating a Bedouin School:
(see also Desert School Project)
An opportunity to spend some time with the Bedouin children, and help to make their learning environment a brighter place. Materials are bought from England and paint is bought locally. All ideas are welcome in order to transform the school into a fun and educational learning center. This project may involve the possibility of teaching some English.