After spending their summers roughing it in Africa and Asia to help others ten young adults have returned from the Raleigh International Bermuda Programme with a new outlook on life.

Berkeley Institute student Erik Simmons was one of the youngest participants and spent ten weeks in Namibia building a school and lion enclosure, something he never thought he would be doing a year ago.

Eighteen-year-old Erik said the experience has changed his life and made him realise how ungrateful Bermudians can be.

"The highlight of my trip was building the Oshana Primary School," he said.

"When I was there we were putting up walls and the roof.

"And it was amazing to see the children, they would just sit and watch us.

"That was the best part, the smiles on their faces.

"They were so grateful that we were building them a school.

"It's made me appreciate things more, simple things like water and electricity because many of them were walking for miles for basic things."

Erik also helped turn a former diamond mine into a national park for young, injured lions.

Another part of his trip was an 18-day trek through the desert, which is known as the adventure phase of the Raleigh experience.

The 240 km trek took him to Brandberg Mountain, Namibia's highest peak which is in the northeast of the country.

And he recommended other young people apply for the trip and said his only advice would be to pack light as he never used half the clothes he brought.

He also said he was thankful that Raleigh had helped organise an internship with K.P.M.G. for him and was looking forward to studying accountancy abroad once he completed high school this year.

While some of the Bermudians were in Namibia others went to a Raleigh project in Malaysia.

That group built a youth hostel to house children who lived more than eight hours away from the village's school.

Before the hostel was built the children would sleep on the floors of villagers' homes during the week before the long walk home on weekends.

Their 'Adventure Phase' included three separate phases — trekking, scuba diving, and a climb of Mount Trus Madi, Malaysia's second highest peak in the north of the Island of Borneo. Raleigh International is a world renowned organisation that tries to encourage young adults to realise their full potential while helping impoverished villages.

Raleigh works with young people who are often categorised as 'at risk', many of them have experienced social, behavioural, or academic struggles.

Executive director Kristin White said: "The Raleigh Programme reaches out to young people who are at risk of not reaching their full potential, sometimes through lack of motivation.

"This experience shows them that they should embrace their talents, as they are capable of so much more than they ever thought possible, and encourages them to pursue their goals to the fullest.

"Additionally, the poverty they witness overseas causes them to be extremely grateful to live in Bermuda, and in many cases is a driving force behind the positive changes our participants make in their lives.

And Ms White said they are already starting to recruit young people for next year's expedition.

Anyone interested in attending finding out more about the Raleigh programme should visit their website www.raleigh.bm, or call Kristin White at 333 -5678.