Bongkud Village Enhancement Projects

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Bongkud is a relatively large community comprising over 2000 people spread over two villages and lies 15 kilometres from Ranau in Sabah, Borneo. The level of state funding is inadequate for such a large population resulting in overcrowding, a lack of public resources and relatively high poverty levels. A series of projects are being undertaken in Bongkud such as improvement of the drainage system for the village, repairing bridges to enable access to schools, farmland and public transport without the need for long detours, essential footpaths to allow children to get to school safely and ongoing building repairs around Bongkud.

2022 Update:

Students rebuilt and laid drainage around the vicinity of the village to help reduce the stagnation of water that may cause mosquito borne diseases. A total of 158m of drainage was completed. 134m used traditional wooden framework while the remaining 24m was built using plastic moulds. Drainage was also improved around the Surau (mosque) before building a 20m walkway to connect the mosque to main buildings.

Students also worked on improving the safety around the community youth centre by fixing a low concrete curb around the building to avoid encroachment of vehicles.

Narawang Improvement Project, Bongkud

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Narawang is a small village located three kilometres from Camp Bongkud. We are running a range of small projects here to improve the safety, functionality and general look of the village. Priorities include the construction of walkways and steps, and to repair and clear surface drains to prevent standing water that can become a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. Other activities include fitting out a storeroom at the kindergarten (‘Tadika’ in Malay) and landscaping, repairing and extending classrooms and out-buildings at the primary school.

2022 Update:

Built the front walls of the canteen (extension to the community’s church) and started plastering the existing walls. Roofing materials have also been purchased for installation by the community.

Students also helped with the resurfacing the waterlogged entrance and driveway for the community hall by laying garden path tiles to the community hall grounds along with building a narrow and shallow drainage system to divert the rainwater from the hills that have been collecting in the grounds of the hall. We will look to continue working on this project until the flooding issue around the hall is rectified fully.

Tinangol Community Centre, Tinangol

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Tinangol resides in one of the poorest regions of Sabah. Most of the 100 households here survive through farming and selling their produce at local markets, but it’s a tough existence for most.

In 2017, we started to build the community centre which will function as a communal meeting place and also where judgements of Native Court will take place. It has 2 halls, 3 office rooms, a pantry and shower and toilet cubicles.

2022 Update:

All the wall surfaces of the community centre were plastered and painted with undercoat paint within 30 days. We are not completed here yet and future travelling students will get involved with some of the finishing works such as installation of window frames, windows and doors. Final painting, murals and landscaping works.

Did you know?

Community centres (‘Balai raya’ in Malay) are commonplace in Sabah and form an integral part of village life. A well-used and maintained community centre is often a good indicator of the overall health of the community.

Timbang Batu Community Centre - Timbang Batu

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The village of Timbang Batu is close to Tinangol, but the absence of a proper road leading to the village isolates this community and makes life even harder for its residents.

The village is also very spread out and so the village chief requested that we provide them with a new community centre where they can come together, hold functions and become more organised.

A new community centre is being built after the old collapsing wooden one was torn down in 2016. This new hall is mainly made of concrete and is planned to have wooden and traditional ‘Tingkang’ areas on the front and back. The main building consists of a main hall and 2 store rooms.

2022 Update:

The concrete flooring is now 100% complete. The side walls and outline of the storeroom has also been raised partially and 35% of brick laying works have been completed.

Small Infrastructure Improvements - Rang Bulan

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Rang Bulan is a coastal village where fresh water supply is mostly derived from wells. These wells would be shared by 5 to 10 households depending on location. Some of these wells were dug a long time ago and with construction of the nearby Pan Borneo Highway water run offs have affected the quality of the well waters. There is a need to raise the base and the walls of the wells to ensure cleanliness.

2002:

Student travellers raised the flooring and walls of 2 wells in the community which will provide fresh water to at least a dozen homes in this coastal village.