Danielle Lightfoot of Widnes on expedition to Borneo

Jun 3 2010 Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

AN ECO-MINDED Widnes woman is taking a break from the recession blues to follow her passion half way around the world.

In a few weeks Danielle Lightfoot will be travelling to Borneo to promote social and environmental change among the island’s poverty-stricken residents.

Danielle graduated during the recession, but months of fruitless jobhunting left her disillusioned about the benefits of three years of hard work.

So she decided to take time out to gain some perspective, a new experience and a boost to her CV by taking part in a Raleigh International expedition.

The 22-year-old said: “I was getting nowhere fast but then I saw an advert for graduate volunteers to take part in this project.

“It quickly became something I really wanted to do.”

Danielle, of Hill View, Widnes, will spend three weeks building an education centre for pre-school children, as well as working on dams and pipelines so people living in remote areas can access fresh, clean water.

Many people in Borneo depend on unreliable rainfall or polluted rivers for drinking water, despite the risk of deadly water-borne diseases like typhoid.

She will also spend three weeks promoting the welfare of Borneo’s rare sun bear, raising awareness of its plight in a bid to prevent extinction.

A hike to the coast and volunteering on the international Reef Check Project, working on an under-water clean-up and data collection, will round off the trip.

“We are so materialistic and take so much for granted – if we took a moment to think about what other nations have to deal with we'd never complain,” she said.

“If everyone helped just a little bit, so much could be done to save and improve so many lives, there is no reason we can’t all help in some small way.”