Laihann Mitchell

"I wanted to change my life. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, so I wanted to think about the future."

Laihann Mitchell, from Glasgow, Scotland joined the Motive8 programme and undertook the Malaysia 2006 expedition.

It's a great experience. You meet new people, and experience new things like trekking - I've never walked that far. The kids in the communities are so happy, even though they don't own much.

On the community project in Mangkuwagu, I helped build a kindergarten, tidy and fix up the library, teach the children, play with the villagers, eat wild boar and we had a big party. I liked it. On the adventure phase, I was trekking. It was challenging but good at the same time because Emma Buckley, the Project Manager was there. I enjoyed her company and she kept me going. Diving and climbing Mount Kinabalu was hard. But I survived and when I got near the top I'd never been so happy and sober in my life.

I have learnt that I can push myself harder than I thought I could. I cannot think about drinking alcohol now, because I'm noticing a lot of things I've never really noticed before, like trees, sunrises and so on, because I'm sober.

skip back skip to top

• Case Studies
• Aged 17-24 Venturer
  • Jaqueline Hemery
  • Alex Jaggard
  • Ayesha Khan
  • Felicia Royaards
  • Beth Rushby
  • Philip Weston
  • William Gidman
  • Charles Loudon
  • Lucie Cavoizy
  • Serena Brown
  • Laihann Mitchell
  • Barry
• Host Country Participants