Fifty Hardy Souls Raleigh Together

The Venturers seemed ready. Jet lag or no jet lag, the 50 young people strode purposefully into the British Club on Tuesday and ordered the last cheeseburgers they will have for a long time.As they prepared to board a train for eastern Siberia, the mostly British, mostly hardy-looking volunteer group was focused -- even fixated -- on the hardships ahead. They are looking forward to 10 weeks spelunking, bushwhacking, white-water rafting, trailblazing and fielding general adversity, days from the nearest settlement in darkest Irkutsk.Or that is the idea, anyway. Raleigh International, a British charity foundation, plans the trips with the dual purpose of developing character in its participants and performing community service. For 10 years, Raleigh International has invited English-speakers between the ages of 17 and 25 to volunteer in locales such as Zimbabwe, Malaysia and Chile. The students, workers and directionless postgraduates who arrived in Moscow this week had no visible apprehensions and were primed for a revelatory experience."The great thing about Raleigh is that it's going to reduce everyone to one level. It's a great leveler," said Sarah Roberts, 24, who graduated from university two years ago and has been working as a volunteer for the aid organization Oxfam since then. "It's not going to matter what Mummy and Daddy do."The program is a carefully conceived growth experience. Eighteen months before the trip begins, applicants take part in a "selection weekend," which gauges applicants' adaptability and leadership skills. During one such weekend, prospective venturers ate out of bowls full of worms, swam in icy-cold water and were deprived of creature comforts like food, sleep and cigarettes, said Alessandro Fodella, 21, a university student from Milan. After that, most participants must raise between ?2,250 ($3375) and ?2,950 for the trip, through sponsorship and corporate backing -- although a handful of students are given full scholarships on the Youth Development Program, which targets students from inner cities.Accompanying the group is Paul Hodges, a painter who has signed on with the group as trip artist. Through his work and his influence, the artist will try to bring the workers into closer contact with their environment, he said. "I hope they will give some scope to their sensibilities," he said. "I want them to respond emotionally to the landscape."This will be the second summer Raleigh has shipped volunteers out to Siberia, where some of the projects are water-pollution surveys, cave exploration and the construction of a reindeer farm. The volunteers will split into small groups, joining Russian partners, and then switch to another project in the middle of their stay.After 18 months of preparation, Venturers arrive expecting to be tested, and last year's programs were, if anything, not arduous enough. Group leader Chris Kendall worked overtime this year to arrange for "the required amount of challenge," he said. "The adventure element is much higher than last year." Kendall, 34, left the British army two years ago for a job with -- by his own account -- a much higher adventure element. As group leader, Kendall routinely explains the ideals and goals behind Raleigh International; his position is equal parts manager and missionary. "Certainly it has become a part of me. If it wasn't I wouldn't be doing the job," he said. But the responsibility and the logistical hurdles are exhausting, he said. "I won't do it forever. I physically couldn't."By and large, the Siberia trip was a success, but the volunteerism aspect of Raleigh has been difficult to convey to the local population, he said. "Their experience with ecotourist groups is people with a lot of bucks and helicopters buzzing around Lake Baikal and maybe an occasional picnic," he said. "It's going to take time for this message to get through."