It was 1967 and I was almost 16. My dad was in the RAF and my life had been disrupted because of constant moves between schools and countries. We arrived in Singapore and I was suffering from extreme anxiety about joining yet another school. But one of the options at my new school was to join the DofE Award Scheme, and it would involve trekking through the Malaysian jungle and learning survival skills. If anyone needed survival skills it was me!

I didn't stay with the scheme long, never finishing my Silver Award, but the experience lasted me a lifetime. I learnt map reading, how to building a camp fire on a beach, cook dinner in a billycan, and how to trek through the jungle in a group.

The first person had the compass, the next person had the map, the third person had a stick to mark how many steps we had taken, the rest of the group followed exactly in the steps of the one in front but looked left and right, looking for hazards. If we spotted anything that others needed to know about we called out to the person behind. "Hornets nest to the left", "snake to the right", "HORNETS SWARMING" - a warning for everyone to get down immediately, and cover their heads. And the last person in the line - the job we all dreaded - was "the snake man"(or girl) who carried a pole with a string looped at the top. If anyone saw a snake the snake person must try to catch it, in case anyone was bitten and needed anti-venom.

Our group was usually about 12-20 people, equally divided between boys and girls. We looked the part, in our jungle green, with a machete and water bottle, and a hammock to sleep in - to avoid getting trampled by wild swine. Although I have no photos I have a lifetime of memories of those hot days, in jungle green, learning that I was more of a survivor than I had ever imagined myself to be. It gave me confidence to face the world as myself, prepare for every eventuality and then embrace the wonderful world with live in with courage and love.