Strangers in paradise

Student expeditions - adventure holidays for wannabe Livingstones? No, says Daniel Start, leader of the Cambridge group held hostage in West Papua.

University expeditions are part of the international task force which attempts to chart and tackle the symptoms of our global malaise. Deforestation, environmental pollution, poverty, human rights and social unrest are concerns that demand action from all areas. The role of inter-governmentals, independent charities and research institutes are accepted. But a little-known mover and shaker among these players is the university expedition.

The expedition's role is to address priority issues, which have often been identified by larger organisations. With realistic aims and the appropriate skills, such research provides valuable contributions.

In 1991 Paul Salaman, then a first-year undergraduate at Anglia Polytechnic University, organised an expedition to the Rio Nambi community reserve in the Colombian Andes. His team carried out ornithological surveys in collaboration with the local conservation organisation - and discovered a new species of warbler, the Choco Vireo. Their results convinced the Colombian government to increase the area of the reserve, the name was sold and the proceeds used to resource a field station.

In 1989, two second-year sociologists from Cambridge University conceived the Jakarta Street Children Project. Working with their local university counterparts, under the recommendations of relevant organisations in Jakarta, they carried out research into the conditions of street children in the capital. The work highlighted the extent of the problem to western funding bodies, and identified areas of compatibility between the three local groups already providing support.

At the heart of this expedition was the partnership formed between the young sociologists from Britain and their Indonesian contemporaries. The British students brought enthusiasm, skills and resources to tackle social priorities. Equally the experience and knowledge of the Indonesians were crucial. Such cross cultural cooperation was a central theme of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It is by promoting this type of union among the youth of the world that we can work towards solutions for the future.

This fraternal image is very different from that of the 18th and 19th-century expeditions which laid great parts of the world open to colonisation. Perhaps it is our guilt from the legacy of the British Empire that leads us to feel that expeditions are imperialistic. In fact, safari-suited university explorers no longer prod natives with their canes, and proffer starched Y-fronts in exchange for their penis gourds. The expedition concept has evolved so far that many projects carried out these days are planned and staffed entirely by students from developing countries. But the connotations of the word expedition linger on. Many use the ambiguous but neutral term project or study group in preference.

Another preconception that dogs the undergraduate research expedition is that of the adventure holiday: frolicking in the sun in exotic locations at someone else's expense. One thousand undergraduate and postgraduate students planned and completed projects abroad last year. Their commitment of time (usually at least a year in planning) and personal cost (at least Pounds 500) does not stem from a mere desire to travel and see the world. If so, they could join their friends in Thailand for the same price and a lot more fun. Usually focused on one location, the expedition is for work not play.

The commitment comes from an interest in the affairs of the world; a wish to do more than merely shrug, or complain, a desire to work with other young people from foreign cultures. The experience may carry on into professional life as a related vocation. But whatever career path is followed, such an experience will give a more realistic and deeper understanding of world issues.

Jen Hurst, a veteran of three expeditions to Ghana, says that without this type of experience young people will be cut off in their northern hemisphere niche. We would all be virtually ignorant of the challenges of our southern hemisphere counterparts; unable to work for solutions for everybody.

If comprehensive advice is taken, proper contingency plans made, there is no reason why university expeditions should be more vulnerable than larger, or more professional organisations. So how prepared was the expedition of which I was a member? We were carrying out baseline biological surveys, working closely with the local community, in a remote part of New Guinea. The team, made up of Indonesians, indigenous Papuans and British members, was working to achieve formal protection for the area since logging and mining were already occurring in neighbouring tribal regions. The project was also funding several community schemes. Personally, I was hoping to raise awareness about the rights of the tribal people in the region and was also making a short film to this end.

The project was the culmination of two years' planning. The crucial information about the political situation, the independence movement and the likely presence of a small number of Free Papua activists in this part of New Guinea was understood. A sensible risk assessment was made. Dutch missionaries, who had lived and worked very closely with the tribe for over 35 years, gave advice. The team talked extensively with all the consultants who had previously visited the area, as well as with officers from the Freeport mining company and both British and Indonesian governments. In fact the British Ambassador to Indonesia had asked if he could visit the project in early January, about the time we were kidnapped. Fortunately his schedule altered, and his trip became impossible.

My first visit to Irian Jaya was in 1994 to meet the Papuans who were to join the project. The team included a local man who had trained as an anthropologist and he was involved in the planning stages. He had been born in the village in which we were based and spoke the local dialect. He had many relatives in the area. He too was kidnapped and held hostage. The local leaders were consulted about our plans a year before our arrival. They had offered their support and when we were taken they fought for two days to try and prevent our imprisonment.

The project passed the strict security vetting of the many Indonesian government agencies. It is difficult to see how we could have been more prepared.

It is important to remember that experienced consultants from The Worldwide Fund for Nature and Unesco were also kidnapped along with our team. Throughout the world there is a growing incidence of foreigners being taken hostage, many of whom are professionals, even special envoys to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Far from being feckless youth on useless or imperialist expeditions it might be that the passion, drive and commitment of the nation's impoverished students are exactly what is needed to tackle the crises of our impoverished globe. There are many university projects with the realism and skills to succeed, the willingness to promote cultural exchange and the vision to tackle otherwise neglected issues. Rather than damnation or blame, they need our support. They are the substance of the evolving modern expedition.