INSPIRE
I was naturally attracted to the badge of SWA and MoP that I initiated this journey of mine towards the completion of those 2 programmes. But as I dug deeper into the requirements of the badges, I was inspired by the projects that was offered and the impact it could potentially make to the beneficiaries, among which is Project Orion. The badge scheme is very much focused on sustainability of the projects, which is a growing concern as most people simply focused on clearing projects to projects, and not so much about the long term impacts, and sustainability of their project over the year. Of course, the notion of baby turtles is very much a major factor on why I took up Orion IX, but the sustainability and maintenance of the project is what attracted and inspired me to undertake and experience what Orion is really all about.

LEARN AND DECIDE
Of course, I have to learn more about the project before undertaking it, which is why I attended the Scouts of the World Discovery workshop. Within the workshop, I was exposed to various concepts, the main of which is the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. That was legitimately the first time I had learnt of these goals, but at the same time, I was very familiar with much of what they are trying to achieve. The Sustainable Development Goals are there to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all, and they address global challenges caused by rapid development. From this, l saw what Project Orion was trying to do by raising awareness for the participants about the state of the less fortunate and nature. That was when l was more determined to join Project Orion.

DO
Orion was largely promoted as a turtle conservation effort, and without fail, it delivered. There were plenty of information about turtles and how they were endangered by the activities of man. We worked closely with WWF and even had a chance to play with the baby turtles. It can be seen that much effort has been put in to ensure that Terengganu's turtles will not go extinct. First and only thought about Orion that I had was simply the effort on turtle conservation, but it was proven to be so much more. Bulk of our finances and time is spent helping the villagers extend their houses. The house extensions are neither whims nor fancies of villagers wanting more space to frolic about in their houses. It is for their livelihood of which to support their families and to carve out a sustainable business for themselves and their future generations. As the last village in a small road in Terengganu, these luxuries are simply not accessible to them as it is to us. As such any help they have is much appreciated. Their willingness to take the risk to do venture into the world of business is dependent of the need to support their children, while at the same time, for their children to inherit to support their children. This is the kind of sustainability that motivates me to work harder, and to really think about the things i do, whether if it is about further my own desires, or about the greater good. As the treasurer for this particular instance of Orion, I was very much involved with the planning process. It was made more difficult when the sponsorship had not came through, and we are essentially left with insufficient funds, therefore we have to manage the finances rather tightly, while at the same time, not giving up activities that we promised to the villagers. The most heartwarming thing is when we offered to contribute towards the repair of his food stall that was dilapidated. One of the villagers requested for assistance to help with the repair of their shop. However, the budget was already depleted and the reminder money was earmarked for future activities. When Sijie requested that we forked out money from our own pockets, there was not a moment of hesitation among the 6 of us. We simply went, "Yeah, sure, let's do it now." and we went to visit them after dinner. The uncle was really appreciative, but when he found out the money was not from the budgeted amount (He was previously a beneficiary, hence he would know), he refused to take the money. But after much insistence from us, he accepted. That was the crowning moment for me for Orion as it really showed a willingness for us to go beyond what we are expected to do so as to better the lives of those that we can potentially help. Having fully experienced the Orion in its entirety, I know that it was a valuable experience and wonderful learning journey. I had learnt much about the villagers, their hardship as well as their strength and ingenuity to carry on despite these hardship.

SHARE
Naturally as the main highlight of the project, I had also gained valuable knowledge and first had experience about turtle hatching and the intricacies of maintaining a active turtle population. As a multifaceted project, it has also taught me much about humility, ingenuity and courage adversities. As such, I would be sharing this project with the younger generation, so that they may learn about conservation and community service. In fact, the post project orientated towards educating Cubs scouts about turtle conservation and marine litter. The post project was held on 7 October at East Coast Parkway. The cubs are exposed to a brief idea of what we do at Orion, and the service that we provide. We then a mock nest excavation to teach them what we do at the hatchery. We also have a short sharing session on the litter at the beach, and how it could affect both mature and baby turtles, and how they can reduce litter through little actions. I will also be actively sharing with my Scouts, Ventures and Rovers under my charge the World Programmes so that they too could learn something about the world and themselves from it. During the length of the project, we maintained a blog (http://2018.project-orion.org) and instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/projectorion_) that shares our daily struggles and happy fun times.