Young people have a final chance to take part in the experience of a lifetime with Raleigh International 2011.The fully-funded character-building and adventure programme for teenagers and young adults is hosting its final information session on Wednesday at 5.30pm.Anyone between 17 and 25-years-old who is interested in travelling to an exotic country like India or Costa Rica for community service, adventure and team-building projects is encouraged to attend and sign up for remaining spaces.Past participants who spoke to The Royal Gazette said the experience pushed them to the next level, made them appreciate life and motivated them to create a better future.Juvonne Cann, a 23-year-old auto technician, said he was shy and quiet before taking part in his expedition to Borneo in 2005.He said the ten-week expedition challenged him to come out of his shell and taught him to stop trying to “be like everyone else” and more like himself.He said the experience also showed him how others less fortunate live and added: “Everyone was so happy without phones or much electricity and it was just surprising to me.“It struck me that if I am lucky enough to live [in Bermuda] I have to do better than what I am doing and that is what gave me the push to go up to the next level.“I am still going to be going up levels until I get to where I need to be,” he said.The aspiring underwater mechanic highly recommended the programme to other young people and said: “This is the chance of a lifetime to really see what the future can look like. I would encourage every single last person in the world to do it as long as the programme is available.”Law student Tashae Harvey said her adventure in Asia in 2005 was “one of the best times of her life”.While she was always a good student, she met a woman on the programme who encouraged her to continue on a positive path.Miss Harvey said there were many trials and “error episodes”, such as not having enough supplies to finish their building project in Malaysia, but maintained that it was “not meant to be a bed of roses”.Instead the experience taught her lessons to help her in everyday life and allowed her to develop as an individual.“Before I went on the programme I did not appreciate the easy way of life offered to Bermudians. I remember one village I went to they couldn't afford to buy rice so instead we spent an entire day on a steep plot of land almost half an acre planting a dry rice crop.”She said she met two sisters under the age of five who had no idea where their parents were and hadn't seen them in months.“My heart hurt for them. I wanted to take them home which I obviously could not so instead I opted to buy them both food. I watched as they sat on the sidewalk and gobbled down their meals in their dirty clothing.“In Bermuda you will never see this degree of suffering. Overall, the programme made me appreciate life and the simple things that make life worth living.”Entrepreneur Shavaughn Dill, 23, participated in a Borneo trip in 2009. At the time he was shy and didn't open up to people, he said.But as the programme progressed he said he developed close bonds with other participants and became more open to ideas and people.“Seeing people in a worst position than I am and helping them out motivated me to do more with my life and make the most out of it. Seeing them happy for the little they had, made me much more thankful.”Mr Dill is currently studying Business Administration at Bradford and Leeds University, in the UK, and hopes to open his own restaurant one day.In addition to working at M&M International during the holidays, he donates spare cash to charities like environment protection group Friends of the Earth and The Red Cross.He admitted taking part with Raleigh International taught him to work harder to accomplish his goals and said that “dreams are only dreams until you make them reality”.l The information session will take place at the Raleigh office on Midsea Lane, across from BHS and upstairs of the Bargain Box on Serpentine Road. To download the group's training schedule or print an application visit www.raleigh.bm. Alternatively people can contact the organisation on 333.5678 or e-mail info[AT]raleigh.bm.