Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Report on Leo Leadership Camp 2012



From the 24th to 29th of November 2012, 17 Leos from the Leo Club of SMK Assunta attended the annual Leo Leadership Camp organised by the Leo Club of Petaling Jaya Integrity and sponsored by the Lions Club of Petaling Jaya. This camp was held at Kem Bina Semangat, Ampang Pecah, Kuala Kubu Bharu.

Day 1 (24th November 2012)
                The 17 Leos gathered at A&W car park at 8.00 a.m. on Saturday morning. A bus ferried us from A&W to the campsite in Kuala Kubu Bharu. There were 37 participants altogether.  The participants were from SMK Assunta, SMK Taman SEA, SMK Damansara Jaya and SMK Taman Petaling. Omega Leos from the Leo Club of Petaling Jaya were also present. The camp was called to order by resigning officer and current President of The Leo Club of Petaling Jaya Integrity, Leo Bryan. This was followed by a speech from Lion Advisors, Lion Ivan Ho, Lion Fion Tey and Camp Organising Chairperson Leo Nicholas Tiong. Participants were briefed regarding the rules and regulations of camp and were introduced to some of the facilitators of Kem Bina Semangat, Pak Ngah, Abang Sham, Abang Zack and Pak Nasir.

                Later, participants were brought to their respective dormitories. Once they had settled in, the participants had an ice breaking session to get to know each other better. The ice breaking game was known as ‘speed dating’ where each participant was given 30 seconds to introduce themselves and get to know the person opposite them.
            After lunch, the participants were sent out to the grounds for the Trust Fall. In this activity, a few campers held a sack among them and another participant had to fall onto the sack from a 6 foot high platform. All participants were required to fall onto the sack. Next, participants moved on to the ‘High Rope’. Participants had to walk on mere ropes while they were suspended 20 feet in the air. That evening, participants were split into 2 groups and were asked to come up with their own cheer and flags. Over the next 2 hours participants were seen drawing, painting, singing and dancing out their cheer. The evening ended with members of the Blue Hawk team and the Red Bull team presenting their team flag and cheer.
Day 2 (25th November 2012)
                The following day, participants were asked to do rappelling and flying fox from 30 foot above the ground. Those with fear of heights were given the opportunity to face their fears. That afternoon, the teams were asked to discuss how they were going to build their rafts. Teams were provided with 4 pieces of wood, 3 planks, 6 barrels and some rope. They were required to build their rafts and all the team members had to raft to a part of the lake to retrieve their team flags. Before rafting, Abang Sham and Abang Zack had ‘Water Confidence’ session with the campers so that campers would be aware of what to do in case of emergencies. The Red Bull team came in first followed by the Blue Hawk team.
                Then in the evening, campers were asked to play ‘Cobweb’. A cobweb is a game in which there are many holes of different shapes of odd sizes. The first hole needed 3 people to go through it for the team to get its license. Once the teams had their license, they were then allowed to use any of the holes to send its members. However, if the camper had touched one of the strings, that hole will be closed and members who had used the hole to go to the other side had to do it again with another hole.  Each member of the team had to go through the cobweb to the other side by depending on their team members to help them go through it. 

Day 3 (26th November 2012)
                Early next morning, campers had to prepare their backpacks to go jungle trekking. The journey into the jungle was very challenging as it was a very steep track to go through. There were even some places where campers had to squat so that they do not fall. There was even a boulder about the size of a terrace house. On our way there Abang Sham pointed out a plant that could glow in the dark.
                Around noon, the campers reached the river. They were given a break so that they could eat their lunch. Abang Zack also showed campers what they should to do when they were lost in the jungle. He showed them some plants which are edible such as mata itik, lemba, asam kudai and buah salak. Abang Zack also thought campers 4 rules before attempting to eat any leaves in the forest. The two teams then had a game of water polo. While campers were coming back, it had started to rain. Everybody rushed back to the campsite as fast as they could.   
                Later that evening, there were some team building activities held to incorporate important values in the participants. These activities included dodge ball and a silent game of minesweeper. 

Day 4 (27th November 2012)
                On the fourth day, all the participants were gathered around a 12 foot wall. Both teams were needed to work together to climb over the wall. Only 3 people were allowed to stay on top of the wall to help the person who was climbing. All campers successfully, managed to climb over wall with the help of other campers. The next activity was ‘plug-the-hole’. Each team was presented with a barrel with holes in it and a broken pail to scoop water from the river. The motive of the game was to ensure that water in the barrel overflowed. Campers were permitted to use their socks and shoes to close the holes.
                That afternoon, the two teams were put through an obstacle course that challenged them mentally and physically. The obstacle involved a great level of teamwork and trust among team members. Some of the obstacles were the monkey bars, Tarzan swing, Commando Crawl, an Electric fence and a Spider web. The camping and campfire activity of the night had to be cancelled due to the rainy weather. Instead participants were jumbled up and asked to figure out a complicated logic game.

Day 5 (28th November 2012)
                In the morning, campers sat through a briefing about kayaks and later had a short game with their paddles. Members of the Blue Hawk and Red Bull teams were mixed up and asked to kayak together. Having picked their kayaks the participants then kayaked around the lake, they grouped about three times to exchange partners with other campers. After a short while of kayaking, everyone’s kayaks were capsized. Campers had to assist one another while getting onto the kayak. There was also an activity where campers had to run in the water to reach shore. Many campers found this tiring as they weren’t allowed to swim ashore. After kayaking, campers were asked to go back to their dorms to bathe, change and get ready for the closing ceremony.

                The entire afternoon was spent in the hall where the camp facilitators announced the best camper in both teams. Prizes were also awarded to The Most Popular Camper, The Most Supportive Camper and The Overall Best Camper for each team respectively. Shortly they had a photo shoot session for everybody to preserve their memory of being at camp. Then participants were given evaluation forms to fill up regarding their time at camp. All the participants were also called to share their experience at camp.
                After the closing ceremony, came the farewell and fellowship night. Every school had prepared a performance. The fellowship and farewell night lasted until 2 a.m. Everyone was sad that they had to go home the following day. 

Day 6 (29th November 2012)  
                Almost everybody slept in late that morning. Everyone was still tired from the long hours spent chatting with their friends. All the campers took a long time to pack up their things and got prepared for the journey back home. During the last few hours there campers were seen chatting happily. At 1.30 p.m. the bus arrived to take them home.

                Throughout this camp, the Leos learnt to trust one another, follow orders from the leader, voice out their opinion, step up their game and take a step back to let others lead.  They also gained knowledge like tying ropes and survival in the jungle. Many of them also had the chance of facing their fears. This camp has been an opportunity for many to bring out the leader in them and support their teammates in whatever they attempt. Although many were taken away from the comfort of their home, they proved that they are capable of living in minimal comfort. It has indeed been a very educational, adventurous and thrilling camp for many. It is hoped that more Leos from SMK Assunta would participate in it next year.


Report by,                                                                                                                                
Leo Subhashini Prakash.

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