W.O.R.D.S.: 09 Leadership Camp. =)

I'm back from camp. =) and i have to say that this camp is indeed one of the memorable ones that i will remember for a long time. It wasn't the activities that were interesting. It wasn't the seminars that caught my attention. It wasn't because i got to meet up with lots of people whom i've not seen since i left high school. It was the bond that was formed in 3 days between 2 facilitators and a bunch of form 4 kids that made me feel spending the last 4 days in school, feeling extremely tired worth while. =)

It all started with yih yin who was part of the committee for this Leadership Camp asking me and yin yin whether we are interested in helping out in this camp as facilitators. I agreed half hearted-ly promising her that if yin yin attends, i would too. So.. come monday and the three of us reported to camp and we started off with cleaning the classrooms. That wasn't too bad. But i guess what we didn't expect was the chairperson of the camp being so strict, imposing punishment and all. Afterall, we haven't been treated like this ever since we left scouts.. haha. It really did remind me of our good old scouting days.. =)

By evening of monday, yin yin and I have started questioning ourselves.. "what the hell have we gotten ourselves into??" "bo su chui su... =.=" haha.. The both of us found ourselves being put in charged of facilitating the same group. That night, we were actually both worried that what if our group members turn out to be a bunch of very passive people.

Come day 2, the day where the "kids" were supposed to report to camp, during ice breaking, when they were all still shy and a bit unresponsive, we really did worry. But after spending some time with them and after they had their first activity, these bunch of kids, begin to warm up to each other and to us. In fact, when we were carrying out the first activity, i can feel the bond forming slowly. They already can make me laugh. That night, during dinner time, we were already talking and laughing together. And when they were given the task to prepare an item for the campfire the following night, all of them were full of ideas and so eager to make it a success. yin yin and i were real glad to see that but we were tired to the core. I honestly didn't know that being a facilitator, so much energy is needed. And to top it off, I had only two hours of sleep that night. Waking up at 6am the next morning, all yin yin and I wanted was to go home to our comfy bed.. LOL.. Our scouting days were 10 times tougher than this, but we didn't even complain those days. But then again, it has been 3 years since the last time i seriously camp.. dah tua.. LOL..

Day 3, the kids were more energetic now and they have begin to work as a team. And they were nice to us, offering to clean our dishes for us after every meal. By then, the 16 of them and the 2 of us were already like a family. That night, during the campfire, their item was quite a success and the two of us were so proud of them we were grinning from ear to ear. That night before we went to bed, i told yin yin, i'm going to miss them when the camp ends tomorrow and yin yin nodded silently in agreement, not wanting to meet my eye.

Come the last day, the bond between us was strong. When we sang together for the last time, i can't helped but noticed everyone of us didn't want the camp to end. I, myself was on the brink of tears. haha. And the kids keep telling us that they will miss us. haha. =)

I don't have a lot of pictures of the camp. In fact, i only have like 3 or 4. But i have lotsa awesome memories. =) To the kids, though they claim that we are not that old to call them "kids", XD thank you for giving me such wonderful memories. =)