UGC 2007 - Two Dimensions of A Camp Part2

“THE GLASS IS HALF FULL – N’ I CAN MAKE IT BE” Point of View

14 March was the day of my first UG Camp in school. I woke up a bit late but luckily I was not late for the camp itself and managed to bring all the necessary stuff. The school was already crowded with all different UGs members and I could smell the excitement in the air.

I quickly rushed to the canteen to put my belongings and joined the rest of the campers for the opening ceremony. It was very unfortunate for the Guides to have their flag stuck on the pole during flag break. Other than that, the ceremony was perfect.

Moving as a patrol, we began to pitch our tents. Although the Guides were not going to sleep in tents, they still helped the Scouts. This was the sprit I am expecting to be present between Scouts and Guides as we are actually quite a similar youth movement. The camp also served as a training ground for the next-to-be leaders. That is why a lot of patrols were led by sec 3 members, especially Girl Guides; the same for my patrol.

During the three days camp, I could see that the camp staff had put in a lot of effort to make the camp enjoyable for everyone. They planned the schedule carefully and executed the activities with heart and soul. Those activities might seem simple, yet they had a lot of hidden values we all could gain from upon post activity reflection. And although some of those activities did not go according to the plan, that were mostly because of our lack of attention during briefing which led to poor performance.

We also had lots of luxuries in the camp. Our meal were catered (in the real camp, we would have to cook all our meals) and the taste were not bad, for the fact that we just need to contribute a small amount of money for five different meals.
For hygiene purposes, we could use the restroom for wash up, even though we had to share it with other members.

I was quite disappointed that it rained during our outdoor cooking period. We were showing the Guides how to do it properly (girls are obviously unfamiliar with saw and parang and how to start the fire; some of them even scared to touch raw chicken – quite understandable if they are pampered at home). Unfortunately, it rained in the middle of our activity and we could do nothing to save the chicken as we did not have a freezer.

In the morning of the second day, I felt really bad to know that I had caused some disturbance to my own members by snoring too loudly. I couldn’t help it. I usually snore when I am too tired. So I was grateful when I was ‘isolated’ in separate classroom for the second night.

Overall, the camp was a successful one. Although it was tough, I learnt a lot from it and it was quite sad actually when they ended the camp.