Children Camp at Sg Lepo Ulu Langat

Pixs from Leng

On Dec 4 - 6, 2010, 18 children together with 7 volunteers camp at Sg Lepo Campsite Ulu Langat. The main coordinator was Mdm Wong.

This the 1st time the children going for camping and stayed in the tent.

Email from Mdm Wong

Dear parents and all,

After weeks of preparation and anticipation, the outdoor camp finally got under way . It was a great success and the children enjoyed it thoroughly.

18 participants signed up for the camp; out of which 7 were non-members. Many of the Youth Club members could not attend because it coincided with their own holiday plans.

Except for one or two kids, many of them have not been to an outdoor camp before. So it was more like a discovery trip for them. On the day they arrived, Sifu planned some charade games for them. These games act as ice-breakers and help in their bonding. In the evening, the kids all helped out to get the BBQ ready. They had chicken wings, hotdogs, sweet corn, potatoes, capati and curry for dinner. With such a sumptious spread, the children soon had their fill and they quickly headed to the nearby steam for a dip in the cool clear water.

After breakfast on the 2nd day Tony put the children through some warm-up exercises. Then off they trooped into the jungle for a hike. Many of the children have never been into a tropical rain forest before. The undergrowth is thick, the air is humid and the ground is slippery. They had to cross streams; clamber over fallen tree trunks and suffer the bites of leeches. Some came back with grazed knees and sore bums but high spirits. These children are more resilient than we think! In the evening, Sifu taught them how to cook rice and vegetables using a mess tin. Many of them ended up with half-cooked rice; at least this is an improvement compared to their first attempt. During the indoor camp in June, all of hem burnt their rice. I think that with one more try, they would be able to cook perfect rice.

The children spent the night playing board games, congkak and UNO. Some girls pestered Sifu for some ghost stories. Sifu gave us a chilling account of his own experience. Very soon, nobody was interested in board games anymore and everybody was listening with rapt attention to Sifu. That night, the wind seemed colder than usual; or was it the presence of the unseen? I think the girls would now think twice before asking Sifu to tell ghost stories!

Throughout our 3 days with these kids, Sifu and I noticed that some children are very helpful and independent. Some are born leaders. But there some who are shirkers, some are pampered too much and some have very poor survival skills. With a few more camps, Sifu hopes to nurture them to be more independent and resourceful. In fact those kids who have been with us for the past few months have become more responsible and are given leadership roles.

Last but not least, would like to express our appreciation and thanks to Tony, Ms Leng, Hong, Jassy, Pk Si,Tan and Kuan for helping out with the kids. Without them, we could not have run the camp successfully. With 18 boisterous and hungry kids, Sifu and I would find it hard indeed to keep them in line. Tony and Ms Leng even took leave on Monday (7th Dec) to finalize the packing up.

Sifu will be away in Spore till 15th January 2011. Our youth activity will start on 16th January. I will keep you informed.

With metta,
Mdm Wong

PS. Leng, can you please forward this email to the other volunteers and the parents who are not in the email list?