How far would you go for your own survival? – Wilderness Survival Camp!

It is definitely more challenging to play canoe at Gibson Lake

The breathtaking scenery at Gibson Lake

 Wilderness Survival Camp, a 4-days-3-nights practice canoe trip designed for the Gold Visioneers (“Golds”) in preparing them for the coming qualifying canoe trip. For all the Golds, they have been equipped with mature outdoor skills since they were in Bronze level. Therefore, they are a group of outstanding teenagers with superb problem solving ability, leadership skill and high resistant and resilient level. In early August, the Golds embarked on an adventurous journey at Gibson Lake with Mr. David Dick and his companion Angus.

Jumping from the cliff

The purpose of the camp was to train the Golds’ outdoor skills like outdoor cooking and paddling skill as well as teamwork. For instance, the Golds’ had to complete tasks such as jumping into the white water, paddling through the white water, portaging, jumping from the cliff, so on and so forth. The participants learnt to stay calm whenever there was an unknown challenge through participating in these adventurous and exciting tasks. Certainly, not all the Golds were eager to take up the challenge, yet many of them overcame their panic and accomplished the task after being warmly encouraged by other teammates. As expressed by an intern who is currently studying in The University of Hong Kong (HKU), the tasks she had successfully accomplished were pretty meaningful from her point of view in a sense that she could learn how to deal with her fear and anxiety in a dangerous and uncertain situation. Only you have calmed down, you know what and how to do next. Be confident and bold is the key to overcome your fear. Vision Youth’s program aspires to provide a platform for young participants to build up their confidence.

Vision Youth Family

One of the participants, who had also been joining Bark Lake leadership camp, mentioned the difference in level of difficulty between the wilderness survival camp and Bark Lake leadership camp. As a matter of fact, the skills required by the wilderness survival camp were much higher and rigorous. Also, the tasks were more challenging and adventurous. On this ground, we understand how Vision Youth carefully designs the program framework in order to suit the needs of participants of different age and ability levels. It is believed that the Visioneers can build up their confidence gradually only through progressive trainings.

Apart from the wilderness survival camp, Vision Youth did organize a two-days standard first aid training for Visioneers who were interested in first aid. All eight participants successfully completed the training and were awarded the certificate. This is indeed an indicator to show the enhancement of personal development, but more importantly, the skill they acquired today may help contribute to the society one day.

展望青年金章學員的野外生存之旅

文/Icey

GIBSON LAKE 的水流相比於BARK LAKE更加湍急

暑期時間並不是每一個學生都能夠充分將其利用的，然而，展望青年領袖培訓計畫為其學員策劃的一系列活動令這些學生在此期間迅速成長，令他們的暑期生活更加充實、眼界更加寬廣、心智更加成熟。

展望金章學員都是通過長達三年的培訓，由銅章學員磨練、成長而來的。因此，金章學員無論是在體能還是在智力、心理承受能力、團隊默契等方面都是極其優異的。今年八月初，展望金章學員在GIBSON LAKE展開了一場為期四天的野外生存之旅。

此次野外生存之旅的目的在於培訓學員的探險精神與團隊合作精神。主要活動項目包括懸崖跳水、跳進急流中、急流划獨木舟、搭建帳篷與遮蔽所。其中，跳水成為了最受學員矚目的一項活動，這也是展望青年的特色項目之一。跳水之前，學員們需要乘獨木舟來到一個近乎十米的懸崖之下，並且在工作人員的幫助之下攀登而上，隨後雙手抱胸，一躍而下，懸崖下方是湍流拍岸，驚險刺激。另一個跳進急流的活動是讓學員們嘗試到被急流湧走的经验。讓他们以後遇到恶劣環境也能臨危不亂。如此富於挑戰的活動並不是每位學員都敢於參加的，然而，經過其他學員或言語或行動上的鼓勵，每一位學員都光榮地完成了這項任務。來自香港大學的一名暑期交流生回憶道她在此次跳水運動中所收穫的，是一種處事不驚的冷靜態度，只有當你冷靜下來才能夠迎接即將而來的挑戰，勇敢與自信是確保自己冷靜的前提，並不是每一個人都天生遇事沉著，但是通過一次又一次地磨練，自信心會逐步增強，勇氣也隨之增長。展望青年為學員提供的就是一個不斷接受磨練的平臺。

GIBSON LAKE 的美麗景色

學員們為跳水運動攀上十米高懸崖

參加此次野外生存之旅的志願者也有一部分隨銅章、銀章學員參加了8月中旬的BARK LAKE 之旅，兩次活動都有划行獨木舟的項目。然而，其中一名志願者表示，野外生存之旅的水流狀態比起BARK LAKE 來說更加湍急難行。不難看出，展望青年為不同階段的學員們所選擇的旅程項目都是通過精挑細選，符合學員能力水準的，銅章、銀章學員從初級開始逐步提升自己各方面能力，而金章學員則需要更在更高水準之上要求自己。然而，無論挑戰有多艱難都是經過合理設計的，不會苛求學員完成不可能的任務，這樣才能培養學員的自信心。

展望金章學員、志願者合影

團隊合作精神永遠是所有專案制定的標準，學員們所學到的內容也都圍繞於這個中心。四天的朝夕相處令金章學員更像一個大家庭，彼此的關心關愛程度更是得到提升。

展望青年還于上周為有興趣的成員提供了一次急救知識的培訓機會，經過了兩天訓練，8名展望青年全部獲得認證證書，他們將有資格為急需救助的傷患提供幫助，這不僅僅是對他們的自身能力水準的一種提高，更能夠使他們投身社會，為社會做出力所能及的貢獻。 

WooWoo! Here comes to Bark Lake!

Vision Youth Family and Bark Lake staff 

Counselors are playing kayak!

Bronze counselors are performing, it's so entertaining.

Learning how to solve a problem through group effort

Every summer, Vision Youth cooperates with Bark Lake Leadership Centre and organizes a 3-days-2-night leadership training camp for Silver and Bronze Visioneers. Bark Lake is located in the northeast side of Toronto and is surrounded by vividly green areas and beautifully blinking lake water. At night, you will see an unbelievable clear starry sky in which you can see the Milky Way and countless shooting stars. All Visioneers had their leadership training in such a serene and carefree natural environment.   

All Visioneers had a chance to play canoe, kayak, high rope and low rope in the campsite. For many Bronze Visioneers, it was the first time for them to play canoe and/or kayak and therefore it was very challenging to them. They had to step out from their own comfort zone and accept each adventurous challenge. Besides that, the Visioneers participated in team building activities and learnt more about cooperation, communication and leadership.

Having a team building game

Night walk is something not to be missed in the itinerary. For instance, the Bark Lake staff led a group of Visioneers to do the night walk without the help of external illumination (i.e. as it takes around 20 minutes for our eyes to get used to the darkness). Arriving at the destination, the staff asked the Visioneers to sit down and have a little reminiscence and self-reflection. Within that short five minutes, the Visioneers were told to think of the things that have accomplished in the camp, their achievements, the nature, etc. Such a time was very thought-provoking indeed.

In the 3-days-2-night camp, the Visioneers not only had a lot of fun, they learnt a bucket of skills which are essential to their personal development.

展望學員的美好假期——BARK LAKE遊記

文/Icey

展望青年成員在BARK LAKE的合影

泛舟BARK LAKE之上的學員們

BARK LAKE工作人員對學員們進行領導能力的培訓——通過練習平衡木找到解決問題的方法

展望青年領袖培訓計畫同BARK LAKE的合作由來已久，每年暑期展望青年都會帶領學員赴BARK LAKE接受培訓，同時度過一個難忘的假期。今年8月6日，展望銀章和銅章學員在BARK LAKE得到了三天的身心放鬆與智慧培訓。

BARK LAKE位於安省中部，綠樹環繞湖水一周，木屋散落在叢林之中，景色怡然。晴天時天上白雲朵朵，湖上倒映著綠樹藍天。夜晚的時候，抬起頭來便是滿天的繁星，時而流星劃過長空，周圍漆黑而幽靜，坐在岸邊還能夠聽到浪花拍打湖岸的聲音，每一位展望成員都能夠在此盡情地放鬆身心，在自然的懷抱之中收穫一場難忘的旅程。BARK LAKE不僅擁有著令人陶醉的環境，這裡同時設定了培訓領導才能與合作精神的課程。這正是展望青年選擇帶領學員來此度假的最重要的因素之一。

BARK LAKE工作人員帶領學員做遊戲

經過兩個多小時的車程，學員們早已按捺不住的心情在到達BARK LAKE之後得到了淋漓盡致的釋放。學員們接近中午到達，在分配完宿舍之後來到了食堂，值得一提的是，這裡所有的屋子都是木制，食堂的二樓小木屋更是一個完美的觀景台。學員們就餐完畢之後由BARK LAKE工作人員帶領參觀，接下來便開始熱身活動為隨後泛舟湖上做準備。對於銅章學員來說，他們大多數在此之前並沒有接觸過獨木舟，BARK LAKE的工作人員為其講解了船槳的使用方法以及下水的注意事項。當天晚上工作人員要求學員們在沒有照明設備的情況下一起穿過BARK LAKE的樹林，來到沙灘觀望星空，到達沙灘之後，工作人員還要求學員們閉上眼睛感受月夜，那是一種前所未有的放鬆。

銅章輔導員為學員們演出精彩表演

這三天內，學員們學習了兩種獨木舟，還進行了多種娛樂活動，諸如高空繩索活動，排練話劇等等。所有活動的實行都會有周密的安全系統對其監督，保障學員的安全。同時，BARK LAKE的工作人員還為學員們出了不少難題，這是為了鍛煉學員們的思考能力，訓練學員們的思維敏捷度，讓學員們進一步瞭解自己的思維模式，學會解決問題的方法。BARK LAKE的幽靜還能夠令學員們在接受培訓的過程中對生活的品質有不少的提高，拂去城市之中那些浮誇的色彩，學員們在此感受到大自然帶給自己的無限歡愉。

Leading Visioneers to another learning dimension – Learning Experience through Artistic Performance (LEAP)

The Bronze Visioneers had a role-playing game regarding bullying

LEAP coach was explaining the bullying issue to the participants

 LEAP, an abbreviated form of Learning Experience through Artistic Performance, is an experimental learning strategy which allows young adolescents to learn leadership skill and other good attributes in an interactive learning environment. A female professor of York University first raised this idea as she thought that teenagers could learn virtues and good attributes through drama and thus character imitation. Such an interactive learning strategy breaks the traditional unilateral learning model, and allows a greater flexibility and propensity for the teenagers to learn good characters. Vision Youth recruited two experienced coaches to hold the course for the Bronze Visioneers last Thursday.

The coaches

The theme for this time is “responsibility”. Before that, two themes (i.e. communication and history) were featured in the course. For instance, the Visioneers learnt about early Chinese Canadian history in the course regarding railway construction as well as immigration. The coaches encouraged the participants to ask their parents and grandparents about their immigration stories so that they could learn the history in a closer proximity. For the theme “responsibility”, the coaches explained the theme and thus the concept of school bullying through role-playing and games. By role-playing, the participants had a chance to taste the feeling of being a victim, a bully, a bystander, etc. and hence they could think about the bullying issue in a more objective and comprehensive sense. Besides, the coaches tended to train the Visioneers with critical thinking skill by learning to analyse the issue from multiple perspectives. Many participants enjoyed the course and had actively participated in the discussion. Many fruitful discussion outcomes came up after the course.

Mr. Eric Li, the chairperson of Vision Youth Leadership Program, mentioned a remarkable LEAP experience happened in the past. For instance, the coach that time asked the participants to shape the characters of a “leader” and a “hero”. He vividly remembered that the participants made the character of a “hero” like a god-like figure, who was being worshipped, while the character of a “leader” was like more humble and considerate. He also mentioned the presence of York Region Character Community, which is a means of civic education aiming to spread the message of good attributes like integrity and perseverance within York Region. As a side note, Vision Youth belongs to this community as well.

LEAP has been part of Vision Youth’s program for 10 years. Before that, a unilateral teaching model was adopted to teach the participants about leadership and good attributes. However, many of them were uninterested in the way of teaching. Therefore, LEAP has been adopted and the learning effectiveness of such kind of character building course has been greatly enhanced.

展望學員帶領學員認識新的教學模式——LEAP

文/ Icey Li

學員即席發揮的話劇

LEAP講師悉心為學員講解是日主題－責任感

LEAP，即Learning Experience through Artistic performance，是一種使學員能夠從話劇中學習領導才能及其他優秀品格的教育模式。這個概念最早由約克大學的一位女教師提出，她認為年青人能夠從話劇中學習到良好品德，同時領導才能得到提高。輕鬆有趣的話劇，寓教於樂，學員們的學習再也不是枯燥而令人生畏的了。上週四，展望青年騁請了兩名有經驗的導師教導展望銅章學員。

LEAP課堂導師

本次LEAP的主題是責任感，在此之前，展望青年也曾為銅章學員們開展過兩堂LEAP課程，兩次課程的主題分別圍繞著社會交往以及歷史。導師在課堂開始之時和銅章學員回顧了上堂課堂的內容，有關早期加拿大華人在卑詩省修鐵路的歷史，並且鼓勵學員向父母詢問他們有關移民的故事。爾後，導師以校園暴力及冷暴力為中心，以遊戲及場景表現的方法為學員們講解校園暴力。表演形式的講解十分深刻且極具啟發性，導師能夠以一種互動的手法去讓學員投入討論校園暴力的問題，如叫學員一起去塑造被欺淩者的角色特點，這包括被欺淩者的內部特點和旁觀者對被欺淩者的外部看法。例如旁觀者會覺得被欺淩者是一個懦弱膽怯的人，然而被欺淩者其實是一個熱愛運動﹑勤力讀書，但沒有父母的人。這種一起去塑造角色的過程能讓學員更加切身理解被欺淩者本身的感受，明白一個人的多面性。導師引導學員從不同角度看待校園暴力的問題，也使得學員能夠以不同角度理解及分析問題。最後，導師叫學員坐在一起去討論校園暴力問題，很多學員都踴躍發言，表達自己對這問題的觀點。這種融合﹑互動的教學方法能夠激發學員的討論，使得教育不再刻板而生硬，導師和學生能夠享受教育與接受教育的過程。

展望青年領袖培訓計畫主席Eric Li提到給他留下最深刻印象的一次教學內容是導師叫學員去演繹「領袖」和「英雄」的分別。他尤其記得的就是有一組認為「英雄」即是好像神一樣，受到其他人跪地敬仰的；比較而言，「領袖」則是比較平易近人的樣子。他同時提到約克區品德研習社區——約克區會選十多個做人的優秀品格，諸如誠實、博愛等等，每月以一個品格作為主題，向約克區的學校﹑社區推廣這個良好品格，以達至公民教育之效。展望青年也是這個社區的一員。

LEAP形式授課在展望青年已經持續十年之久了，在LEAP 以前展望青年是用課堂授課形式為學員講解個人素質及良好品格，但是精力旺盛的學員對此的回饋表示興趣不大，甚至是厭煩。用話劇形式為教學工具的另一優點是學員們的角色代入，令他們對課題能夠感同身受，對課題有更深的體會。