Thursday, August 29, 2013

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.

No comments:

Post a Comment