whew.
2 days of camp has totally
whacked me out.
It was a camp at Aloha Loyang,
organised by the Pasir Ris FSC.
and it was thanks to cheng yoke
that me, merilyn and huiwen managed
to join them in this camp.(:
hoho. it commenced on 13 dec and ended
on the 14th.but its didnt feel like only
2 days.somehow it felt pretty long.haha.
Day 1
We started at the PRFSC by
getting to know the other volunteers.
Then we played the number game.
It was super complicated and like all
the people playing were entwined
together.
After that we continued with briefing
for the camp. (: Then after lunch,
we rotted around talking until the
kids started arriving.
From then on, it was me, Mansfield,
and Aiman to 8 kids we had take
through the camp.
They were Theudaus, Mellissa,
Marcus, Jonathon, Iffah, Jude,
Syakirah and Rachel.
yup.
thats the group we were assigned to.
they were a riot, and sometimes we
would feel so argh we wanted to tair
our hair out. but basically they werent
not so much a difficult bunch. I guess
they just have kind of conflicting
characters.
On the way to Cranwell Bungalow,
i was seated next to Iffah and Syakirah.
at first i thot they were both quiet and
able to hang together, so i told both
of them to look out for each other.
but it was until day 2 when i realised
appearences on day 1 can be deceiving.
Iffah was originally quiet, but she was
actually a very enthu little girl
(she's only p1 this year)
And Syakirah WAS the quiet girl that
i saw her as on day 1.So sometimes
during camp they will float off in
different directions and only
when i asked "where's ur budddy?"
would they realise they havent
exactly been sticking together.
so hmmm.
1st thing learnt: dont classify people.
they may not be what they seem to be.(:
Then we had identity creation.
at first there was a gigantic gender
segregation but i was glad but the end of
camp, although they still may not be the
best of frens, at least they were not
uncomfortable with each other.
Soon after most of the mundane stuff we
could set off for the night trail.
we all tried to arm ourselves with
torch lights and mosquito repellents before
the trail, and thank god for the sticker,
i didnt get bitten much.
(on day 2 the mosquitoes were having
a feast on our legs by night time)
The trail was alright except for the darker
areas of the boardwalk, but otherwise
im sure it was a new and different
experience for the kids.
we even managed to watch some stars,
which were glowing brighter then those
we could barely see at areas in town.
(i mean, we were at changi area after all...)
Then we went back for supper and
made the kids go to bed.
Only after that were we able to have time
to ourselves, like talk to others,
play games/cards.etc.
It was only until huifen chased us to sleep
at 2 did we drop everything and sleep.
Day 2
the day started at 7am, and after our
breakfast, briefing, pt did we get our kids
down for breakfast at 8.30.
they were tired and restless early in the
morning, as most of them slept as late
as us the nite before.
(i heard in the girls bunk they only slept
at 3,4 o' clock and they woke up at around 5.
No wonder the kids were cranky.
i seriously feel for aiman and the other
volunteers in that room.poor things.
by halfway through day 2 aiman was
already zoning out.haha.)
Then we went throught the obstacle
course which managed to wake most of
the kids up and get them high.
especially the mud bath.
most of the kids loved it.
and it was hilarious to see how theudaus was
freaking geraldine (mjc) out as he placed other
disgusting stuff located in isolated corners of
the bath into her hand.
(just a side note: theudaus may run out of
control time to time, if he is too high, but
otherwise i felt he was extremely caring
of his younger brother thaddeus in huiwen's
group. On day 1, whenever he went off, i
would find him hovering around huiwen's
group looking for his brother.)
then we also have the flour game,
which iffah surprisingly wanted to play,
and later threw flour at mansfield's butt.
heh.
Soon after we had lunch, which was
field cooking.
it was terrifying.
at least for me.
i was panicking and argh-ing every
single time a kid came near the fire.
(i was settling the solid fuel.)
and kids where floating around,
without us being able to catch them back,
as we were tending to the other kids
or the fire.
after that we had a break where we
chatted and listened to bing min's
cold jokes.haha.
and ate auntie susan's maggi mee.
(that auntie is really pro.
i have never seen maggi mee taste so
nice.and we kept eating
throughout the camp as her food was
really nice.)
the kids got to rest and bathe.
then the second horrifying experience
came about.
skit preparation.
aiman and mansfield were rehearsal-ing
with some of the kids,
i was trying to get the other kids
to paint the props.
they got easy bored, floated around,
and kids rehearsal-ing were running about.
everything was in a mess and my
brain almost died.
luckily rachel was helpful and
settled the younger kids for
me while i got other people to help
me do stuff too.
finally it was done,
and second rehearsal came along.
this time wasnt any better,
with everyone making noise
and running about.
after we got moved to the room,
it got worse.
the screaming and noise was
like super amplified in the room,
compared to the big living room.
but we managed to get it done.(;
we played murder and detective after
that, and it was amusing the
way they played.
nobody died for a long long time and
the person who died revealed the
murderer by accident.
(Jonathon said:"i was trying to tell him
who to kill.")
heh. so funny.
then theudaus thot aiman winked at him
(she BLINKED.)
and "piaked" himself on the floor.
we were wondering what
had happened when he announced
that he had died.
then aiman was saying
"no i didnt wink at u"
haha.
so mansfield prevented him from
joining back into the game
as he had "comitted suicide".
this was probably the most fun murder
and detective i have ever witnessed.
soon the parents came.
and after dinner, they performed the skit
they practised.
they didnt win in the end but i felt it
was pretty well done.(;
yay.then we went back
to the PRFSC for debrief and
for auntie noreen's farewell party.
then it was home sweet home.
i learnt lots of stuff from this camp.
and even though it was tiring and
sometimes frustrating,
but after seeing them so happy with
the prizes and during the skit,
i cant help but feel that
everything was worth it,
the arghs,
the tiredness i felt
sometimes.it all contributed to
my experience.(:
and it was an enriching camp.(:
