Educative, Entertaining and Exciting (3Es)!

And here is a scintillating description by Taira of her educative, exciting and entertaining experience at Sitlakhet Yourekamp on Indiatimes blogs (Click on the Title above to get the original article)!:

Sitlakhet Adventure

Camp (Educative,

Entertaining and

Exciting (3Es))

Couple of weeks ago, I had gone to Sitlakhet (Kumaon hills) for a program leader training program organized by ‘iDiscoveri' organization that does adventure camps for school children from 9-14 yrs old. I went with about 16 people from different cities and even different walks of life. That night I had to miss out on my official party as I had been looking forward to this trip to Sitlakhet since last year. I met few people en route to station and went about telling them about the monuments, buildings that we crossed. At the station met some more of them and once on the train we shared funny incidents of our previous adventure camps. Morning we stopped over at a resort for breakfast enjoying the serenity around, called up my dad and also happened to view some magnificent oleographs of Raja Ravi Verma and artworks of couple of prominent artists too.

We started our journey ahead and the drivers were really cool who shared funny information/incidents in their areas. We passed amidst a beautifully spread golf course on a highway. Sitlakhet camp site is at 7500 altitude overlooking the whole of Himalayan range. That place belonged to a British couple and when they left, it was managed by an Indian gentleman who owns about 80 acres of land atop mountains, which was once upon a time an tea estate but now houses various fruit plantations like apple, plum, peaches, apricots, etc., along with pine and rhododendron trees. Mornings were so beautiful with different unknown birds chirping aloud with Himalayas covered with clouds or just pure sunshine on top of them. What more one could ask for?

When we reached there, we were introduced to other campus chiefs who had been undergoing training as well and were leaving the same day. Tents were allotted and had a wonderful lunch. Went for a grand tour towards the close by activity sites and naturally wrecked/haunted house; took a few pictures.

Started with simple yet educative games which got each one involved physically, mentally and emotionally too. At night we watched a movie called “Pay it Forward”, which had a moral view to learn from. We retired pretty late at night. Next day started early with games and nature walk. Experienced “Trust Fall” where a member falls back with closed eyes trusting others to hold him without a fall or injury. This was interesting as when in a big group where you don’t know others so well, what emotions one may go through about trusting new people. We trekked towards the rock climbing area; got introduced to equipment and calculated risks involved. We made groups and climbed about a 30 feet high rock; learning with experience. We returned to the camp and had discussions, played experiential games followed by self-reflection period.

In the middle of the night a challenge was thrown at us like some seniors screamed for help along with animal calls. They waited for us to respond in case of an emergency. It was again a learning experience to be alert 24/7 when children are around in camps. I took the initiative of walking out alone, looked around and waited for more emergency calls. I went ahead and inquired from the guard and saw 3 seniors waiting for us to respond. Except me, no one else came out. And I tell you when I looked up in the dark sky, it was simply mesmerizing to see millions if stars twinkling up there. Next day we discussed about similar real-life situations when as leaders we got to respond no matter what. Again we played energizers’ (games) and learnt about map-study when in wilderness. We were made to play “Hurdles and Mines” and how as a group we worked about it collectively. Lot of emotional outbursts happened; some felt neglected or isolated; some took charge; some passed remarks but finally we did it.

Back to the camp, we had intense sessions about our behavioral pattern as this is exactly how children might behave when out with us. And our purpose is to give them a life time experience full of confidence. In the evening we played games and a ghost story, which was very funny. Few of us visited a nearby grave of the British lady who died in 18th century. It was simply a beautiful site to see her grave highlighted under the moonlit, charming night. Her husband had planted Cyprus trees which one could see even from far amidst pine trees. It was said that this white dressed lady with a hat and umbrella has been seen by few locals too. On the way back we were made to walk one by one without torches on the moonlit path so as to experience the natural light of darkness. It didn’t even feel a bit scary but I could purely feel the freshness around. I looked above and saw the moon amidst the huge pine trees which played hide and seek with me and all around millions of stars gazing down at me. It was my moment only.

We had bonfires, sang old English classic songs and took many pictures. The guard on the campus was a very pleasant 75 year old gentleman who had been awarded a certificate too from the Uttarakhand govt. for growing kiwis (an exotic citrus fruit) on his farm. He had wonderful stories to share with all of us. He had lost his one eye, had a mark on chin and hands while encountering a leopard in the wild. He sang such beautiful bhajans in the late hour of the night. I simply wished that the moments came to a standstill.

The next day I was little tired and had throat infection for which I kept having raw ginger and black peppers. We learnt about “LNT (Leave No Trace)” in the wild. We were divided into small groups and were asked to perform skits about LNT. I was little nervous but then played my part well and was appreciated too. In fact each one did well. Even our instructors performed. They were really cool guys who were truly experienced in wilderness and were full of humor and energy. They were the soldiers who encouraged all of us to learn and perform better each time.

I always ended up having funny discussions/challenging one of the instructors. Everyone would be in splits with our chats and that is all Youreka (extension of iDiscoveri) is all about. It is like having fun and enjoyment along with experiential learning all the time. The fifth day we learnt about basic first aid situations when in wild and were made to perform for such situations sequentially. After lunch we had to leave for Delhi so I bought whole lot of delicious kiwis and some local sweet too.

On the way back in the train we had ball of a time, enjoying every moment, sharing jokes, pictures, etc. All in all it was very educative, interactive, and above all entertaining and exciting too. I am glad I went for this amazing learning program.

posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 10:19 AM