Camping to connect

I always feel refreshed after a camp, despite the late nights and lack of sleep. This year was the third time (not in a row) I accompanied the prefects for their camp. I have also camped overnight during ‘Kem Integrasi’ in school and also somewhere near Batu Caves a couple of years ago. Committing myself to say ‘yes’ to these overnight camps is the most difficult part – thinking of leaving behind the family and household chores for the weekend. Of course it’s only the family that I miss not the chores, but knowing I’ll have to deal with them (the chores) during the week days is not comforting!

Once I’ve said yes I actually look forward to spending time with my friends and the students. This is the time we get to share…more then the food! I always come back feeling closer to these friends…knowing that the time we shared together helped us understand each other better.

This is also when I get to know the students better. Some are friendly while some keep their distance from me. I appreciate the maturity of those who understand that I’m a different person in the classroom, school and outside school. My roles are quite different respectively. For example, at camps I am a guardian for all the children there. It was so amusing when some guys ran down from their apartment at 1.30 am, afraid to tuck in for the night because there was a ‘huge’ insect (bug/beetle?) there. Fortunately our 8 year old facilitator (Mr. Ruben’s son) said he’ll take care of it; saving us teachers the climb up to the apartment on the 3rd floor I think! Before we could move off, another couple of BOYS came running to us – the smaller (in size!) boy asking us to convince the bigger one that there were no ghosts and it was safe for him to go to bed!!! Ironically there were no girls in sight – they must have all bravely retired for the night.

I can also see how the students tend to bond with one another and I think some friendships grow stronger after a camp. However I tend to agree with the principal (in her closing speech) that a true camp is where we pitch our own tents instead of sleeping in apartments and cook our own food. I can’t imagine how much fun that would be – burnt meals, sleepless nights watching out for creepy, crawly ‘visitors’, no decent toilets!!!!!I have gone through these during my university days and I remember them better than the marks I scored in my exams!

Maybe Samad should have a camp-out for all the staff and students one weekend…..Oops I better not say. Don’t think it is going to be a well-received idea! But it will definitely help us connect.