RIO [Kim Kway]

DAY ONE- A VERY HECTIC ONE
We arrived at the pulau ubin jetty and set off to the camp site. It was a long journey there but we made good use of the time to get to know people from our group. It was a well time spent together before the start of the camp.
We shared jokes and our experiences at pulau ubin. When we arrived at the campsite, it started with bag checks then everyone started to settle down and stuff. We sat down and had a talk by Danny and Terry.

0920 marks the time we start fasting. A 24-hour fast. It may sound impossible for some of the people. Next, we had to come out with a village logo. Ours was a picture of a chicken(cos of our name-golden chicken) and everyone shares a part in designing it. We were also given the task of folding stars to exchange for stuffs like groundsheet and ponchos. Some of us folded the stars while the rest went to exchange the necessities and start to build up our sleeping area. Derrick, our village head, chose a good spot under the tree and they started their work.

This was my first time folding so many stars at one go! It may be tough to us, but it is worse for people in less fortunate countries like Pakistan. They even have to go and beg people for RUBBISH! Can you imagine that? Then was the grading of shelters time. It was the effort of the group and we eventually came in the 4th position. Then we had to design a picture to be drawn on the wall when our Pakistan team is there. We were given a big piece of paper and each of us contributed our ideas. Zhihao’s idea was good, thus it was chosen. Everyone played a part, and we were pretty satisfied with our piece of art. Then came the presentation time. Every group was given an opportunity to elaborate more on their drawings and the meanings behind them. JiaLe and QiFeng represented our group and did a really good job.

Next was fun time! We went to 5 different stations to play games. In return, we would get our daily necessity like log, food and water. The most memorable one was the traffic jam game. Initially, I thought it was just some ordinary game. However, it turned out to be a game that needs to set your mind thinking. As it was the first time playing this game for most of us, Derrick taught us the tactic of playing it. We used sources from the nature like log and rocks to represent the people. We had a hands-on session and I finally got hold of the game.

After getting all our necessities, we went back to the campsite. Kenny wanted all the campers to play the traffic game together. It may seem tough with so many people and it really was. A wrong step will restart the whole game. And we did it repeated times but was unsuccessful in the end. I thought we could carry on but didn’t, maybe it was due to time constraint.

By this time I think everyone was already half dead. We had our water parade. While everyone was having a good time drinking water, a few ‘terrorists’ came in and ruined the atmosphere. They demanded us to hand over our necessities we had earned from our games earlier on and we had to give them. Now, we were left with nothing. Imagine in the real whole, you spent your whole life working to buy the necessities and in the end, because of these unwanted events, you lost them in just a few seconds. This sets us thinking that these kind of things really happen to people in other countries and we should be grateful that Singapore is such a peaceful place.
Recovering from shock, we were next given a task by the ‘terrorists’. We had to recover the things we have lost by following the clues given by them. There were 3 places where the stuffs will be at. We worked together and finally worked out the place for the first clue. We took a long walk there. We found the place and we took a short rest there. Next, we searched for necessities like food and clothing we can find on our way. We found large leaves which can be used as clothing and a large branch to replace our log. We made our way back to the campsite as we did not have enough time to complete the whole task.

Our members were already worn out by then. Everyone took a short nap so that they would have energy for the next event. Finally, all the groups arrived back at the campsite. We were given our next task. To come out with a dance to advertise Project Pakistan. While the rest were resting, some of us shared our ideas on how we want the dance to be. We agreed on one and taught the rest the dance steps. It was a pretty good performance by us considering the state of our members.

Everyone in the camp was given a can of drink to quench our thirst. Next, the seniors and officers sang a song for us and we started dancing together, as a family. It was a great night and everyone had a great time. It was free time for us already. Everyone might be worn out but none of us wanted to sleep. Since it was only one night, we had to spend it meaningfully with our friends.

We played interaction games, shared jokes and laughed together. It was fun for all.

DAY TWO- HOME SWEET HOMEEveryone gathered together. Terry taught us a dance and we danced together. We were having a great time man. After the dance, we broke fast punctually at 0920. It was unbelievable for most of us as we didn’t think that we would be able to stand the hunger for such a long time. Each of us was given a certificate and a cup noodle. The cup noodle indeed brightens up our day! After having no food or a day, everyone were eager to get the cup noodles.

We had a photographing session with our certs and cup noodles. Next, my group went down to the hut. We shared our feelings for the camp and reflected. It was a great session with Kenny when he shared his experiences overseas with us. It was really an eye opener for me! Then we gathered and had our debrief by Danny and Vimel. I can see that everyone had a great time and each of us did learn something at the end of the camp.

REFLECTION: This camp is different from the ones I attended when I was in secondary school except for OBS. It allows me to have a broader vision of the people and events happening around me. It may be just a one day camp but I indeed learnt a lot of things. I learnt to be less self-centered and appreciate life more. Our seniors and officers did a great job in organising this camp and I would like to thank them. I suggest that the camp be longer so that more events can be planned and more things can be learnt. It is also a good opportunity for me to make new friends. As it should be, primers is a big family and there should be no strangers in a family. More events/outings should be organised to allow us to have these kinds of interaction.