Last weekend from Friday to Sunday I was away on a camp, organized by this British organization called Raleigh International. I read about the camp in the Star newspaper and decided it sounded like fun so I thought I'd go see what it's all about and also to find out more about the organization. From what I found out from the website beforehand, and during the first day of camp itself, Raleigh International (no, nothing to do with bicycles) regularly organizes expeditions to other countries to do community, environment and adventure projects, and each expedition lasts 10 weeks. And it's a real ten weeks of roughing it out, with a whole lotta trekking, sleeping in the outdoors and all. They also organize smaller scale community projects closer to homes, like visiting children's homes, helping our at PAWS and also at Zoo Negara to clean out the cages and stuff like that.
So the first day at camp at the Rakan Muda Clubhouse in KL was really for them to tell us what they're all about and for us to introduce ourselves to each other and get to know each other. After a few hours of icebreakers and presentations, we finally hopped onto the bus to go to our campsite. And after about an hour and a half's drive, we reached a nice spacy campsite in some jungle somewhere. It was a secret location until we got there and found out it was in Kuala Kubu Baru. Before we left, we had been divided into groups, and I was in the group named Charlie with 8 other people. So all the groups had to set up camp in a nice spot of our choice, in the middle of the pitch black night, with nothing but flysheets tied to rafia string for our shelter as well as our mats. When we were done, our group slept all huddled together like sardines under our 'shelter' (which we later found out wasn't much of a shelter. :p). I didn't even have any space to roll over coz' I was sandwiched between two people. Fortunately, my sleeping bag was pretty warm and I didn't freeze to death on the two nights I was there
The next day, we woke up probably before the crack of dawn, coz' there wasn't a even a hint of sunlight when we were awaken by the camp facilitators. We used the little portable stove provided to cook our breakfast, which was tasteless oatmeal with milk. Then we were off to our first activity of the day, which was a series of four team-building games. The games were actually more like puzzles coz' it involved a lot of brainwork as well as teamwork to complete the games. But they were all really fun and interesting to do, and the best part was that my team got the best times for some of the games compared to the other groups. And we managed to complete all the games except one, which couldn't be completed coz' of a technicality. We were basically supposed to figure out how to get a ping pong ball out of a long upright tube stuck in a pot of mud, and the tube had holes so filling it up with water would be difficult. We finally did manage to fill up the tube with water, but the ping pong ball didn't appear because it was stuck to the mud in the pot at the bottom. No fair. In another game, we had to use several planks of certain lengths to cross over to the other side of six short pots laid upside down on the ground in the shape of a triangle, without anyone touching the ground. The catch was that all the planks were too short to be laid across the pots that would make the shortest route across, except for one plank. The shorter planks were only long enough to connect the other pots. So basically we had to use the long plank to get everyone in the group halfway across, stand on the shorter planks and then move the long plank to the last pot so everyone could then get across. Took a lot of balance and coordination but my team made it through the first time without a hitch. In another game we had to figure out how to move a big plastic water container out of a big circled area using only two long ropes and without anyone stepping into the circle. We also could not drag the container on the floor or let the ropes touch the floor. That was a bit tougher coz' we messed up a couple of times by letting the rope touch the floor and we were penalised by not being allowed to talk for five minutes. But we still managed to do it in the end.
For lunch we had bread with sardines and baked beans, and the rest of the day was spent trekking around for a few hours. We took two hiking trips, which added up to at least 5 hours of walking around. It was tiring, but the best part was getting to play around in some very nice rivers along the way. I was kinda hoping not to get my shoes wet, but once I realised it was inevitable coz' of the many streams we had to crosss, I just went all the way and dunked myself in a few of them. That was pretty much my shower for the day too, coz there was NO shower at the camp (and no proper toilet too, for that matter. Unless a hole dug into the ground counts as a proper toilet. I also didn't brush my teeth the whole time I was there so I guess my breathe was really nice by the time I got back!). It 's quite fun soaking myself in all my clothes in a nice cool river then drying out during the rest of the trek. :p Did that everytime I came across a river after that!
When it reached nightfall, we got back to camp and had a dinner of macaroni with sardines and baked beans (which actually tasted pretty good. :p) and we prepared for the group presentations we were told to do beforehand. My group did our very bad rendition of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', with me in the lead doing some really dumb hand actions I'd made up on the spot. Well, at least everyone enjoyed it, and that's the important thing! But of course, there's this idea that bad singing will cause it to rain and that night, it actually happened. Right after my group was done, the next group barely started their performance before it started raining cats and dogs. And it continued raining cats and dogs for hours. At first every group just ran back to their tents and huddled under the pathetic little shelters that they had for about half an hour. Luckily I brought along a full body raincoat so I sat closest to the edge of the shelter and got the brunt of the rain so the less protected people didn't get so wet. Didn't really help though, coz' everyone still got soaked. After some time, the facilitators moved all of us from our tiny little tents to a larger, better covered area, where there was a table and some people could sit. Some, but not all. And I was one of the many who had to stand there for more than an hour, waiting for the rain to stop. After an hour, I was getting super sleepy and was practicing how to sleep and stand at the same time. My legs were also getting tired, and my knee felt funny too coz' of all the trekking earlier on. At one point I got to sick of waiting for the rain to stop that I wanted to ask the facilitators if I could just go back to my shelter alone and sleep there even though I was going to get more wet. But before I had the chance, the facilitators decided to do something and moved all of us to some other better tents they had set up for themselves. Although the floors of the tents were wet, they would completely protect us from the rain, so they stuffed as many of us as possible in each tent. Tents meant for 3 people would have 4, and I slept in a 10-man tent with ten others (which makes eleven people). We were like sardines again, and everyone had to curl up their legs to sleep, but I think everyone still managed to sleep coz' we were so pooped from the day's activities. Needless to say, that was not the best night's sleep I've had.
Next day, it was up at an ungodly hour for us again, followed by breakfast and more games. the first activity wasn't really a game but more like a simulation of a possible real life scenario. This guy was explaining to us how to use a 'basher' or a hammock, as a sleeping place and also as a stretcher to carry injured people. Just when he was done, some girls came running along screaming for help and they led to a small ravine where another girl was lying 'unconscious' on the back. Of course, we knew that it was an act, but we had to play along and pretend she really was injured and figure out how to help her. Basically, we were supposed to check for external injuries, prepare the stretcher properly and carry her onto the stretcher with as little movement as possible to prevent further injuries to any internal injuries she might have. Then we had to carry her off to a 'safe' location. Well, we got all that done, but we were all so confused at first and didn't know what was the best thing to do. And apparently, the way we carried her onto the stretcher as well as on it, we would've killed her if she had broken ribs or a broken neck. Not very successful at all, but it was a eye opening experience. Makes me wish I'd learned first aid in case something like that really happens. The later two games involved a lot more heavy lifting, coz' we basically had to lift each other through the smallest of holes! The first one was a game where we had to all get through this 'electric fence' made in the shape of a rectangle on the ground. The 'fence' was actually four sticks stuck in the ground with rope for 'wires' but the catch was that we couldn't touch the ropes, and we couldn't touch the ground within the rectangle. And all we had was a plank to help us. So getting each person from one side to another with just one little plank was pretty tough, but my team somehow miraculously did it! The next game was similar except that we had to get each team member through a 'spiderweb' made of string. The holes were of different shapes and sizes, most of which were just big enough for people to fit through. But each hole could only be used once, after which no other team member could use the same hole. Miraculously, we managed to complete that too.
So then it was time for lunch and to pack up before heading home to our nice warm showers and cozy beds. Whew! The next day (Monday), my calves were both so cramped up from all the trekking and my knee was swollen so much that I couldn't bend it properly without it hurting. It still can't bend all the way now, but it's a better. I really should get that knee insured.
Overall, it was a fun and challenging experience. I enjoyed the games and the trekking and dunking myself in the rivers. Didn't enjoy the rain though. Now, each team is supposed to carry out a community project, and my team is supposed to help out for one weekend at the Turtle Conservation Sanctuary in Malacca. And yours truly is the project leader for this, so I hope everything will run without a hitch. :)
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