Our Communications Intern Claire from Germany writes about her experiences in an Adventure Camp for children:
About three weeks ago, my colleague Abhijeet forwarded me a Newsletter from our partner organization Dream A Dream. They were looking for volunteers to take part in their 4 to 5 days Adventure Camps for underpriviliged children. As I had stated from the start of my internship that I would be interested in field visits and grass roots work, I gladly accepted Abhijeet’s offer to take part in one of those camps.
Dream A Dream organizes those Adventure Camp every year. The target group are underpriviliged children. The objective is to increase the children’s confidence and to provide them with essential lifeskills through different activities. The level of difficulty is being increased continuously to challenge the children.
We, i.e. 13 girls, 15 boys and four Tour Leaders (one of them a doctor), left Bangalore on Monday night. An overnight bus brought us to Talaguppa, close to Jog Falls. A short taxi ride later, we reached the camp which was situated directly next to the Linganamakki Reservoir. After a recuperative breakfast, we directly started with some acitivities. First, we took a walk around the whole camp site which is quite a big area. After that, the children, all between 11 and 13 years old, faced their first challenge: they were supposed to swim (with life jackets) for the first time in their life. Some of those kids were very courageous and didn’t think long to get into the water. Others were really scared and even started crying. In the end, everyone had been at least in the water even if some hadn’t left the bank at all. Yet, for the first time, those children had done it pretty well.
The upcoming three days were full of challenging activities like paddling, camping, trekking, more swimming and teambuilding games. The biggest task was waiting for the kids on their the last two days. On the last night, we were supposed to spend the night on an island in tents with the children cooking their own food there. For that, they were supposed to compile a list of things we needed for the night. For whatever reason, they only included food in their list. The rules of the “game” said that they would only get those things mentioned in the list. As things like paddles, boats, tents etc. were missing completely, the idea of the night on the island had to be cancelled. The children found an alternative and were sent alone to the place we now would spent the night. Without any help of us Tour Leaders, they managed to make the most of their situation and cooked a simple, yet delicious meal. After that, you could literally see the change setting in those kids. They had faced a big challenge which they had mastered quite well. As they realized it, they were jolly for the rest of the camp.
The next morning, the kids had to take the last and I would say biggest challenge. We first paddled over to the island we should have spent the night before. After having explored it for some time, another extensive swimming session was on the agenda. But the biggest challenge was yet to come: swimming back to the bank from the island with a stop-over on another small island. A handful of kids accepted the challenge and just swam straight on. After the stop-over, even more kids decided to swim back to the bank rather than paddling back in the boats. The look in their faces when they reached the bank is something that I will never forget in my life! We left the camp the same day, all exhausted but happy and aware of the fact that something was different now.
For me, being part of that camp was an experience I will never forget in my life. I took it as a personal challenge for myself, dealing with kids from an underprivileged and culturally different background and trying to help them to bring out the best in themselves. It was really interesting and at the same time rewarding to see the development those kids went through during the camp. I would like to compare it to a flower: in the beginning, the petals (=kids) were closed but after those four days, it was in full bloom. It makes me very happy to see that we actively contributed something positive to the kids’ lives who really have a hard life and an unknown future ahead. Having had an impact on young lives and having been a part of something small but at the same time big like that is something that will always mean a lot to me in my life. Or let me express it more clearly with the lyrics of a song I really like: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could’ve been any clearer: if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change!” (Michael Jackson) I hope that I could make at least a little change in this world by actively contributing to that Camp and the children’s future.
That's me
The kids listening to instructions
Every Tour Leader had a certain group to look after - this was mine
On our way to the first swimming session
Paddling on the lake
The kids definitely had fun during the paddling
Building the campsite for the second night which we spent in those tents
Dancing and singing around the campfire
On day 3 we made a 3-hours trek up a hill with a nice view on the lake
The kids during the trek
Dances and songs were constant elements during the Camp
Happy faces on the last day
The four Tour Leaders (from left to right: Shalini, Priyanka, me and Dr. Mahesh)
