Happy New Year!! Hi I'm Mary. I'm working on the Summer
Camp and CIT program with Anthony Wong in Malaysia. Here is
a description of our program for the ICF Newsletter. Last
year we organized Summer Camps that are based on the
American Camping Association (ACA) and the Camping
Association of Victoria Australia (CAV). This program is
'child centred' instead of 'activity centred' programming.
The concept of decentralised program allows campers to plan
activities together with their camp counsellor. This helps
them to make important decisions and builds up their sense
of responsibility. The Asian Overland Services Experiential
Education Centre Sdn Bhd (AOSEEC) summer camp are organized
within the country's natural heritage such as the tropical
rainforest setting in the Jungle Lodge, and the mangrove
forest and the beach setting in and around Langkawi Island.
This helps to create a sense of responsibility towards the
environment. Activities include jungle trekking, canoeing,
outdoor living skills lessons, initiative tasks, team
projects, community service and others. This AOSEEC-designed
program, helps the campers in the development of their
interpersonal, intrapersonal skills, intellectual and
vocational skills which is vital in the developing of a well
rounded active and responsible adult. Campers enjoy
themselves in this fun, exciting and adventurous program
regardless of their different religion and cultural
background in this multi-cultural country. There are 2
summer camp programs designed by AOSEEC in Malaysia - namely
Adventure Camp and Leadership for Teens Program for
teenagers. The Adventure Camp is a 7 day program. In this 7
days they explore the historical, cultural and wild
Malaysia. Besides going for outdoor nature activities, games
and initiative tasks, they visit the historical sites,
museums and fishing villages. The leadership programs are
more challenging, mentally and physically. This 14 day
program is based on decentralised and adventure-based
learning program which put the three aspects of
'Challenge-by-choice', 'Experiential Learning Cycle' and
'Full Value Contract'. This program tackles the intelligence
and endurance and polishes up the leadership qualities of
the participants. The theories learned will be put into
practice in a real-world survival situation, where self
discipline is important, team work is a must, diligence and
inner-strength and perseverance is the essence of survival.
In this leadership program, there are 4 days
adventure-expedition. In the Leadership program, the campers
will be taught about situational-leadership in order to
survive the program. After the course they will learn to
analyse their strength, weakness, threat and opportunity so
as to enable them to be an effective leader in the real
world. Besides summer camp, we have organized Camp
Counsellor in Training (CIT) as well. We invited two
trainers from Camping Association of Victoria, Australia to
assist us in the CIT program. They were here for a month to
assist us in training up Camp Counsellors for the camping
industries in Malaysia. Among the participants are guides,
camp facilitators, school teachers, program coordinators,
students and 2 participants from South Africa. The main
objective is to introduce this new concept of camping, to
teach and provide practice of necessary skills in providing
a camping experience in Malaysia. They will learn about
child psychology, activity skills, nature conservation
educational skills, outdoor living skills, first aid and
skills needed in helping children in their development
through camps, safety procedures and how to have fun working
with the campers! The training methods are based on
presentation, demonstration, role playing, group discussion,
practical group task and idea sharing. Attached are some
photos on the Adventure and Leadership camps for Teens and
Camp Counsellor In Training program that we've organized
last year. Thank You. With warmest regards, Mary Low