A new awakening

Jul 14, 2016

By David Sivapatham
Eighty-eight youths from the Church of the Immaculate Conception attended the Annual Parish Catechism Camp for teenagers (aged 13-17) held May 28-30 at Balik Pulau.

The camp’s theme was A New Awakening and all the camp activities were geared to do just that – to get the participants out of their comfort zones, use their talents and work as teams.

The moment they got on the buses bound for their camp site, they were immediately challenged to find out for themselves the teams they were in from clues concealed in their name tags. On reaching the camp grounds, they had to remove one of their shoes for the first session that called for every camper to realise their full potential and soar like eagles. It was no coincidence that the main hall of the camp was called “Eagles’ Nest.”

If that was not enough, the campers were given some “plastic tokens” and told to use these tokens to pay for their food, accommodation, workshops etc. Teams could earn more tokens by winning the Immunity Challenge, doing odd jobs and doing well in the games.

The Amazing Games that followed required not only physical strength but IQ as well as EQ. The workshops were just as challenging. One required teams to make a flying plane from Styrofoam with no technical instructions given. The second workshop required teams to paint a motivational poster while in an environment of confusion and uncertainty.

The youths ended their camp by giving a concert on Monday morning. The IJ Sisters next door and our Parish Priest Msgr Michael Cheah were guests. “Green Team,” led by Joseph Gan, were the overall camp champions having the most tokens at the end of the camp. The IJ Sisters gave an ice-cream treat to the youths during lunch.

Feedback from the campers:

Enjoyed the laughter, the togetherness, random events and the food.— Augustine (Form 5)

Loved the Amazing Games and Dodgeball plus the Poster Workshop — Charlotte Ong (Form 3)

It was awesome … the camp, the food and the Camp Wardens. — Tulius (Form 1)