Tampin youth camp: Be Yourself

Apr 13, 2017

By Anita Sophia Franklin
The Catholic Church of St John Marie Vianney, Saki, organised a youth camp themed Be Yourself March 24-26. A total of 85 youths from Bahau, Gatco, Gemas, Gemecheh, Kuala Pilah, Tampin and Palong participated. The objective was to cultivate and encourage friendship among the youth from all these districts.

After registration, the programme began with ‘Breaking the Ice’ conducted by members of the Tampin Youth Committee. Parish priest, Fr Peter Anthoney gave a meaningful talk, followed by the Youth Advisers, Nirmal Kathamuthu, Ms Freda Aswini Franklin, Chairman of the Youth and Ms Jennifer Alex, all of whom shared on their life journeys. Prior to joining the Way of the Cross, Mass and Holy Hour in the evening, the participants played a game called ‘Wefie Hunt’ where everyone had an enjoyable time.

On the second day, everyone got together for an aerobics session before climbing Mt Tampin. The walk from the church to the top is 3.8 km and on reaching their destination, breakfast was provided. Some managed to swim and play in the Mount Tampin waterfall.

On their return to the camp, Donald Kathamuthu and David Franklin, the senior youth in the parish spoke on “Who Am I?” After the talk, each participant was given a young tree to plant. This was to give the youth a sense of responsibility in taking care of and preserving the environment. The project called “Adopt A Plant” was in line with the Lenten Campaign 2017. The most enjoyable event was the Holi festival, where everyone threw water and flour at each other. Mass was later celebrated by Fr Peter Anthoney and the day ended with “BBQ Night.”

The final day began with Mass at 9.00 am celebrated by Fr Martin Heng and Fr Peter Anthoney. The last session was a talk by Miss Carolina Santiago on the many challenges that the participants might face. The youth were urged to look after their bodies and souls as they are created by God.