Happy Lunar New Year everyone!

This week, the YAs had a short gadgeting session in which we built a reclined chair, designed by ourselves! We split into two teams to build the same chair...

Here is one of our final products:

 
Of course, we met with some difficulties to ensure the gadget was able to fully support our weight, but thankfully we were able to come up with quick fixes which allowed our chair to function well enough for us to place our whole weight on it :)

Lynette looking surprised at how stable the chair is! ;)

Looks like the chair is even comfortable enough to sleep in!

Labels: Gadgeting, Skills Training

Hey everyone!

On 29 and 30th January 2016, the YAs had their annual YA Camp! Before the camp, we executed a Guides Leadership Training for DHSCOY during their 集合, hence our camp started off only in the evening on Friday and lasted till night the next day.

Day 1

This year, we decided to base our camp on reliving fond Guiding memories and focussed on bonding within the YAs. Our first activity after dinner was 盲人打帐, where we split into two teams and pitched dome tents with our eyes closed, with only one person in each team being able to see. But this came with a twist - our tents would be pitched in the classroom! While we had originally planned to sleep at the Field D Area in tents, it had just rained rather heavily before and we were unable to pitch tents on the wet ground, thus resulting in a last-minute change of plans. However, we did not let this dampen our moods and had a lot of fun pitching the tents, especially as this activity reminded us of our Combined Obstacle Journey (COJ) 3 years back, when we were only Year 3s.



After that, it was time for our night run! We planned to run to Marina Barrage from the school (around 5 km) - this activity was also inspired by our Patrol Leaders' Training Camp (PLTC) in 2013, in which we had walked the same route for our Morning Hike. While the run was definitely tiring especially as some of us had never run more than the required 2.4km for NAPFA, it was still very satisfying, especially as we were greeted and rewarded by the beautiful night city skyline at the roof of the barrage! After a short break at the Barrage, we brisk-walked back to school, our morale significantly lifted as we admired the view by the river on the way back to school :)




Upon reaching back to school, it was time for our mini Campfire! We brought down a kerosene lamp and gathered at the elevated court to have our Campfire session, singing our own campfire favourites like Red River Valley, 细水长流 and Rock A My Soul. We then ended the night with a heartfelt talk with the Guiders :)


Day 2

Our second day started off with a short PT session followed by breakfast. After which, we built a kitchen shelter, kitchen table and fire altar in preparation for Outdoor Cooking later.





Then, it was time for Outdoor Cooking! Everyone was looking forward to this activity as it had been a long time since we last used kindling to start a fire and cook. Thankfully, our skills were still retained and we were able to start a fire without much trouble! Additionally, we also learnt a new method of Outdoor Cooking using a pit!









After our hearty lunch and cleanup, we had a short initiatives session where we learnt to sew a shoebag! While some of us were amateur at sewing, we found out that there were also a few of us who were really great at sewing!



Unfortunately, we were unable to finish our shoe bags, as it was time for the next activity - treasure hunt! The treasure hunt was planned by Chelsea alone and was kept a secret from everyone else, hence we were all very curious as to what she had in store for us.

We were first split into 2 groups, where we played a few games in order to get hints for the main activity, which was the hunt itself. The games included Captain's Ball, Tug-of-war, as well as our favourite Quiz Game, where Chelsea would pose a Guides-related question to us and we would have to tie a lash first in order to answer the question.


After which, was the actual hunt for the treasure - we were now on our own to find the hints, and we could even put others to jail temporarily or gain more hints by completing IQ tests! It was definitely very exciting, especially towards the end, when we realised that the game was about coming together with all the hints to form a sentence clueing us to the final destination. Thanks Chelsea for planning such a cheesy yet fun-filled activity!


As we neared the end of the camp, everyone was in high spirits from the fulfilling activities we had the past 24 hours. We had dinner with the Guiders (Ms Sim and Ms Ng), including Ms Kuah, who came just to see us despite no longer being a teacher at Dunman High! After that, there was a short reflection session where we reviewed the activities and discussed how we could improve as YAs from here on.

Overall, the YA Camp was definitely a great time for us to not only relive our Guiding memories, but also a time for us to catch up with one another amidst our busy schedules :)

Labels: Initiatives, Outdoor Cooking, Skills Training, YA camp

Hello!

Just a heads up, the YAs will be trying to complete NYAA Gold together for the next 18 months! Since we have decided to use Pioneering as our skills, we will be planning several pioneering sessions during our activities.

As such, on 22 July 2015, we had a pioneering session in which the 9 of us built a suspension bridge. This session was meant to act as a refresher on our lashes and anchorage skills as it has been a long time since we last did pioneering.

Wen Ting and Natalie working hard to transport the spars!

Yan Shan, Ruo Rou and Lynette enthusiastically tying the first lashes of the day!

Pioneering makes us happy :D

The end product!

Artistic shot of our bridge. Full credits to Chelsea for taking this shot!

Labels: Pioneering, Skills Training

On Saturday, we had a pioneering session in school. But this time round, it was a little more special because we invited external YAs to join in the fun!  We were split into 3 groups to build a See-Saw, Slide and Kim’s Gym respectively. With the three structures, we built our own playground! :)

moving logistics for pioneering

Although it rained in the morning, it did not dampen our mood. We carried out the activity at the open space outside our library, and it was as fun as it would be if it were to be carried out in the field. Before the actual building, we revised our lashes and also shared with our fellow YAs on some of the “tips” we usually used to tie our structures.

Yimin guiding the YA on how to raft/ tie the snake lash

Pioneering is fun!

Tse Puay ensuring that the lashes are tight

Yeok Min and Elizabeth giving the YAs a briefing on how to build the slide

building the slide

Securing the gunny sack on the tripod

Tse Puay demonstrating the tripod lash

Happy Cheryl on the Kim's Gym

It was really fun; especially when we finished tying the structures as we started to interact more with each other while trying out the structures we built. After we built our playground, we get to play with the structures we built. We were all really proud of our structures and we took a lot of photos with them.

See - Saw

Slide

YAs playing with the see-saw

Group 3's selfie with their slide

Group 1 and their kim's gym!

Group 2 and their see saw!

Group 3 loves their slide and took another photo ;)

This pioneering session was different from the previous ones we had; probably because of the new addition of external YAs. Through this session, we have made new friends and exchanged lashing skills with the external YAs. I would not have minded if there was another session like this!

:)

Labels: Pioneering, Skills Training, YABC