Who's your 'facis'? NUS High Camp

The last weekend spent with NUS High School participants at the YLMP Camp was truly a memorable and enriching experience!

As facilitator of group 4, I’ve had lots of fun with my team and have learnt much from them too. It’s inspiring to see a Year 2, Pan Chuen, taking up leadership responsibility and lead the team in many activities to great success. It was also impressive to have the rest of the team, students from Year 2 to Year 5, to listen to the suggestions of a younger person and give constructive feedback throughout. This demonstrates that the group has great respect for one another, and the maturity to listen and speak at the right place, at the right time.

During our Community hunt, the group showed great unity and a healthy competitive spirit. When some members of the group had to stop to catch their breath while running from point to point, those who are running in front would stop and wait patiently for them. And Royston, our Team leader, never fails to encourage the team and keep the enthusiasm of the team high.

I’m really touched by the Thank You card my group has made for us at the end of the camp. Your kind words of gratitude and encouragement made us feel that all our hard work put into this camp was well spent. On a side note, the short form of the word for ‘facilitators’ used by most SMU students is ‘facis”. I laughed really hard when I saw that I was being addressed as a ‘facist’ in the card. Hahaha! Thank you for really wonderful experience

Loh Wei
aka (Royston No. 11)

Monfort Sec School YLMP Camp 2007

This is dedicated to my class team because you are the "Team!"

Day1:
This group of young men had so much potential in them. They are smart, street-smart and very active. I wanted to let my class know that I saw them as a soccer team. That every player has a role and even if the reserves don't show up their team is not effective. My main goal for them in this camp was to make them see that with each other, they will become successful in every area of life.

Day 2:
I fell ill, and could not go on the Island Hunt with my guys. I was so sad, because I knew they wanted me to join them.

When my class came back from the Island Hunt, I was so shocked how they had transformed from being individuals into an united team. 1) They became a team that defended each other. 2) They cooked for each other. 3) They served the volunteers before having dinner themselves. All the facilitators were amazed at the team and commented on their positive changes during our debrief that night.

I was glad that I had seen a group of different men, become one team that showed camaraderie, love and support for each other.

Day 3:
It was so sad to see my team pack up and get ready for home. My team had become so united and strong that when I shared at the end of the camp I was very passionate. One of the students had a fear of heights during the Confidence Extreme Course. However, he took the leap of faith and overcame his fears.

I shared, "This is much like our lives. We don't know what is in store for the future. But little steps will help us get there. We just need to believe in ourselves and know that because we have accomplished in our past, we can accomplish for tomorrow. So never give up trying, and always take the next step."

These men, my men, are a team I'll never forget. As a Trybe volunteer I know that I will have classes after classes go through my experiences. But, my ultimate goal is: "No matter what class, no matter what year...I will do my best to insure each of them achieves a goal during the camp!" - To my 2AB Monfort Men, "Go team Go!" Kern Lee

Anglican House Camp: Steven Jr in the House!

Anglican House Teambuilding Camp 2007
Date: 12 & 13 January 2007
Venue: Labrador Adventure Centre

Yo... Juz got back home from Anglican House Camp... Anglican House is a hostel for foreign student scholars who are studying here in singapore... But hey, know what they are de best group of ppl I've ever met through out my whole 21 yrs of life...oops... now you all know my age hehe ...*sigh*... these students are full of life, united and super "On" ... they do whatever we asked them do to, they never say no at all.. ask them to dance they dance, ask them to cheer they will cheer... unlike some group that I've lead before not too sporty at all... they really motivated me to continue leading and inspire the lives of the youth... they posess so many positive characters that made the 2 days and 1 night last full of memories....


Well, this group has really changed my life... I've never seen people so united as one before in my whole life... This group of mine also won a special award (Best Teamwork) and what's so sweet is that they share a part of the prize with me and to the two other facilitators... It really inspire me to continue to serve people, and lead the youth, because of people like them makes the time spent really worth while and I really enjoy meeting such a wonderful bunch of people with the same attitude... Victory 5 a group which will 4ever be in my heart.

Reposted from Steven's blog

Kranji Camp 2007: It’s you again!

YLMP Camp 2007 for Kranji Secondary School
January 3 - 5, 2007

This camp experience was special for me because this is the first time I’ve ever had the same group of students for the second time. Usually as a camp facilitator I will not have the chance to see my group of students again. However, this year I was given a chance to lead class 4C again.

I was so happy to see the familiar faces of Shafig, Awar, Yaya, and Josiah. I was greeted by their warm smiles and their first comments, “Kern! It’s you again SCAMMER!” Last year, they nicknamed me “The Scammer” because I had tricked them one too many times.

So, this year’s camp started out very fun, then came the “Dress up and Etiquette.” The first thing that comes to a man’s mind is, “Why me?” However, Dick Su and Rachel Ong did an excellent job, as a number of my male students including Josiah said, “I never get a chance to dress up and practice eating like a gentlemen. Today, I was given that chance and I’m so thankful.” So, yes, day 1 was a success.

Day 2 was a totally different story. We woke up early from our camp-site—totally different from last year’s. We were at the Costa Sands Resort, “WOW!” was the words coming from my student Brenda.

So at about 10am we headed out from the camp, and headed for the first destination “Toa Payoh”. Yes, my students had more fun joking around then trying to win the GPS game. They said, “Ok, who can define Toa Payoh will win? Toa Payoh means “Old Chicken!” However, to our amazement, my student Shafig was so moody in the morning, but when we got to Toa Payoh he took the GPS device into his hands and took the leadership of our team. I saw the strength in class 4C, as they have faith in each other and trust. In this day-and-age it’s hard for us to give our faith and trust to friends. However, this group of students have done so. Thus, I believe both day 1 and day 2 were a success for Trybe and for me as their lead facilitator.

Finally, I will miss class 4C very much, I do hope to keep in contact with them via MSN and chat. However, I know they’ll be successful because they have overcome so many obstacles in their paths. Thanks 4C, you all have changed my life.

Posted in behalf of: Kern Lee “Your Scammer!”

East Spring Sec (YLMP) Service Learning Camp

We’ve just finished a 3-Day 2-Night YLMP (Youth Leaders and Mentors Programme) camp for East Spring Secondary School students. We kicked off the Tribal themed camp by getting everyone’s faces radically painted. Students showed-off and screamed their cheers as the atmosphere built with intensity and excitement, Trybe style! For the next 2 days, we had great fun running the teens through interactive activities related to community project management and service learning. The camp ended on a very high note, as the students did special presentations of all the things they’ve learned to their teachers.

Posted on behalf of Jovita