Hey Guides!
We had our first obstacle journey, A.K.A. OJ, for the first time this year. It was a first for the Year 1s who recently joined guides and a good exposure for them. OJ covers many of the skills that we learn in guides and it was a time for the Year 2s and 3s to revise their skills as well. It also includes games unique to guides; games that often have a purpose behind them.
Below is a recount and reflection of a fellow guide on the OJ:
For OJ, we had 5 stations in total. The stations were: 1) Pavilion at 正心园2) PLTC campsite 3) 4H/I classrooms 4) Red tile area 5) Parade square
Our theme for OJ was collecting eggs! :D Pavilion at正心园- we had to cross the electric fence with all our belongings as a patrol, and it was rather difficult as if one touched the string more than 3 times, one would have to restart. We mainly commando crawled over and did "zhan ma" once we got over to the other side. This station made us exercise caution as we would in a real case scenario. The other part of this station was fire lighting, where we had to start a fire and sustain it with our kindling in order to boil the water in the kettle. It was a good eye opener for the new Year 1s and we let them have a try at blowing the fire too.
The station at the PLTC campsite consisted of 2 parts. Firstly, we had to tie a rope ladder and use short spars in order to climb from the staircase down to where there was a mattress waiting. Our mission was to transport all patrol members and belongings down, but due to a lack of time, we failed. However, we still kept our patrol morale high! Following that activity, we then had to proceed to build emergency shelters to keep our "eggs", which were newspaper balls, "warm". For the year ones, it was a learning of a new skill whereas for the year 2s and 3s, it was a refresh of memory and good practice.
The 3rd station was testing us on our skills of knowing how to handle a gas room situation, and "夜里行军" which means patrol members need to be blindfolded. For the gas room, we had to stand to one side when opening the door, in order to ensure that any dangerous objects that fell out would not hit us. When in there, we had to find the switch to off the gas and open up all the windows and doors. After that, we proceeded to another classroom for "夜里行军". The patrol had to blindfold their eyes and go through it while on the way, the PL and PS who weren't blindfolded picked up eggs. After that was PT, which consisted of a short circuit that we had to do, that included planking, pumping, running and jumping jacks. I feel that this PT helped us to bond as a patrol more and everyone persevered. Though it was hard for the year 1s, they made it through.
For the 4th station, we had to build a roman chariot and carry one person on it while we went around picking up eggs. The difficulties we faced were the lack of time and hence when we carried up the roman chariot, we had to hold on tightly to the knots as some were not tight enough. After that we were tested on our First Aid skills, which included us bandaging up a "casualty". Our FAK was taken during that station and it was terrible as it was a first aid station. A flask flood occurred after that and we had to shift all our things up the stairs. We carried the casualty up by hand as we did not think of building a stretcher, which was kind of foolish. However, it was great fun!
Last but not least the fifth station, we were given 2 paths where only one person from each person could run along and we were supposed to reach the other team's side first with all our belongings too. One path was to test us on our guides skills, and if we answered the questions correctly, we could proceed if not we had to turn back. It was really fun, but we had to learn to take care of our belongings better.
We <3 guides!!
