Last Friday, we had campfire prep. As the Year 4s were involved in interclass games, only the Year 1s-3s attended. Here are some thoughts from the patrol secretaries:
Bougainvillea:
For Friday's 集合, we had our second campfire prep. I really loved the lecture series prepared for us by Chai Ning and Cassandra! I could see they put a lot of effort to prepare the slides and I really appreciate all the knowledge gained! We had mass change. As we hadn't done it for a long time, I was rather slow and although I managed to 集合 before the time was up, some of us didn't manage to and we end up 过时-ing. We were pumped for not asking for more time extension. I am in the pioneering committee and overall we lacked a lot of sense of urgency yesterday and had to do a forfeit as a consequence. We took our own sweet time to tie the lashes and some weren't tight. We working at a very slow pace even time was already not at our side. Chai Ning told us that even though we see the other committees sitting around and painting or filiming, and we have to carry heavy sparse and tie lashes, its no excuse to lag. I hope next campfire prep we will be able to get things done much faster and pia to the end.
Ixora:
During Friday's 集合, we carried out campfire preparation. We started off with a lecture on "What is a Campfire?" and we learnt about things like the history of a campfire and how to prepare a campfire. We also sang songs like 细水长流 and Ging Gang Goolie. As part of lecture etiquette, we had to wear our Guides uniform and 敬礼 to the seniors, the one carrying out the lecture, as a mark of respect. After the lecture, we then carried out mass change into Guides uniform within a time limit of 5.5 minutes. This mass change made us practise our sense of urgency which is very important.
Next was the start of campfire preparation where all of us went into our respective allocated groups: pioneering, programme, publicity and deco-souvenir. All the groups were important to the coming 46th Anniversary Campfire in their own way and everyone had put in their best effort into the preparation. This 集合 served as a chance for us to work on what we were taught before during normal 集合s, recap on it and improve on areas which we could not do as well.
Jasmine
We had our second campfire preparation on Friday. We wore our Guides uniform to 集合 as we would be attending a lecture afterwards. This lecture was conducted by Year 7 YAs, who had already graduated from Dunman High, so they had lots of experience in Guiding. Through this lecture and the one we had the previous week, I could see the Year 7s were really passionate about Guiding, and this made me feel a greater sense of belonging to Girl Guides! This lecture was on Campfire, and I learnt about the evolution of campfires, campfire etiquette, planning a campfire, and that organising a campfire is hard work because many things are involved, such as having a theme, making souvenirs and doing publicity! The Year 7s told us that no matter which committee we were in, we were part of the Anniversary Campfire so we should do our best :) I also got to know more songs that are sang during a campfire.
Then, we had mass change and we 过时-ed. The Y7s pumped us. Next, we split up into our comms, and I’m in the Pioneering Comm. Without the Y4s for this 集合, most of us were unsure about how to build the
Walkway properly. Some Y3s led us, but our 动作 was quite 慢 and this resulted in the Pioneering Comm staying back after 集合 after the other comms had been dismissed. I realised that during Campfire Preparation I, we should have paid more attention to how the structures had been built, instead of just following the seniors’ instructions and not taking the initiative to memorise them ourselves. So Chai Ning, I/C of Pioneering Comm, told us to 集合 and pumped us. The Y7s pumped us because most of us really did not have a good attitude. Nevertheless, I still feel all of us had put in effort, and let’s 加油 and do better for the next campfire prep! :D
Jasmine:
Orchid:
I found Friday's activities fun and enriching overall. I'm from the fire/technical committee, so I got to see up close how the campfire was set up.
The first thing we had to do was set up the firewood in different formations, using a banner as cushioning. I learnt how to sort and place the different sizes of firewood, so that the campfire would collapse inward instead of outward. I also learnt the importance of making the structure stable, so the torch won't knock the structure down. We also learnt how to lower the torch into the campfire, by creating 4 tripods and using a pulley-system.
Some difficulties we faced were the firewood being too heavy, and often we needed 2 people to carry a bag. I had to carry 1 bag by myself :( back to 团部 and my arms felt like dying :( But overall it was fun :)) I learnt important skills that may come handy in future, and I am grateful to be in fire comm :)
For the briefing before preparation, I learnt the basics of what is going to happen during the campfire, and what to do when it happens. it was enriching and we got to learn new things from the graduated guides who have more experience :)
Sunflower:
We had a lecture in the classroom about planning a campfire. The planning process consists of the programme, fire and the others. For the programme, plans must be made for the emcees, song leaders, black clappers, performance, games and yarn. For the fire, we prepare firewood and the fire pit, opening ceremony and adding of firewood during the campfire itself. Others include the theme, stage, lighting, sound system, pioneering, exhibitions and souvenirs.
I am in the overall programme committee. However we were placed with the campfire committee for this preparation. First we tied four tripods with three green spars each. The tripods are opened and placed at four corners of the area intended for the campfire. For the campfire, we separated the firewood into thick, medium and thin. Starting off with the thickest firewood, we placed it in the shape of a house. A thin firewood is placed on each side of the house shape, extending out of the house shape and resting on a thick firewood. The fire woods rested on are then connected with other thick firewood. The ends of the firewood have to be one up and one down for both the house shape and connecting firewood. This forms one layer. We then stacked up the layers closing up the house shape gradually. Next, we bundled up four 中木. We tied a mickey mouse knot on the 中木 and connected it to the four tripods by putting the 麻绳 through each pulley knot on the tripod. We then tightened it. The 中木 is positioned above the firewood. We then returned the logistics.
Through this, I have learnt a lot of news things which I do not get to experience during normal training. I find learning how to start a campfire is very interesting and would like to learn more about it.
Dove:
On Friday, we had around 1 hour of lectures which was conducted by the older guides, from 2.30 pm till 3.30 pm. We learnt a lot about campfires, such as its origin and the differences between normal campfires and the upcoming Anniversary Campfire. We learnt that campfires were traditionally held during camps at the end of the day. This would be the best time to bond with our batch mates and seniors as we sing and dance together, having fun and not needing to worry about anything at all. Also, the older guides mentioned that the highlight of the campfire is the yarn where a guider would be invited to give her speech and tell meaningful stories to the younger generation. Furthermore, there are many dos and don’ts during the campfire. We should participate actively, follow the lead given by the song leaders and do not out-sing the song leaders, go too near the fire and leave the campfire ring unless necessary. This is the basic etiquette that we should have.
After the lecture, we had a mass change from our uniform into our PE attire. Everyone was rushing into the toilets as we only had 5 minutes for this mass change. In the end, we were pumped for not asking for time extensions. Then, we started our campfire preparation at 4pm after collecting the assigned 木 from the back store. There were many different sub-committees, such as decoration, souvenirs, publicity, pioneering and exhibition. I was in the pioneering sub-committee (gateway). We practiced many lashes, such as sheer, diagonal and square lashes to fix up the gateway. We cooperated and helped each other up along the way. The Year 1s did not know how to tie the lashes, so we, seniors, would help to teach them and guide them
along. I hope that the Year 1s have learnt much from this pioneering session. We were all very tired after the whole afternoon of trying to get the humongous structure up. At the end of the 集合, the older guides lectured us that we did not have a sense of urgency and that we should try to speed up our actions. All in all, during the next campfire preparation, despite our tiredness, we should all try to put in our very best and have a better sense of urgency.
Kingfisher:
I had learnt much from the campfire prep last Friday. During the lecture, I learnt a lot more about the history behind campfires, what is a campfire and was surprised to know that it was an activity unique to Guides and Scouts which later became popularized. I also learnt some campfire songs such as Campfire's Burning and that large-scale campfires such as the Anniversary Campfire we are doing this year requires much planning and hard work before the actual campfire. This has motivated me to work harder in campfire preps to ensure that the Anniversary Campfire in July will be a successful one. Overall, the lecture was an enriching one and it was kept lively as we sung some campfire songs occasionally.
After the lecture, we broke off to our respective committees. My committee was the publicity committee and I think we were quite productive as we managed to finish all the boards much earlier than expected. We had fun while working on our boards. This has made me realize that while having fun in doing our activities, we should also work hard to finish the task at hand as that is the main priority. We should always have a sense of urgency so that we would not have to panic and rush when we are rushed for time. My committee planned and used our time well and it was satisfying to finish our task early as we were more relaxed and calm.
Overall, the campfire prep was fun and fulfilling. I had learnt a lot on Friday.
Oriole:
During this 集合, we first headed to a classroom for a lecture about campfire. We learnt some campfire songs as well as dos and don'ts the campfire. I learnt a lot as I've never experienced a Guides campfire before. We were also lectured about some campfire procedures. After the fruitful lecture, we had mass change and then were split into our respective groups for campfire prep. I was in the souvenir committee and helped out in the making of braids. It is satisfying and happy to be able to help out in the making of souvenirs.
Sparrow:
For this week's 集合, only the Year 1s-3s were present, so it was a chance for the Year 3s to take over and lead the juniors. We had a lecture in full Guides uniform, except for the Year 1s who were in school uniform. We learnt about what a campfire was, and were told of the basic segments of a campfire. I feel that these lectures that we have been having are very precious because it is only with the 46th Anniversary Campfire that we get the chance to gain an insight on Guiding activities such as campfires, which we usually don't get the chance to. It also provided the opportunity for us to learn basic lectures' 礼节, which we were not exposed to as well. After that, we mass changed into our PE attire, and I think that we can all improve on our mass change timing. For campfire preparation, I feel that my committee's (Songleaders) still has room for improvement, and I think I should put in even more effort to help make the 46th Anniversary Campfire a successful one. ^^
Swallow:
We had campfire prep on Friday. In my opinion, Friday's 集合 was pretty tough as I was in the pioneering committee. I feel that we should have a better sense of urgency as the progress of the pioneering session was really slow.
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