Campfire prep + CIP, 3rd-5th June

Hi Guides!

Over 3 days in the first week of the June holidays, the different patrols took turns to go to school for campfire prep. Most of us did pioneering while the rest helped make the souvenirs or paint the stage backdrop. 

On one of the days, a few patrols went to the Good Shepard Student Care Centre at Caldecott for the CIP which was organised by the YAs. The Good Shepard Student Care Centre provides care for girls aged 7-14. Most of them come from single-parent or low-income families. In this CIP, we interacted with the Primary 3-5 girls through various activities. On the first two days, we did crafts and baking respectively. On the last day, there was a dancing session in the morning and a small carnival was put up in the afternoon. It was fun to interact with the girls who were really lively, and at the same time we bonded with our patrol mates while preparing for and carrying out the CIP:)

Here are some thoughts from the different committees:

Craft - Throughout this CIP, the whole patrol was having fun even if we faced minor difficulties along the way. It was an enriching experience for all of us with many unique memories made for each individual. Also, this CIP allowed our patrol to be even more bonded with time spent and shared memories. We learnt that we needed to be patient while dealing with kids and learn to handle unexpected situations. We could have been more prepared beforehand by knowing the setting of the room and distribution of kids, before splitting the materials and manpower more effectively. However, we were generally able to make do with the situation and it went smoothly. We enjoyed the interaction with the kids and it felt great to know that we could bring joy to them. 

Dance - Although it was tiring, we found it a meaningful experience. Although connecting with the girls came as a challenge at first, we slowly got the hang of handling them, and also had a lot of fun interacting with them. Through this experience, we have gained more insight in the way to interact with the younger generation and felt satisfied seeing the children enjoying the dances. Although we did not meet all of our objectives for this CIP, we are glad that we managed to reach out to some and connect with them, allowing them to feel involved and cared for.

Baking - From this CIP, we have learnt how to step out of our comfort zone as well as how to handle children. We need an immense amount of patience when dealing with children and we learnt that their attention span is very short. Even amongst children, there are cliques and exclusiveness. This may be due to societal or family influence. The programme that we planned out for them was insufficient. Hence, we could have had better planning and estimation of time. We should make it a long term CIP so that we can forge stronger bonds with the children there. Also, the benefits that the children get may be greater and more significant if it is done in the long run. Overall, we enjoyed spending time with the children as it is so heartwarming to see the innocence in them.

Carnival - We found this CIP really meaningful and fun. It was special to us as we were able to bring joy and laughter to the children and also had fun ourselves while interacting with them. We learnt to improvise on the spot and think out of the box as we faced several hiccups in the preparation of the booth. We also learnt to be more patient with the children through this experience and how to give better instructions to them. However, we also feel that our game booths could have a more organized system of functioning to promote efficiency. In the future, we can plan simpler and more interesting games that can better engage the children and we can also try out other types of cip such as tutoring students, bringing children on tours and also to bake food and sell them to raise funds.

The next 集合 will be in the last week of June, in which we will be having STC (Skills Training Camp). The Year 1s' Enrollment Ceremony and Year 4s' PDP (Passing Down Parade) will take place during this camp. Meanwhile, enjoy your holidays!:)