Outdoor Cooking + Batch Activity, 4 March 2016

Hello Guides! (:

For this 集合 we had outdoor cooking! The patrols had to do up a proposal beforehand and prepare their own ingredients, plan out a timeline and create their own recipe! The guides had 35 minutes to build a fire altar 

 

 

And afterwards 1 hour and 20 minutes to start a fire and complete their dishes!

Thoughts from a Year 3…

For the outdoor cooking, we worked together as a patrol to prepare and cook the food. The outdoor cooking session was very successful as the fire was maintained well and the food was cooked for just the right amount of time. We also managed to teach the year 1s the basic outdoor cooking skills, like how to start the fire and how to maintain the fire, etc. However, we had picked the wrong type of thin twigs, and they contained too much moisture, causing a lot of smoke to be produced. We have learnt from it and will avoid picking those kind of twigs from now on. Overall, it was a fulfilling session, and i think everyone did their part well.

 

Afterwards, the year 2s and year 3s had a separate batch activity from the year 1s.

Year 1s:

They were taught on the 礼节s and basic stuff of guides. After that, they went to 团部 to familiarise with where logistics are placed, and other stuff. They then did some physical training!

Thoughts from a Year 1…

Our seniors took us to 团部 to familiarise ourselves with the place after the oc. After that session, I learnt where were the various items placed and would not be so blur the next time I go to 团部. It was then I realised that although the 团部was small, things were organised properly and thus able to store many things in there. Well, I guess that next time I would not be so disoriented in the 团部when I go there again!

 Year 2s + Year 3s:

They were given 5 minutes to pack 配备 as a patrol and lay out their logistics in 4 minutes. Half of the patrol was blindfolded. They had 1 minute to pack up and lay them again in 4 minutes. No inspection layout was given to further test their communication skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They then built a dome tent as a patrol in 20 minutes. They would then be given 5 minutes to 拆掉 and return all logistics.

Thoughts from a Year 3…

I think the inspection wasn't very well done. We lacked a sense of urgency during the inspection, and we went at our own pace throughout the whole activity. Also, with the more outspoken people blindfolded, there was initially no one who gave instructions to lead the whole 团. Hence, it was very chaotic and messy. Due to that, our first attempt resulted in being unsuccessful. We improved on that on our second try as someone stepped up to lead the 团. However, the rest of us did not listen to her and the situation was still very messy. I think this activity was supposed to train our communication, but it didn't seem to train us in that much as we were in a state of complete chaos. We have a lot of things to improve on in this section; like our sense of urgency, communication, and someone to step up to lead everyone. All our attempts were unsuccessful and I feel that we could have done much better.

 

Thoughts from a Year 3…

Inspection came as surprise to us and we were given some time to run up to 团部 to pack our 配备 before coming back to the GSL. The Y2s were still quite confused on the logistics required in the 配备，but we could tell that they were making an effort to help us out as juniors and make it less burdensome. However, what was most shocking was that half of the patrol had to be blindfolded, which basically meant that we could not contribute much to the leading of the patrol, and we took most of our instructions from whoever who stepped up in the 团. Due to our increasing sense of urgency and panic, we did not pay much attention to her and talked amongst our own patrol. The blindfolds were also an obstruction and we had to feel around for the logistic we were looking for. In the end, we all screamed at one another nonstop and the layout was not standardised for the first time we finished it. After getting used to the sequence, we improved the standards of the layout, and each time we only had around 40s to stuff everything inside our 配备. Overall, inspection was indeed an eye-opener as we learnt the importance of communication and asking for time extensions when we 过时.

We hope everyone learnt something after this 集合！

Cheers,
Michelle
47^th Batch Secretary