On the 6th of June, Sailing Sustainability Program(SSP) Phase 1 day camp was kick-started by a team of dedicated volunteers and mentors. The camp was held at Changi Sailing Club(CSC) where we hosted approximately 115 students participants from 7 different secondary schools. Phase 1 was a 3 day day-camp where the students were put through a series of activities that introduced the core values of the Sailing and Sustainability Program. On the first day, the student body was split into 12 groups where, in each group, there was at most 2 students from each school. This meant that the chances of meeting a peer from the same school were slim. Some of our participants were not exactly excited about that. They even made an attempt to request for a change of group. After some encouragement from our volunteers and some time with their group, they began to relax and have fun! Our participants were put through land games such as scavenger hunt and block tower where they were put through a series of tasks that challenged their perceptions of each other and their personal abilities.

Participants playing our land game “life is a journey”

Though the weather was not on our side during the first half of activities, our participants were put through a series of indoor team building activities that fostered friendships amongst groupmates. We also had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Doug Witchi who made a speech to our participants about how his life experiences led him to step out of his comfort zone and how by stepping out of his comfort zone, he was able to achieve success. He explained that once one decides to step out of his comfort zone, he/she will be able to actively seek and grasp opportunities that lead to their end goal.

Mr. Doug Witchi delivering his speech on the stepping out of your comfort zone to our participants.

After The mentor speech,  Towards late afternoon, the skies cleared up and our participants were given the chance to splash in the water! Participants that were initially confident about being in the water were intimidated by the current and tide. We were able to see that our participants were truly pushed out of their comfort zone in the water from their facial expressions.

Groups entering the water for their water confidence test.

We ended off the day with a debrief, reminding our participants of the core values of the day and a short facilitation session to help participants understand how the values they had learned can be applied to other areas of their lives outside of the Sailing and Sustainability Program.