‘Take A Break!’, ‘Get Away From It All’, ‘Learn Something New!’

Nothing beats being a kid on vacation. And going on an overnight adventure weekend with a bunch of your friends is equally good - which is exactly what our staff organized for 46 disadvantaged children in our Child Development Fund recently.

32 students, two mentors from our On Tai Service Centre and 14 students from our Long Ping Service Centre, together with 9 staff members, spent an overnight weekend away that was packed with a varied educational adventure activities. The venue was The Jockey Club’s excellent Cheung Chau Don Bosco Youth Centre.

The weekend kicked off with a city orientation task in which the kids had to visit different locations, recognize certain advertisements, get into the correct train carriage and finish the tasks in a set amount of time. This exercise taught them to be time-conscious and alert at all times.

Another activity was outdoor adventure cooking with only rudimentary cooking utensils. This was a problem solving and group work exercise that not only left everyone feeling fueled for the day ahead, it also left everyone, feeling proud of their accomplishment - especially those with limited culinary skills!

The youths also underwent a battery of adventure exercises that helped them gain outdoor survival skills and strengthened their resilience and problem-solving skills. They ranged from night walks, where the team leader guided the blindfolded group members around a trek circling the camp , all the way up to the weekend’s highlight - the imposing Giant Ladder (see photos!).

It’s my hope that we did help our kids ‘Take a break!’, ‘Get away from it all’, and ‘Learn something new’!

‘Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.’
Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes (Chapter 4, verse 12)