RECREATIONAL SPORTS in ULU YAM

INTRODUCTION

On 28^th of July 2011, COHORT 3 was set on a mission to go out for a camp in Lembah Bestari located in Ulu Yam. After weeks of discussion, all the committee and COHORT 3 members agreed to go camping there. At 9 a.m. in the morning, everybody gathered at the buses parking lot. Everybody is excited and happy waiting for the bus. Some are busy carrying the cooking utensils while some are busy chatting with others. As the bus arrived, we all settled in the bus we chose and we were off to Kem Lembah Bestari.

STREAM CROSSING

Stream crossing is a very challenging activity. It is an activity that needs strength on our hands and legs. This is because we need a full grip on the rope in order to cross the stream. This activity is held after the orienteering activity, near the camp base. Encik Amir took out a thick rope and he started to tie it around a big tree near the stream bank. Then he cross the stream and tie the other end of the rope. He first gathered us and gave out a short and simple briefing on the activity. After that, he called out every boy that attended the camping to try to cross the stream. A very memorable scene that I still remember until today is the scene where Faiiz tried to cross the stream. Everybody knows he is very self-doubting of his size. But he tried and yes, he succeeded in crossing the stream in two attempts. This actually makes me realize that size of our body is not important but the determination to succeed. Come any obstacles, if we have the determination we can face it all. Be it mentally or physically, we can overcome everything when we have the urge within our self.

RAFTING

Rafting is an activity that used an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. On the Friday evening, we were told to gather near the camp lake. The lake is located beside the hall we usually used to assemble. After everybody has gathered, Encik Noorizan invites one of the staff there to guide us. He’s an expert on rafting and every other water sports provided there. After he gave us some briefing on the activity that will be carry out, he divided us into groups of four since there are only 4 rafts available for us.

The first activity is we have to thrust a bamboo at the centre of the lake. There’s no winner in this game for the staff has said that he only wants us to get familiar with the water and the raft. It is actually really hard to paddle a raft containing 8 people and the fact you paddling with only 2 paddles. So, what we did is we paddle using our leg. All of us doesn’t mind if we are wet because we want to be the first team to thrust the bamboo. In the end, we are the first team to thrust the bamboo.

 For the next activity, we have to put a tyre around the bamboo. We use the same strategy to go to the centre of the lake but this time something went wrong when we actually bummed on another team. So we have some difficulties to get on the plantar. But we manage to after 10 minutes of struggling. In the end we are the last group to complete the task but its okay because we have a lot of fun.

JUNGLE TREKKING

Jungle trekking is an activity where is where you take your resources like tents, food and other articles and you trek [walk] through jungle. But in this case we only bring our whistle. We were headed by Encik Faris, one of the camp’s staffs. Before the activity started, Encik Faris told us to give him our full cooperation so that everything works nice and smooth. Then he asked us to line up and we have to number our self. After that, we headed to the jungle located in front of the surau. The trek is actually really slippery because it was heavily raining cat and dog the night before. We first have to climb up a very slippery hill. I actually learn a lot from this. We have to help each other in order to climb up successfully. Because you can never climb it up by yourself unless you are an expert in jungle trekking like Encik Faris himself. There is one of us that actually cannot climb the hill due to her body size. She was worried if she fails to climb thus slowing the whole team. But with the help of others, she managed to climb up safely.

There are a lot of things I learned from this activity. First, we cannot be selfish and only think about our self. We have to help others because we never know that could happen to us in the future. If we are selfish, no one will want to help us if we are in trouble.