Foreign and Military Affairs

Making friends in camp

By Donna Mah (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-26 07:42

For the young Internet generation, holidays may mean more time playing with video games or chatting with friends online, with friendships made and maintained only in cyberspace. But for more and more children in Hong Kong, summer now means it's time for camp where they can take part is some very physical activities and interact with other children and make real friends.

There are now many camp options here for parents who want to lure their children away from the digital screens.

Going to camp is a great way to provide fun, confidence-building and a healthy physical outlet for the kids. They also learn independence and self-reliance, away from the pampered environment of home.

Summer camp in Hong Kong is a little different from the American concept. For example, Urban Discovery is "a fun way to learn about Hong Kong history, culture, and heritage," according to Ester van Steekelenburg. Children from 12 to 16 can join the day camp which lets kids explore and discover Hong Kong by designing, planning, and organizing their own version of the Amazing Race: Hong Kong.

The children are sent to the less-traveled parts of Hong Kong and guided by the Urban Discovery team, and the activities use both English and Cantonese language skills "to help to build up confidence, responsibility and self-reliance".

The long established Outward Bound School based in Sai Kung, is a non-profit organization that specializes in outdoor experiential education camps. Different programs are offered for children to adults ranging in age from 8 to 25 and the camps last from five to eight days.

Outward Bound is "a global institution whose ethos and purpose is to help people discover themselves, learn to care for themselves and in so doing, empower them to care for those around them." One parent, Rudolf Hollander, has sent his son, Rudy, on the Teen Explorer (11-13 years old) program twice.

"I think it's important for kids to have basic survival skills and to be able to take care of themselves and others. Rudy is a Hong Kong kid and spends a lot of time indoors, and I wanted him to get a taste of what I had growing up in the countryside in Europe.

"It's a very different kind of childhood here. He has a domestic helper he can rely on to do things for him at home, but at camp, he is responsible for his own things. It was a really good experience for him. It helped him realize that he is capable of doing a lot of different things he probably hadn't thought about before joining the program," says Hollander.

Cecilia Chan, 11, says: "We learned to dive, we learned to cook meals outside, and we slept in a tent. Hiking around an island to find the hidden treasure was my favorite part."

Cecilia joined the Kidz Camp when she was 9 and she has many fond memories. It was her father who decided that Cecilia should join Outward Bound so she could learn to be more independent and work with others.

Another residential camp on Hong Kong Island is SuperCamp Hong Kong. SuperCamp flies in professional teachers from the United States and has programs designed for children and youths from age 10 to 17.

It offers camps that emphasize both academic and life skills. There is also a Senior Forum-Leadership Team program for older children (15 to 17) that trains participants in leadership, interpersonal and self-management skills.

Treasure Island on South Lantau's Pui O beach offers outdoor activities such as camping, kite flying, raft building, rock climbing, kayaking, surfing, mountain biking, and nature exploration. It runs day camps and overnight camps with a maximum of 35 children in each group.

Younger children attend a three-day overnight camp where they learn how to set up tents, prepare dinner, and learn about the environment. Older kids are offered an adventure camp program that includes activity choices such as rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, an overnight surfing trip and an overnight sailing trip.

They also offer day surf camps that include surfing lessons as well as activities on dry land.

"While I originally felt that my 5-year-old daughter, Olivia, might be a little too young to gain the full benefits of the experience, my concerns were blown away from day one," says Mark Wilson from the Institute of Human Performance, University of Hong Kong.

"After a few tears and apprehension on the first morning, it was thrilling to see how her confidence, pride in her achievements and communication with her peers and teachers had developed by the end of the week," says Wilson.

In an urban center like Hong Kong, where both children and parents are caught up in the inevitable rat race, summer camp is a good way to break the tension and let children be children again.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/26/2011 page3)