It may have seemed bizarre to go camping in March … but not for members of Girlguiding, and least of all, the adventurous XXX’s (yes - we have now established a team name, I’m just wary of publishing it online!). However, this did highlight some crucial things for us - like how cold camping can be, and how some of us may need to invest in some more substantial sleeping bags before we head off to Africa! Steaming porridge and eggy bread in the morning was therefore a welcome breakfast!
We arrived Saturday morning, buzzing with excitement for the activities ahead - least of all putting up the tents. However, being involved in guiding is what it always was, and we were incredibly successful in putting up our tents! From this point onwards, activities and events become rather in disarray as my memory fails me, but it is safe to say that the weekend was, in all honestly, a grand success. Nobody can deny now that we are a true team!
In preparation for working with ‘The Book Bus’ in Meheba in Zambia, a key part of the weekend was testing some of our book activities with some younger members of senior section guiding. We had 3 different activities, each repeated 3 times - which, instead of being monotonous, led to some serious improvements - least of all in confidence in running these sessions. We each first of all told the story, before launching ourselves into singing, dancing and acting (ignoring the lack of talent!), a dramatic bear hunt and an exciting and new version of ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’. Feedback from our eager participants was positive but also highlighted some areas for improvement; overall the activity was indeed very useful.
Interrupting our fun and games, and rather candidly dare I say ‘team-building’, were some team meetings - but, instead of being dreary as an outsider may expect, these filled us with anticipation and excitement! We discussed money matters, uniforms and badges, and health concerns, amongst other areas. Furthermore, courtesy of Amelia, our ‘meal organiser’, we enjoyed some delicious camp food throughout our weekend, and Anne even introduced us to a method of making ice cream without having to freeze it (perhaps we’ll leave out the salt next time, but it’s the thought that counts surely?!).
A camp with members of Girlguiding wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory camp fire, and Kate, our extremely well-appointed ‘entertainment advisor’, led us into an evening filled with songs, dances and acts, not forgetting the marshmallows that finished the evening nicely. It is safe to say that even hours later, I for one was still announcing to the world that I was ‘gonna sing, sing, sing …’ and so on!
Being nearly Easter, our Easter egg hunt and the quiz involving naming 20 well-known bunnies was a much-appreciated regression to our younger years, although being slightly older now, this didn’t help us to find the bunnies any quicker! I am somewhat apprehensive to explain what our last activity, ‘Jungle Mission Impossible’, entailed, as I am almost confident that anyone outside guiding would fail to see the merit in counting out baked beans from a tin (twice I may add!), shouting spontaneously ‘I am truly mad’ or hunting for a leaf from a ‘Lava Tree’. It was however, I have to say, a particularly wonderful exercise, and one I may find myself replicating with my own unit!
Next time we meet, will, rather excitingly, be our last group gathering before we head off on what promises to be the trip of a lifetime. I don’t think there is a team member amongst us who has any regrets in applying for the trip, particularly now friendships have formed, indeed, friendships which am sure will continue to thrive and develop long into the future!