Camps & overseas trips

Our children are away from home this week.  Sheryl  is currently participating in a school camp; she would get to experience rowing a dragon boat.  Shermaine has flown off to Beijing with her school cohort for an immersion trip.  One of the things we did before they left for their respective expedition was to get the contact numbers of their close friends, in case of an emergency.  We thought this would be useful in case they're uncontactable or their mobile phone ran out of battery.  Kidnap scams have been circulating round periodically and having the ability to get through to them in a timely manner is vital.


Every school seeks to inculcate good moral values and self-discipline in her charges.  Of course, one good way to build character and hone leadership abilities would be through camps and overseas trips.  The process involved in planning, organising and executing a camp/trip is a learning journey in itself for both staff and students. Learning to interact and collaborate with one another is key to the success of any venture.  Staff need  to assess the risks/dangers involved in the different stages of the programme as well as the external environment where they'd be interacting with.  All of us are aware of the Icelandic volcano eruption that has affected air travel to Europe recently.  School leaders need to make important decisions such as whether to allow such trips to go ahead.


We are living in an inter-connected world where things happening far away could have very real implications on our lives.  Looking back a few years, the financial crisis that hit America due to the sub-prime mortgage saga invariable affected us in SE Asia.  Our country went through recession and had to put hard measures in place to enable us to rebound.  Thank God we've recovered from the recession.  Closer to home, the political situation in Thailand, especially Bangkok, has caused trips to the Land of Smiles to be cancelled or shifted elsewhere.   Where lives are concerned and especially young charges who would be the future of our nation, we have to err on the side of caution.


For our children, trips are meant for them to connect with people/places in a different culture and to learn to appreciate what we have in Singapore.  They are also picking up knowledge and skills which would stand them in good stead for the future.  Networking with one another is the buzz word nowadays.  Our world has become a huge market place where trade and commerce take place; it is no longer confined to a small region.  Traveling to a foreign land would be like taking a bus for some of us.  I personally know of people who travel quite extensively within a year.  As we travel, it is also a good opportunity to sow the seeds of the gospel to people in a different culture.  The apostle Paul was a traveling evangelist who made three missionary trips during his life time.  Mind you, in those days, the trips made were long and arduous.  The people then did not have the benefit of modern travel locomotives.  Praise God for the wonders of technological advances that made traveling so much easier nowadays!