| The 24th camp received participants from 22 schools. Initially the
response was rather poor. Eventually fifty-four children responded to the
advertisement. Thanks to NST for continuously publicising the camp and
also our very own members, for helping to pass the word around. As usual
most of the participants were from the Kinta Valley. A few were from the
other districts. Two came from KL while one was from Penang. The programme
did not see many changes except for Loke’s (Choong Ming) Back Woodman’s
Cooking. This time he opted for coconut shells instead of bamboos.
There were early hiccups. The Nursery Management had failed to inform us that renovation was being carried out and the water supply had been temporarily cut off. To make things worse, the management could not promise if the supply could be reconnected. Therefore, for the first activity - Cleaning Up, we had to do "dry cleaning". As far as water was concern, it was back to nature. Buckets of water had to be carried from the stream. Our main worry was how to keep the toilets clean. The helpers in the kitchen had a difficult time too. We feared the worst. Somehow, after "harrassing" the officer-in-charge a few times, water started flowing the taps again. The organising committee would like to thank the volunteers for making the camp a success. Lately, response to our Nature Camps has been very encouraging. So for those of you who have children or friends who are interested in sending their children to the camp, watch out for the next one…. If you know of anyone who would like to sponsor our future camps, be it prizes or food or equipment (lamps, stoves etc), transportation of equipment to/from the campsite etc., do contact the committee. "We learnt how to survive in the jungle,
identify birds, animals as well as insects. I learnt that Mother Nature
plays a very important part in our lives. Taking care of the environment
is what we should do."
"We must try to improve, preserve and
save the environment because once it's destroyed, it will be lost
forever. It will never be the same again. It is important for us
and the younger generations to take up Environmental Studies so that
we know the importance of Mother Nature. The future generations will
be able to enjoy it duting their lifetime."
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