Outdoor Leadership is an exploration that we learn about the out world, living in outdoor with technology, technical outdoor skills, risk management, wilderness first aid, etc. If you want to know more, please read until the end!
The first week of this exploration, we focus on Nature. We defined what nature means to us and we did a sit-and-spot activity to observe nature and thought what nature means to me.
Another outdoor skill we learned was Navigation. It was about the understanding of the map, how to read the compass, and also to know the direction by using an analog watch and the sun, the star, landmarks, and natural vegetation! The activity that I did relate to that was that I drew a map of my school campus, including legends, direction, symbols, etc. Then, we need to write the instruction of where I want my friend to go. It was a fun activity and we also learned at the same time!
Then, we started to talk about the good ways to pack your stuff for outdoor trips. We learned about needs vs wants, group gear, and personal gear, the right way to pack your backpack, etc. After that, we prepared to go on our first trip!
On the 7th of March, we went to Kirirom national park. We needed to walk on the long trail to the heaven cliff. We got to see the view from the heaven cliff, we saw many birds especially hornbills, we had dinner around the campfire, collected many pinecones, saw many different plants, got to see the sunrise, we did the sit and spot, we sang together, we played some fun games, and observed a lot of natural stuff. We hiked 18km for both days. We had really great collaboration, respect, risk-taking, stewardship, and we learned a lot in outdoor and we had fun times together!
When we came back, we did a group reflection and shared something we learned! Then, we learned more new lessons about risk. It was about risk management, assessing risk, and actual vs. perceived risk.
Another important lesson I learned was about wilderness first aid. We learned about the Patient Assessment System, Primary Patient, etc. Then, we did an activity. We divided into team and we had different roles (patient, lead rescuer, assistance rescuer). The patient pretended to be injured in a different situation and both rescuers had to help the patient by using the wilderness first aid rules. I learned so many things and I think that it’s very import to know whenever you go outdoors.
And then, we’re going on a trip again! We went on a 3-night journey to Mondulkiri and the experience was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! During the trip, there were many inquisitive bird watchers who would grab hold of the binoculars whenever they saw birds, passing their sight. Being surrounded by the wilderness allows us to discover more about nature in this magnificent country. Ultimately, they’ve been showing different leadership roles throughout this jaunt.
“The more you go out, the more thing you’ll find and learn!”