Monday

We started the day at Spicheren around 0930 where we sorted out all the equipment for the week ahead, setting off at 1030. After dumping our stuff and deciding on the places for the different activities me and Amy got set making the minefield task ready for the group coming in six hours’ time. In that time, most people headed towards the local shop, beach or had some personal admin time, this was nice and relaxing because the weather was so lovely and warm.

The first evening had mixed reviews regarding the three groups motivation and enthusiasm, the first group only had four people in it so it was hard to keep the motivation high for 40 minutes, because it was the first group also, it was almost a test run and made it easy for us realise where we went wrong or right. Although the next two groups that evening were better because we changed the order and increased the intensity.

Overall, the first day went successfully in terms of safety, execution and delivery, but as with all things, certain aspects could have been improved, as previously said.

Tuesday

The first group were very tired so it was hard to motivate them regarding the task. As the day went on the groups got slightly better concerning their enthusiasm and understanding.

For the break we decided to go to the beach by canoeing to the edge of the lake and walking across the road to the coast. It was a lovely day with the weather and little to no wind, after the early morning we had it was nice to unwind and go for a swim.

We headed back to the camp side for 1730 to prepare for the next group coming and eating our dinner. The next group were a little smaller so this made the activates harder because they wouldn’t take as long to complete. Nevertheless, they got on with it and the shelter building activity was easy to understand and teach.

The groups made a wide range of shelters from military style bivvie to an improvised wind shelters, obviously we scored accordingly depending on how good they made it and how creative.

My morale was pretty high considering all the mosquito bites I had collected since day one, sleeping out in the open next to a lake was the same as England unsurprisingly.

Wednesday

Today started like yesterday, I woke up with a splitting earache and was worried that something had crawled in it during the night, but as the day went on, the pain had subsided and I carried on with the morning activities, the morning group were tired again, as the participants were not going to sleep till two or three in the morning.

The last of the shelter building were the same as Tuesday, mainly amateur looking with a hint of creativity, the last afternoon I stayed and had a personal admin day, the weather had changed to become a little more like spring, with the wind picking up and creating a chill.

That evening, it was decided that me and Amy would be the group that would go round and assist other groups when needed. It was a tedious job, but when walking round we got to see the other activities in full swing, gaining further knowledge.

Thursday

The next morning was the same, until we started to pack away to go home, I would say the whole week was a success, we achieved our goal of teaching seven different activities to a group of young adults, each groups leaders were effective in teaching and instructing each activity. After coming home, we found out that the College were very happy with our activities and asked the course to continue it for the following year, increasing it to a week.