Donevannet College Students- 5th-12th of May
We spent one week in Helleviga nearby the lake Donnevannet. During that week we got the chance to practice our veileding skills. Three different classes from Norwegian schools visited us to experience outdoor life and activities. Each group arrived around 6 pm the first night and left 1 pm the day after. Therefore we had group 1 Monday/Tuesday, group 2 Tuesday/Wednesday and group 3 Wednesday/Tursday. The students were between 17 and 19 years old and were about to graduate. They had to split up into teams of 4-6, because we made these days into a competition.
The Activities:
- Abseiling
- Canoeing
- Mine Field (blindfolded game)
- Shelter building
- Stretchers
- Orienteering
- Fire building
- Lava (Group Dynamic game)
- (Where is my chicken? (Group Dynamic game))
Each team of students went through all the activities within their 2 days at Helleviga. We had some really exciting activities like canoeing and abseiling, some games where the whole teams had to work together like the group dynamic games, but also some real outdoor activities, like fire lighting or shelter building. The teams got points for how fast they completed the activity, but also how well they worked together as a team and how well they completed the task.
The students seemed to enjoy the days out in nature. We were a little sceptic in the beginning, because usually the Norwegian students party during May to celebrate their graduation. But most of them were very engaged and enthusiastic. They tried really hard at every activity and were competitive. The winning team got a price at the end.
For all of us it was fun, too. We enjoyed the chance to actually use the things we learned and to get in touch with some Norwegians. Our class switched activities every day; otherwise it would have been really boring for us to stay at one activity the entire time.
For the 1 group , I and Dominik prepared the chicken game. Unfortunatelyd in the 1 Group weren´t enough students. That’s why our whole class decided to cut out this activity. That’s why I and Dom hadn’t much to do on the first day. I spent the most time at the abseiling, and watched Martynas and Mike leading the students. For the second group me and Dom led the task orienteering and for the last group we led the stretchers.
Evaluation
It was the first trip where we didn’t split up into groups. The most of us slept in the woods nearby the students. We had a lot of free time during the days. We used this time for canoeing, went to the cost and relaxed at the beach. In the evening, after the activities, we made dinner together, sat around the campfire and played games till it was dark. I think trips like this are very good for the group development, because you have nice, long days and spent a lot time together. In addition to that, this trip was a good chance to improve our veileding skills. And we learned some new games and activities, which we can do, when we work with people outside. I think each one of our group did a really good job in instructing and veileding, so that in the end everybody was happy and satisfied.