Adventurous Journey Camp to Susunia Hills

Twenty-one Silver and Bronze level Award participants of Emmanuel Ministries, Kolkata completed their Adventurous Journey at Susunia Hills from 14th to 17th March 2016. A report by Timothy Barretto (Award Leader) follows.

Thirteen Silver level and Eight Bronze level Award participants (10 girls and 11 boys) of Emmanuel Ministries, Kolkata started their Adventurous Journey on 14th March 2016 to Susunia Hills, West Bengal. The group was escorted by Timothy Barretto (Award Leader) and Munna Barik (Community Teacher) along with four experienced instructors of the Institute of Climbers and Nature Lovers (ICNL), Kolkata. To begin with, the mentors briefed the participants about the basic requirements and information pertaining to travelling and discipline. After the overnight journey from Howrah station to Chaatna station the group trekked to the campsite in Susunia (11 kms) for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

The group reassembled at 11 am and were introduced to the first practical class “Rope Knots”. The key to this class was “Easy to tie knot and easy to open”. Every type of knot was demonstrated and the purpose of each knot was described. The next activities to follow were the single rope bridge, monkey crawling and Jummering, which were novel experiences, especially for the Bronze participants. These exercises were centrally focused on team building and capacity building, giving the participants an impetus to achieve and a feeling of exhilaration and stimulation. The day drew to an end with an inspiring session on mountain manners and self-motivation by instructors.

The next day the participants trekked to an altitude of 1600 feet up Susunia hills. The instructors briefed the students about the basic techniques of Rock Climbing. The participants formed groups according to their levels and each one had to do climbing, rappelling, traversing and chimney climbing. This turned out to be one of the best experiences for the participants, many of whom said that they were able to conquer their fears after their first climb. In the second half of the day they were taught about Tent Pitching and Tyrolean Traverse. A camp night was organized to add to the fun and amusement.

On the final day of the training the participants trekked through the dense forest and visited the Shiela Lippi monument. A memory down Indian history was recalled when instructors explained some of the historical facts about the dynasties of Bihar, Bengal and Orissa (Anga, Banga & Kallinga). The camp ended with a round of applause and group photographs. After enjoying a wonderful outbound experience the team returned to Kolkata. Click here for pictures

Walk for a Light

Bronze and Silver Award participants from Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy, Narendrapur did coastal trekking for their Adventurous Journey from 9th to 11th December 2015.  Chandan Majumder and Rupanjan Goswami (Award Leaders) sharing the details about this trek.

People who cannot see the light of the world due to their blindness, are always searching for a new light through which they can enlighten their lives and souls.

Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy, Narendrapur has been imparting education and vocational training to the visually challenged students through the International Award for Young People since 2002. To complete their Adventurous Journey, twenty-five visually challenged, Bronze and Silver aspirants took part in a Coastal Trek from Chandipur to Digha under the guidance of the Institute of Climbers and Nature Lovers.

The participants started walking for 17 kms from Chandipur on 9th Dec '15 along the beach and crossed Buri Balam river and Kasai river. They stayed at Kasafal in tents beside river Kasai first night. On the second day they set off for Dogara village, walking by the sea for 22 kms and in the last lap they walked 23 kms and crossed Subarnarekha river and finally reached Talsari on 11th Dec '15, walking a total of 62 kms. Four NAA interns, all Gold Award Holders, escorted the participants during this journey.

This costal trek helped the participants gauge their own capacity and develop self-confidence. Now each of the participant says "Yes I can, I am prepared for any tasks, I can see the new Light of Life". Click here for pictures

Adventurous Journey to Scottish Highlands: A report by Aayush Srivastava

As the last leg of my Gold Award (International Award for Young People), I went to an adventurous journey in a place called Great Glen in the Scottish highlands. The Great Glen is one of the most spectacular geographical features of the British Isles. The ten-day trekking trip started on February 2nd 2015, the day I boarded a train from London King's Cross to Edinburgh in Scotland. After this six-hour journey, I boarded another train to Glasgow, and finally from Glasgow Queen Street it took another four hours to reach Fort William, where I met other colleagues, guides and settled down in the chalets there. Fort William acted as the nodal point of the trip from where we would trek radially to different places the following days. Scotland, like the entire United Kingdom, is known for unpredictable weather and being a person from India, the extreme cold is something I always dread. Anyway, we were lucky with the weather. The first three days were very gloomy, but the rest of the trip was good sunshine and blue skies. The main highlight of this entire trip was not just adventures but also getting an insight into the ice advance in the region, considering this part of Scotland has witnessed serious climatic changes in the recent past. 

The first day involved an expedition to Ballachulish and Corran. We all found it challenging as it was raining a lot and that added to the bone-chilling weather. Well, that made the entire group ready for the following days as it was just the start! For me, the sky-lift to the highest peak of Scotland was the attraction of the day. To my surprise, the sky lift was open (with very little safety provided!). For an acrophobic person like me, it was a really tough experience, however the stunning scenic beauty at the top made up for it. The next two days, we travelled to Arisaig and Achnacree respectively, where we scaled several hillocks and did coring at several sites. Coring is actually a tiring job, especially when the weather is not supportive and the land is all marshy, nevertheless, it's very important to understand the soil beneath and inferr other information from it. 

The fourth day, the sun was kind and we trekked to Loch Lomond, the largest lake in Great Britain. It is also a very popular boating site and we all did various water sports. I myself went canoeing and really enjoyed it. The following day we went to a national park on the other side of Loch Lomond, a site considered very sensitive to environment changes and home to various indigenous flora and fauna. I was lucky enough to spot a golden eagle and a herd of red deer. The park is so big and dense that we really had to walk a lot to get a glimpse of a few animals. The sixth day we went to see the great "parallel roads" of Scotland which are actually shorelines of a past ice-dammed lake, which are at considerable heights. The "roads", slashing through the hills have left scientists baffled for really long. Below these "roads", we saw the River Roy which splashes down its rocky course, surrounded by a narrow strip of woodland. 

The seventh day marked our journey to Drumlochter which bears the marks  of massive glaciation with  its legacy of moraines, eskers, raised beaches and ice dammed lakes. This place has some really rugged terrain which makes it a paradise for people looking for 'adventurous treks'. We did, however, scale much height owing to security concerns but it indeed looked stunningly tempting. The eighth day was the relaxing day for us and most of us chose to stay in our chalets and enjoy local Scottish cuisine. The ninth day saw us again exploring a new lake, this time Loch Etteridge. It's a relatively longer lake than Loch Lomond and we were to boat till its centre and collect some cores from the surface underneath. Boating all by yourself in a big loch was a certainly memorable experience. The local birds and bright Sun added to the memories and the coring, generally a tough task, finished in no time. 

Like every good trip has an end, we too had to head back to London on the tenth day. Early in the morning, we left our chalets and boarded the train to Glasgow from Fort William. As it is verily said, the very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure, I thoroughly enjoyed this trip which not only introduced to me a new dimension of adventure but also brought me closer to nature.  Click for pictures