REGIONAL CONFERENCE - ASIA PACIFIC REGION - DUKE OF EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL AWARD

'Transforming the Award'

A three-day conference of the 15 NAAs of the Asia Pacific region of the IAF was held in Bangkok, Oct 26-28. There were delegates from:

• IAF -- John May, Secretary General; Steve De Wint, Chief Operating Officer; Ellie Rocks, Fundraising; Laura Thakray, Communications; Mike Heath, Head Technology
• APR -- Sue Walker, Regional Director; Rob Oliphant, Regional Manager; Kathleen Hewitt, Regional Coordinator
• India were represented by Himmat Kalsia (National Chairman), Dr Sanat Kaul (Managing Trustee), Kapil Bhalla (National Director)
• IC Youth Representative - Mr Ravichandran Balasubramaniam

The annual conference was a follow up to the conference held at Malta in Nov 2012 (coinciding with the International Forum) and the theme "Transforming the Award" was a focus of the workshop sessions and presentations.

The sessions kicked off with a presentation by Secretary General John May, laying out the focus of future directions post the Forum on "Transforming the Award", that the Award is the premier Youth Service & Development organisation in the world.

There were interactive sessions by:

• Laura Thakray -- Communications & Branding updates, with examples of India using the 'Endorsement route to branding; using the India specific Award logo and the International Logo
• Ellie Rocks -- Fund raising & Corporate Relationship avenues for raising resources; India has a successful relationship with JCB Ltd for sponsorship and with HSBC for implementing the Award in Corporate entities
• Mike Heath -- Progress of the Online Record Book, to be launched in Asia by April 2014. It is a powerful data management and operations review tool and India is keenly looking forward to its launch and implementation.
• Rob Oliphant -- Training Framework and the New Learning Hub, will ensure that all training and branding material is available online to ensure best practices are shared and available to all NAAs and Award Operators.

Under the new Licensing policy, all 15 NAAs have signed new licenses with the International Award Foundation. This meant upgrading systems and new levels of governance. The license validation process commenced in 2013 and India is one of the 5 countries in APR that have successfully concluded validation visits from the International team. The new Branding guidelines and governance structures were reinforced and welcomed by all participants as they will make the administration of the Award a stronger force in the Youth Development field.  click for pictures

AWARD LEADER ORIENTATION AT JCB-SPONSORED GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS

31st October 2013 

An orientation programme for the Award Leaders & Volunteers for JCB Sponsored Govt. Schools in Haryana was organised by the NAA Training team at Govt. Primary School, Ladiapor, Haryana on 31st October 2013.  Sixteen Award Leaders form Govt. Primary School, Ladiapor; Village Govt. Senior Secondary School, Village Jharsaintly; Govt. Secondary School, Village Deoli and Govt. Secondary School, Village Ghogola, Haryana participated in the orientation programme. The orientation was mentored by Kapil Bhalla (National Director) and Bivujit Mukhoty (Programme Manager).  The trainers detailed the philosophy and essence of the Award and explained the four pillars of the Award through different practical activities. click for pictures

SILVER LEVEL ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY FOR INTELLECTUAL DISABLED PARTICIPANTS

24th - 27th October 2013
  
The National Award Authority organised a Silver level Adventurous Journey and camp for differently-abled participants of Raphael Ryder Cheshire, Dehradun from 24th to 27th October 2013, under Special Projects. The group comprised 16 differently-abled participants (12 boys and 4 girls) escorted by three Award Leaders, Maninder, Lata and Madhu who work as Special Educators and two support staff. Five specially trained instructors of the Institute of Climbers and Nature Lovers (ICNL) Kolkata led them on their Silver Level Adventurous Journey. The camp was supervised by Bivujit Mukhoty (Programme Manager). Priyank Kumar Gupta (Head, YES Comm. Project) also represented the NAA for this adventurous journey.

The first day started with a briefing session about the journey. The instructors explained the importance of safety and helped the participants understand the different equipment. They taught them how to pack their backpacks and other equipment while on their Adventurous Journey. Next, the instructors explained the process for pitching tents and helped the participants perform this activity. The students enjoyed the learning activity. The Instructors demonstrated rappelling and other activities and showed the use of different types of rope knots that are normally used on the Adventurous Journey. The participants enjoyed their evening of dance & music and sleeping in the tents.

The next morning the group started their journey to Maa Ananadmayee Memorial School, Raiwala, by bus. Arpit Panjwani (Director) welcomed the group and arranged the stay for the participants. After lunch the instructors took the participants for a Jungle Walk where they were exposed to the wonders of the dense forest for the first time. There was much excitement with the sighting of a group of wild deer in the forest. They also enjoyed crossing a small stream and doing a little climbing on the unmetalled road. After a trek of 3 kms the group reached the banks of the Ganges. The participants enjoyed their jungle walk thoroughly and returned to the campsite happy with the experience.

The next day the group started their journey to the banks of the Ganges near Haridwar, to perform various adventurous activities. The activity site was almost 6 kms from the camp.  The instructors taught the participants rope obstacle activities like single rope bridge crossing and river crossing.  The participants enjoyed these activities a lot and also played with water in the river stream. In the post-lunch session the participants performed another rope obstacle activity, Tyrolean traverse. The evening brought another celebration of singing and dancing. On the 27th morning after the usual physical fitness training and a late breakfast the group departed for Raphael Ryder Cheshire, Dehra Dun. 

This Adventurous Journey was full of fun for the 16 students, helping build their confidence and exposing them to a different environment.  The NAA wishes to thank Maa Anandmayee Memorial School's team for providing support and organising this camp.  

"It was an absolute pleasure having you and everybody else over at MAMS. I must commend you on the wonderful work you're doing by positively impacting the lives of kids at Raphael. Needless to say, it is one of the greatest service to mankind that you are rendering."
- Arpit Panjwani, Director, MAMS 


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BRONZE LEVEL ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY AT THE SAGAR SCHOOL, ALWAR

19th MAY 2013 TO 26th MAY 2013
A report by Prabeen Sahu

The Bronze aspirants of The Sagar School, Alwar participated in an Adventurous Journey in the month of May 2013. The 13 participants (11 boys and 2 girls) and two teachers set off for Chandigarh by train on the evening of 19th May, with Sarabjit Singh as their tour guide. Reaching Chandigarh at 6:00 am, they left for Kufri by bus and arrived at the hill station by noon.

The participants received preliminary training regarding safety norms, trekking equipment, first aid, do's & don'ts, route map and navigation by the Adventure partner before starting the trek. The group embarked on the 3-km trek in the afternoon. After that the group participated in adventurous activities including rope bridge crossing.

On the 21st, the group started trekking from the base at 9 am. This was an 8-km trek which took almost the entire day. The trekkers were happy to see the diverse fauna and flora on the picturesque route. In the evening the group participated in an adventurous activity known as artificial valley crossing. They crossed a small valley with the help of ropes and climbing equipment.

The next day, the group started their trek from the base at 9 am. In the morning hours they participated in a major adventure activity - double rope crossing - where participants walked two ropes, with the help of adventure safety equipment. Balancing on two ropes was quite a feat! The same evening, the group visited Shimla and enjoyed themselves in the hill town. After dinner, the participants gathered around a camp fire, and displayed their skills and self confidence in a variety of performances.

On the 23rd, the group started trekking from the base at 8:30 am. In the morning hours they participated in a rappelling activity using adventure equipment. In the evening session there was an outdoor cooking competition where the teams (and instructors) tried cooking their food for the day. They cooked on logs of strewn wood which they gathered.

After a late start for the trek on the 24th morning, the group participated in the bush craft trek - the participants trekked through the bushes with all of them tied up with a single rope. This fun adventure activity helped in team building and leadership. In the evening session the participants learnt camp craft and rope courses (learning camping logistics) where they learnt about adventure and camping equipment, tents and camping logistics and survival techniques.

On the last day of the trip, the group set off for Chandigarh by bus. Here they visited the famous rock garden which is crafted with waste material. Finally, they boarded the train for Alwar station, tired, happy and with wonderful memories.  click for pictures

THE MAWLYNNONG TREK

A report by Aparna Khanikar (Award Leader, Maria's Public School, Guwahati)

On the 1st of  October 2013 the 1st batch of the Bronze and Silver aspirants of Maria's Public School, Birkuchi, Guwahati set off to Mawlynnong,(Meghalaya) the cleanest village in Asia, to explore nature at its best and also to accomplish their goal of holistic growth as individuals. The group consisted of 14 boys and 22 girls with their Award leaders and a nature anchor from a registered NGO - Eco Concept. The adventure was a combination of fun, learning and self-discovery by living in the midst of nature with the bare essentials. 

Crossing Shillong, the scenic beauty of this region and the fresh fragrance of the pine trees was quite intoxicating. The plantations along the gorges and the soothing breeze were very welcoming sights. And the winding narrow lanes we passed through on our way to the cleanest village in the world seemed quite mystery filled. Our minds were filled with eagerness to explore the unexplored. 

The first night the group warmed up with a night nature trail of 2 hours (around 6 kms) around the village and explored the wild - discovering the green frog, the lichens visible in the trees around depicting pollution free area and wild mushrooms. The group trailed across small waterfalls discovering the crabs which were out of their holes during the dark hours of night. Later the campers pitched camps and some stayed at the cottages allotted to them.

The second day started bright and sunny lifting our spirits for our day long trek in the woods up and down the hill (around 18 kms). This trek was quite tough with lots of steep slopes to the floodplains along the Bangladesh border which took us almost 4-5 hours to reach. The waterfalls and the stream downhill were alluring to all the tiring souls. It served as a fitting reward after this long and tiring trek. In the streams we enjoyed catching fish the way we do in the wild with no proper equipment. Later the Award aspirants collected water and boiled it over wood fire to serve noodles. The return journey uphill was tough and each aspirant made it to the base camp tired and fatigued but the night camp fire took away all their tiredness as the students danced and sang to the tunes of the latest melodies with zeal and enthusiasm.

Zip line crossing and the trek to the living root bridge fired the students imaginations and they were in high spirits throughout the next day as they trekked for 8km to reach the living root bridge where they discovered how the village around has learned to survive along with nature. It was a unique sight to see the two rubber trees clinging together forming the root bridge for people of the two villages to commute across the stream. The zip line crossing was mind blowing and all the girls as well as the boys were enthralled by it. 

At last with baggage packed and our minds & cameras brimming with ever lasting memories, we were all set to return home when our vehicle broke down. The students had to manage by themselves in this hour of crisis which they did with calm competence. And I must say that IAYP, by introducing Adventurous Journey as one of the qualifying criteria for the Award has indeed given each individual a chance to explore his ability to deal with stress and uncertainties.

Kudos IAYP!!

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