By Ummi Fauzianul Husna Abd Rahman
REMBAU, 25 February 2016: A grand induction programme called ‘InCamp 1.0: Back to Basic’ was held last weekend (19 to 21 February) at Hutan Lipur Gunung Datuk Rembau, Negeri Sembilan to expose participants to outdoor survival skills.
The programme involving 100 participants was organised by the Adventure and Recreational Club of IIUM (ARCIIUM). The participants were gathered in one location where activities were held to toughen them physically and mentally. They were exposed to activities that would help them to cope up with basic skills in life.
One of the participants, Nur ˜Izzah Rosli, said she had learned so many new things from the camp although she has been involved in outdoor activities for a quite some time. She was happy that this programme has benefited not only new members but also the older ones.
On the first day of the programme, the participants were divided into groups and the first task given to them was to cook meals for the whole group using limited resources provided by the committee.
The cooking skills in the forest was different from the skills that they had been used to at home. The participants were exposed to learn new cooking skills to accommodate their environment.
The participants were exposed to talks on basic equipment management, first aid skills, and basic knotting skills. A sharing session with an Alumni of ARCIIUM was also held to provide them with knowledge and experience the senior ones have gone through in the past.
These basic equipment management was the most fundamental knowledge that participants should acquire. It was useful since the knowledge was helpful to assist them set up a shelter on a campsite, to know the essential things to bring on a trip and where to find suitable gears for hiking.
The participants were also exposed to first aid skills that benefited them to face any kind of emergency situation or when they are faced with injury. Apart from that, they also learned the basic knotting skills which can be used for the campsite preparation or to protect the rations from wild animals.
The final activity was a hike on Mount Datuk which was intended to give participants hands on experience where they can apply all the skills they had learned during the previous day.
The President of ARCIIUM, Abdullah Umar Shahrin said: œI am really satisfied with this induction camp as it is the first programme organised by ARCIIUM that involved a large number of participants, and using a new approach to expose the participants to basic survival skills.”
“It is a huge success for the club since I can see members have now become more proactive. ***