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YOUTH SUMMIT 2008: Spandan Ecopark Report.
Day
1:
Our camp began as we left the school after a hearty breakfast for Spandan.
There was visible excitement in the faces of each one of us. We reached
Spandan, where we were given a warm welcome by the participants from
Smt. Parvatibai Chowgule College, Goa.
We made many new friends and then we had lunch. After lunch we eagerly
awaited the Europeans that are the participants from Finland, the Netherlands,
and Campion School, Mumbai. They arrived after we finished our tea,
so we met them and interacted with them and soon realized that we had
found many new friends. We were assigned our tent groups after which
we had dinner and had more interactions; we went to bed at around 10
Pm.
Day
2:
We arose early in the morning for the AOL (art of living) classes which
were from 5:30 to 8:30 Am. The theme for this day was ecosystem. We
were not exactly overjoyed about getting up so early. We then had our
breakfast, after which we left in our tent groups for the Nature Trail.
We saw many different forms of flora and fauna on the trail, which was
followed by a very interesting activity titled the “Treasure Hunt”.
The clues and the maps drawn were very interesting and it was great
fun. After the Treasure Hunt we had our lunch, which was followed by
the assignment of the working groups, we then decide our group topics
that we would be presenting. We had tea. After tea we had the individual
presentations. After that we had our dinner, which was followed by a
little documentary about the destruction of elephants titled “Man-
Animal Conflict”. Though we stayed up late, we managed to awake
early the next morning.
Day
3:
As usual we had the AOL classes which we partly enjoyed. After the AOL
we had our breakfasts and left for the second nature trail, on a different
route and led by a different guide though we were in the same groups.
The theme for this day was Wildlife, of which we learnt a lot. After
the trail we had our lunch which was followed by the working groups
where we discussed our projects and performed them. We then left for
tea, after which we left for Bhose Village. The village was very beautiful,
we asked the villagers about our various projects that were in generally
based on the surrounding areas. The villagers had the little children
singing all time favorites like ‘Row your boat’ and ‘clap
your hands’, we all joined in. There was also a little platform
where the villagers performed a dance and we joined in. Unfortunately,
all of us could not stay at the village due to some problems, hence
we returned to the campsite where we had our dinner and then some of
us went for a late night nature trail.
Day
4:
We
had the AOL at 6:30 AM instead; our AOL classes lasted till 9:30 Am.
We then had our breakfast. After breakfast we had the working group
activity. Then we had our lunch which was followed by a 10 Km nature
trail to the Bhilar Plateau. The Plateau was very beautiful and extremely
large. We also saw a flower that blooms every seven years. We got a
beautiful view of the sunset, after which we left for the campsite.
We reached the campsite after almost getting lost, but overall it was
a fun experience. We then reached the campsite where we had our dinner,
and went to bed.
Day
5:
The day was eagerly awaited by all of us as this was the day when we
would be going to St. Peter’s School, Panchgani for the social
interactions between all the students. We had the AOL class as usual
which was followed by breakfast which was in turn followed by the working
group activity. After the working groups we had lunch. We then left
for St. Peter’s at around 3 Pm. We then had a basketball match
and football match at the school, so those who wanted to play either
of the games could play, on the respective fields. We then went to our
assigned dormitories where we freshened up for the socials. Then at
6:30 Pm, our socials began. It was great fun, there was a lot of dancing
and there were prizes for the best dancers and so on. We had to keep
switching partners so that there would be more interaction. There was
also a performance of an Indian dance ‘Bharat Natyam’ by
Nivedita Bagchi of Smt. Parvatibai Chowgule College; Goa .It was a great
success, though the music could have been better. The food was also
excellent; overall the program was a huge success. We then headed back
to the campsite and stayed up a bit late, but finally we all went to
bed.
Day
6:
The day began as usual with the AOL, but we were all nervous as we were
on a tight schedule, we had to complete our presentations, discuss climate
change, do the farming activity, do the ad-campaigning and show our
presentations, all in one day. Somehow we managed to do all of this.
The Presentations included Waste Management, Hydroponics, and The use
of art for spreading a message, Renewable Energy resources, and impact
of climate change on human health, Water analysis and Impact of Human
Activities on the surrounding areas. After the presentations got over
by about 8 Pm, we had dinner and then we moved back to the assembly
hall for the Declaration. We discussed the declaration for around 3
hours that is up to 12 Am. We then hung around up till 2 Am deciding
where to sleep as we had been given permission to sleep in the dormitory
and also as we were quite excited due to some unknown reason. Then we
went to bed.
Day
7:
We woke up at around 5:30 Am to get ready for our trip to the Lingmala
Falls. We walked quite a lot and finally reached the falls. It was just
amazing. They were so beautiful, although it was panoramic to see a
certain amount of litter around the place.
We then headed back to the campsite. We assembled at the dormitory (assembly
hall). It was time for the Campionites to leave. It was torture to se
our close friends leave and many of us including me shed our tears.
They left at around 12:30 Pm. We then half –heartedly ate our
lunch. Then we had a lot of photographs taken of all of us, for sweet
memories. Then at 4 Pm, the students from Goa left. The strange thing
was that we hardly cried when they were leaving but we began to cry
after they left. We then had our tea at Mapro Gardens. By 6 Pm we were
back at camp. The camp looked so empty, it was scary. Again we had a
half-hearted last dinner. Then we left for the road after dinner and
put our bags into the bus. On the way, we said goodbye to everybody
we’d met, hoping that we would see them again and that we would
all keep in touch. Even while I write this report, tears come to my
eyes, as I remember those 7 days of pure fun. I actually cried when
my friends were leaving, though I did not even cry when I was put into
boarding school for the first time in my life. I will never forget this
camp, we learnt so much about the environment, about friendship, about
actions instead of words, about standing up to the rest of the world
for a good cause and especially how a group of people fighting for a
common cause can make a difference and how a fist not fingers makes
an impact. This camp was a huge success, I look forward to more of these
camps, but there is one thing that I must say and I’m sure all
the participants of the YS would agree with me, “THE YS 2008 ROCKS!!!”
Report Compiled By-
Dheeraj Waran
St. Peter’s School, Panchgani.
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