Polo Jungle Camp - A restrospect

By Benjamin M. on Thursday, 15 March , 2007 - 8:58 am

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This post is in the first person view as an initiator who accompanied the students on this trip:

In the scope of developing and valorizing multiple-intelligence, taking students on nature camps like the Polo Jungle Camp is an invaluable learning experience. The exposure to nature and mountaneering requires the acquisition and application of new skills that urban students are seldom exposed to…

Students who appear to be shy in the classroom have a chance to step forward and make a mark for themselves in an area where they have not been labeled (consciously or sub-consciously) by her/himself or Peers. One Standard 10 student who is often rueful and casual about his studies, was consistently volunteering to serve food and took his duty very seriously, sometimes running with the food to serve it faster to the people waiting at the table. Another student in DP2 also came out of his shell to lead his tent to victory in the “Tent Cleanliness” competition. He assumed his leadership right from the first day, organizing meetings to keep the tent community running smoothly at camp and while on the move. This was a new experience for him. The same DP 2 student is an independent student but had not to my knowledge particularly stepped up to such responsibilities in the past.

Left: A talent show, laughs and songs around the campfire under a moonlit night at Polo

Leveling the playing field
MGIS pedagogy puts a strong emphasis on group formation and integrating all learners within the group. This diversity can be used very constructively as a tool in the classroom. I would like to think that it also teaches students to co-exist harmoniously with their material, spiritual and personal differences. It is also very enriching to extract students from their social environment and to put them together in an unknown natural one like it happened during the Polo Jungle Camp. It allowed each individual to reinvent her/himself outside of social stigma in a context where all learners have the same opportunities day and night.

Traveling:
Morning – We had intially planned to leave by 9:00 am, so we told all students to be ready to leave by 8:30 in anticipation of some delays. However, the bus came a little late, we also had to find some rope to tie the bags on the roof rack so we left at 10 am
We stopped at a hotel on the way, where the students had sandwiches, amul flavoured milk and potato ships. Some students pointed out (arguably) that potato chips were junk food (something they were told not to bring). The instructors on the bus provided small ropes of about 1 meter in length to every student. In this way they introduced several knots used in rock climbing and kept the students occupied throughout most of the trip. That was an excellent idea.

Left: Students dismantle the camp on the last day.

The camp was located just off of a small and very quiet road on the bank of a small stream. There were some small buildings on site, but they were not used except for one bathroom block and the kitchen. The two big people trees were the hubs of life of the campground
When we arrived there were four large tents already set up. The first two tents were those of the boys and the last two were for the girls. Each tent had approximately 15 people in them. The students were grouped into tents classwise. This worked out nicely, the participants appreciated being with their own classmates in nature. There was no major issues of groupism, Std. 10, DP1 and DP2 boys shared one tent, Std. 8 boys were enough to fill the other. Likewise for the girls. Each tent selected a leader amongst their tentmates to look after the tent to gather the group when called for camp meetings and hiking. That was a very effective way to manage such a large group of highly energetic students. The tents of the instructors were three meters across from the students’ tents, thus instructors were immediately accessible when they were needed. The school initiators’s tents were just a few meters behind the instructors’.

Food
On Day 1, lunch was served, it contained only one dish for Jains, but this was quickly rectified and by dinner time there was food to accommodate all diets. The camp also provided plates spoons and glasses in case anyone had not brought these things. The catering team was very friendly and engaged with the students. They even recruited volunteers amongst the studnets to serve the food. Some students tossed around the suggestion that they cook at least one meal as part of the camping experience. This could be interesting and could also valorize certain skills possessed by some of our less fortunate students who routinely cook on fires with minimal equipment.
Instructors & Safety

Right: A student crosses a dry bed on a special rig.

They were absolutely inline with our philosophy, they brought out the best in the students and were very approachable by students and faculty alike. One of them had visible knoweldge about Wilderness medicine and first aid, this came in handy on at least 3 occasions. The intructors’ knowledge and concern for safety was evident in every activity. I hope that I will have the privilege to be in the wilderness with some of these instructors again. Bharat bhai intrigued me from the very first day. His mountaineering culture is very different from what I have encountered in the past, it was tremendously enriching to learn some of his tricks and techniques.
Radhika (DP2) pointed out that unlike in other camps, the instructors usually answered favorably when students asked for permission to try new things. I agree with Chantanu when he says that safety measure enable you to do more things, not less. The high standard of safety was the reason why students could safely take initiative and try things.
The role of the teachers who came along
As a teacher, I felt that the camp was so well organised. The camp instructors were perfectly capable of managing the group of students without the help of MGIS intiators. Reflecting on the role of teachers in the camp, I think we provided a link between the school and the camp and perhaps to some extent it helped the students ease into the camp. During activities initiators were assigned to a tent to ensure they took part in the activities. All teachers were physically fit and active, I believe it facilitated our assisting the instructors in this camp. Had we been overweight and unhealthy, we might have been more of a burden than a help. Despite the instructors’ evident ability to handle the group, the MGIS faculty were skillfully included in the activities.
Some of the things faculty did during the camp:

* Inspected the tents for cleanliness

* Spotted students while they bouldered (climbed)
* In some cases, we helped the students to clear treacherous passes
* Monitored swimming at the lake
* Accompanied students on boat rides
* Looked after students on the bus to and from Polo
* Made groups for night duty
* Closed the march while hiking

Above: Students take a breather during a 3 hour morning hike

What I hope the students have come away with from this camp
I think the idea of establishing tent leaders and smaller units within the group may have helped them acquire a new group identity and made them more autonomous as a unit. I am sure some of these students maintained a level of hygiene in their tents that was superior to that of their own bedroom back home. Perhaps some of that self-discipline can be carried back into their home habits. Also the assemblies at the camp site forced students to gather quickly and quietly, they can do it faster and quieter but this was a good start and something that is useful in the classroom.
Being in this outdoors setting in a large group, the students have hopefully developed a critical appreciation of the way we functioned during those 4 days. It was different from but not incompatible with how we work at school, in that respect it was a refreshing exposure.
For many students it was the first time they sustained a high level of physical activities for so many days at a time. Students were able to test their limits, to better know their bodies and possibly to come away with a greater understanding of the importance of physical fitness. This also helped illustrate Mr. Karwal’s “Ball of Energy” theory.