What I did last summer…

..although it was actually the middle of autumn. But from my point of view, it was summer. Cause in Singapore it’s summer all year long.
But first things first. During October 2011, Outward Bound Croatia proposed to send me to Singapore and Indonesia to undergo a ”21 day Classic Challenge Course” organized by Outward Bound Singapore (OBS). After hearing ”Singapore and Indonesia” I accepted immediately (actually, I tried playing it cool : ”… I mean, yeah, why not. I just have to make sure my Uni approves, but why not?…”). After battleing administration and pleading to be excused from my lectures at Uni, getting a visa and experiencing all other perils that are out there, to get one worldly-man-to-be, on 13th of October I finally boarded my flight to the unknown.

15-ish hours of flight and 10-ish hours of window shopping in duty free zones, I arrived to Changi Airport, Singapore. Goodbye winter jackets and + 3 degrees Celsius, hello + 33 C and thongs!

If you didn’t know, Singapore is situated 137 km north of the ecuator, inside a tropical belt. Temperature is +22C when it’s the coldest time of the year, and usually around +30C. Humidity is dreadful, one wants to glue himself to a dehumidifier. Never, I repeat NEVER, will you feel dry. If you plan on using that iPhone or a notepad of yours for more than couple of months, you’re gonna get some sort of dry or ziplock bag for it, and if you are planning on sleeping anyplace that isn’t airconned, you’re going to use a special ”Prickly powder” with menthole extract to cool you down and allow you a good night’s sleep. Also, you will not smoke nor chew gum while walking in the streets, unless you plan on donating 1000USD to the state. Spitting will get you a 500$ fine, and possesion of drugs with the intent to sell, a death sentence. Singaporeans are nice, always smiling and polite. They don’t curse nor fight and they don’t get sarcasm. They live, work and don’t whine about taxes or the price of petrol. It’s a different world out there.

But, let’s get back to OBS. So, OBS’s playground consists of a whole island. Yes, I said an island. They have a camp with 20-ish large dorms and accompanying storages, a gym, big mess hall with a kitchen, couple of smaller pantries, 10-ish large study halls. There is an old camp nearby, not as fancy, but still really looked after and usable. If need be, at any given time they can accomodate 400 participants ditributed among both camps, not including OBS staff. They have a fleet of 80-ish kayaks, 4 sailing boats (cutters), 4 smaller cruise boats (cap. around 40 people), 8 motorboats and an expedition, or popularly called ”motherboat”, capable of rescuing capsized cutters. Their staff consist of 70ish full-time instructors and at least that many various other personel. OBS, like Singapore, is one little city-state for itself.
After a couple of days of wandering through the city and the island, finally my course had started. 27 of us where divided into 2 watches – ”Elizabeth” (my watch) and ”Nehru”. Besides 10 OBS staff, there were OB instructors from Sabbah, India, Taiwan and Romania, plus 11 people from Indonesian Ministry of Transportation. Course consists of ”hard skills” and ‘’soft skills”. Hard skills consist of morning and/or evening PE, learning various things like how to build a raft or a shelter, how to kayak and rockclimb, wilderness 1st aid, etc… Soft skills can be divided on personal and group. Their aim is to strenthen the individual personally, teach him how to rely on his strong features, accept the weak ones, and if possible to overcome them. Group part is based on a leadership/followership idea and the goal is to understand group dynamics and one’s role in it.

Every watch has it’s own dorm and it’s own instructor. The whole idea and content of the course are the same for all the watches, but instructors have the right to ”tweak” it as they see fit, meaning that every watch doesen’t have to undergo same challenges or complete the same tasks. For 21 days you will literally be living with your watch. You do everything together – you eat together, sleep together, you trek together in the rain, you laugh together and you sweat together. You feel the same hardships and enjoy the same moments of respite after a whole day of kayaking. At the beginning, when you hand over your cellphone, mp3 player and your books, they tell you that your new friends are to be your books, radios and games. It’s a sort of a primal, almost tribe-like feeling of belonging.

After first 10 days of basic hard skills (PE and various skills, mini land and sea expedition 1-3 days long), you undergo a ‘’solo”. Solo lasts for 3 days and 2 nights, and as the name says, you are alone (unless a local boar decides to pay you a visit. Note to self : tie the rubbish bag tighter next time,stupid). You are given 2 plastic tarps to build a shelter, some ropes and enough provisions for the duration of the solo. One should use the precious alone time, something that is so easily overlooked these days, to recuperate the mind and the body, and prepare it for the finall challenge that is a highlight of the course – a 9 day expedition. Also, away from all the stimuli, excluding the wind and the rain, an occasional boar and the morning sun, one can let his mind go free. Allow it to dwell on all the things we keep hidden or deem not convinient. It’s amazing what can be seen if only we close our eyes and let our thoughts take us away.

Final expedition consisted of sailing to (and back) the island of Batam in Indonesia and kayaking around island of Bintan. During 5 days we kayaked for more than 200km against the current and the waves, we capsized and we were sea-sick, we even ran into hundreds of gallons of crude oil that came from the South China sea. We slept on beaches and hard grounds surrounded by 15cm centipedes and scorpions. We were washed by rain and burned by sun. We had blisters on our hands and abrasions from paddling. We would paddle for approx. 9 hours daily ; in intervals of 45 min of paddling and then a 5 minute break. We would wake up at 4AM and go to bed after 11PM. But it was amazing. Amazing beaches, jade green sea, white sand and daybreaks on the Indonesian sea. Best noodles and canned tuna ever. Warmest songs and best lousy jokes. Most sincere smiles and tears. Something I’ll never forget.

My oppinion is that this group component that Outward Bound implements is the most valuable thing in its courses. It makes you more socially rugged and willing to take on everyday challenges, whatever they are. It teaches you how to live with people, not just co-exist with them. It teaches you how to fight for yourself and your beliefs, but without discounting others. Like the saying goes, teaches you how to give of yourself, and not just of your possesions. How to offer help when it’s needed, but how to ask for it as well.

In today’s world, being confined in our appartments with our flat-rate internets and facebooks, it’s hard to actually live our lives, truly experience them. How to enjoy the warmth and comfort our beds give us if we don’t feel the coldness of rain and blowing of the wind on our own skin? How to look forward to a tidy house and a cooked meal if we never had to prepare our shelter and dinner after a whole day of trekking? How to appreciate the luxuries we own and use if we don’t experience being without them?

I would like to end this with a thought I wrote down on the last day of the course. After all the big words I wrote and quotes i used, I think that it describes this 21 day experience in the purest form.

”…it’s nice here. I don’t need my cell, my laptop, i don’t need to cut my hair or worry about my attire. I am relaxed. At peace, somehow. That is what I’d like to take back. That is what I’m lacking. Peace…”

OBC sent a call for new instructor trainees in October this year. A group of about 20 people was formed and we started with a short introductory course, just for them to get to know each other and to get a taste of what Outward Bound is about and whether or not it is something for them. Apparently it is. For all of them.

Our new hopes come from all walks of life: alpine and free climbers, trekkers, students, life-guards, guides, psychologists, geodesics, you name it, we got it! We prepared for them a short intro-course with 2 day expedition along some of the less known parts of Zagreb’s Mountain and a day of pure challenge at the big abseil down the cliff of Gorsko zrcalo!

It is said that three days are not enough to really get to known a person, but that rule does not apply for OB courses. This course was blessed with unusual diversity of out new staff, and we gave them assignments accordingly, that is, the least experienced in the outdoor had a task of navigating with map and compass, while those experienced were practicing their patience and guidance during the hike through the eastern parts of the mountain, revealing some spectacular autumn scenery, so close to Zagreb, yet so hidden. The tasks that the group was given ranged from collecting chestnuts for dessert at the end of the day, walking tied together with a rope, scrambling down ravines and mountain springs, to the famous solo and challenging descent down Gorsko zrcalo. All of it was spiced by a short daylight period, so there wasn’t a day the group arrived at the destination before the dark.

Sounds strenuous? Part of the training is about managing our own moods, at which our new instructors were quite successful, having fun all the way, and finding their own ways to enjoy the ride, no matter what the difficulty might be, either physical or part of the group life. They will need these skills in their further development as OB instructors as well as in achieving their own life goals.

Instructor training continued in the same week after the course. Having experienced what it is like to be a participant, our rookies are now ready to continue their 3-month training, mastering all the practical and theoretical skills required to deliver an OB course, and to be ready for season 2012, which promises a plethora of courses, adventure, discovery and fun!

26 sudionika projekta okupilo se iz Poljske, Mađarske, Litve, Španjolske, Portugala i Hrvatske. Glavna tema njihovog programa bila je komunikacija, koju su obrađivali iz nekoliko kuteva, koristeći se brojnim metodama neformalnog obrazovanja, poput radionica neverbalne komunikacije, plesom, korištenjem el.medija i sl. U ovom međunarodnom projektu HŠOB je prepoznat kao vodeća organizacija za team-building programe na otvorenom, čime se unapređuju međusobni odnosi unutar poslovnog okruženja a ponajviše komunikacija, što je i tema ovog projekta. Zbog toga su se organizatori odlučili na suradnju na ovom projektu a i ubuduće kako bi svojim polaznicima pružili i jednu drugu perspektivu.

Program smo započeli pozdravom, kratkim uvodom i ”energizer” igrom u predvorju zgrade NS Dubrava. Nakon toga smo u dvorani održali kratku prezentaciju o HŠOB nakon čega smo sudionike podijelili na tri grupe.Svaka grupa je dobila upute i kartu kako javnim prijevozom doći do Grada Mladih. Nakon dolaska svih polaznika, svatko od instruktora je pruzeo jednu grupu i krenuli su u rješavanje zadataka. Polaznici su bili vrlo motivirani i zajednički su rješavali sve predstavljene im zadatke. Završili smo sve prema dogovoru i zajedno otišli na ručak.

U tu svrhu objavljuje javni natječaj za nabavu opreme za kuhinju.
Donator sredstava za opremanje kuhinje je Rotary klub.
Natječaj je otvoren do 31.08.2011. godine.
Natječajnu dokumentaciju možete podići ovdje:

Ograniceno prikupljanje ponuda.doc
Idejno rjesenje Kuhinja V.Zitnik.dwg
Idejno rjesenje01.pdf
Specifikacija opreme.xls
Ugovor o nabavi opreme za kuhinju.doc

Sve dokumente možete preuzeti zajedno u komprimiranoj datoteci:
HSOB_Natjecajna_dokumentacija_kuhinja_V.Zitnik.zip

Tečaj se održava od 10. – 17.08.2011.
Mjesto održavanja tečaja je u blizini Ravnog Dabra na srednjem Velebitu. Tečaj je namijenjen studentima i odraslima.

Program je djelomično financiran sredstvima Ministarstva znanosti, obrazovanja i sporta. Zbog toga je potrebno da polaznici programa – studenti uplate po 500,00 kn po osobi, a odrasli po 850,00 kn po osobi. Polaznici trebaju sami organizirati dolazak na Baške Oštarije, te povratak kući sa istog mjesta.

Molimo vas da prilikom prijave ispunite prijavni obrazac te ga posaljete na e-mail adresu prijava@outwardbound.hr. Po zaprimljenoj prijavi, dobit ćete ostale informacije o načinu plaćanja.

Obzirom da je broj polaznika ograničen, molimo Vas da svoju prijavu pošaljete što prije. Detalje oko mjesta i vremena dolaska molimo dogovorite s voditeljem programa Orsatom Kratofilom na tel. broj: 092 1461-348

Za više informacija o programu pročitajte Opis programa

Napomena: program će se na terenu prilagođavati obzirom na dinamiku grupe, te su sa tim u vezi moguća odstupanja od priloženog opisa programa.

Vidimo se!

This time the group was quite diverse, gathering in one place participants ranging form 17 years of age up to 23, from all over Croatia, from Split and Kaštela in the south to the Pula, Krapina, Osijek and Zagreb. The team had a hard time finding a common language, especially in a setting that no one is familiar with. From the start, the camping and life in nature posed a great challenge. Sleeping in the outdoors, beneath the clear and starry sky, summiting the high peaks of Velebit as well as discovering own abilities as a leader, are daunting tasks in them selves, but persisting towards their goals, striving and not yielding, they managed to endure it all. As the saying goes: ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step’.

At the end of the course, they all returned to their homes, weary but enriched with experience, aware that the real ‘adventure is out there’. They need but to embark on it.

To earn the Award, the students need to complete several projects, developing new skills, engaging in community service, proving their aptitude in a significant physical activity and undertake a multi-day expedition. And for this last part, they turned to OBC for help.

This is already third year ZIS is cooperating with OBC and this time they were in for a treat. The course started on the beautiful Island of Rab, with a sea-kayak expedition. After enjoying some sun and the sea, they left for the real thing: a 4-day land expedition across the Velebit Mt. They traversed kilometers of forest and rocky paths, with spectacular views of Croatian coast. They also had a chance to tackle the challenges of free climbing on one of the famous ‘kuk’ – rocky peaks characteristic of Croatian mountains. In great spirit they enjoyed their adventure and successfully completed their expedition, bringing them one step closer to their goal.

OBC presented it’s history, work and design principles to the students, and introduced them to the method of experiential learning in the outdoors. After the lecture, the student had a chance to experience selected activities set in the campus, designed to develop one’s capacity to rely on their own strengths and learn how to effectively work in a group.

Outward Bound Croatia works with young people delivering various programs directly involved in the prevention of addiction among youth by developing social and life skills to prevent drug use and addiction. By working in groups, young people develop self-confidence and self-esteem, mutual communication and cooperation and ability to take responsibility for themselves and others.

Contributing to fighting drug addiction Outward Bound programs were conducted in Split and Zagreb, from 15th November to 15th December 2010.

11th December 2010. The youth from the Home for Children ” Miljenko i Dobrila” from Kaštel Lukšić had an OB course on Malačka based on the activities of rock climbing and rappelling.

12th December 2010. The youth from the capoeira club “Amazonas”, some of which are also the residents of children homes, “AG Matoš” and “I.G.Kovačić” from Zagreb, had an OB course in adrenaline park in Sveta Nedelja near Zagreb.

Grundtivg program is one of five Lifelong Learning Programs, and is designed for professional development and training of adults and / or persons involved in delivering adult education programs.
Training in Sovata was organized for those who work as instructors or trainers in designing and conducting various forms of outdoor trainings.

With the guidance from experienced trainers Ádám Horváth-Kovács from Outward Bound Romania and Juhász Zsuzsanna from Academy of Experiences from Hungary, the students were introduced to the theoretical models based on experiential learning in nature, or learning by doing, and practical exercises on how to design and deliver experiential activities in nature: from working on high and low ropes, problem-solving tasks to the organization and execution of the Expedition – an extremely powerful tool used in Outward Bound for discovering and practicing different leadership styles.

Special emphasis was placed on debriefing the experience, a reflection that enables us to evaluate and learn from what we do, one of the most important parts of experiential learning in nature. Multi-cultural evening provided a hands-on “experiential introduction to the culinary specialties of the attending countries (yum-yum!) and their other natural and cultural aspects. Well-established communication and relationships have opened many possibilities for future cooperation.

Last day of the program participants underwent theoretical and practical examination under the strict supervision of representatives of the Romanian state bodies. Students who passed the exam (all of them!) received two certificates for outdoor trainers: one valid within the Outward Bound organization, and the other official within Romania and EU countries.

We plan to continue applying for Grundvig programs, to provide our instructors with opportunities for professional and personal growth, to further enhance quality of our courses. May it be repeated!