Cebu youth are conquering dragons!

CEBU, Philippines - Have you ever conquered a dragon?

A “dragon” is a mythical animal usually represented as a monstrous, winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws. For the Kool Adventure Camp (KAC) youth campers, this is what they call the gigantic challenges and struggles in their young life.

“In slaying our dragons, we overcome our fears. These fears used to stop us. Now that we know we have the ability to conquer them, they will no longer hinder us from achieving our goals,” Lowelyn Anne Itang, vice-president of the Philippine Science National High School Supreme Student Government and KAC youth camper, said.

KAC is a program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation (RAFI). It is an adventure-based education program that provides learning and development opportunities for young individuals and organizations.

“Technically, the dragons at KAC refer to the three high elements of the Challenge Ropes Course, which the youth campers try to conquer during the three-day leadership training camp conducted by KAC facilitators,” Marie Sol Gonzalvo, KAC deputy director for youth programs, explained.

These three high elements include the Pamper Pole, High-Y, and Climbing Wall. Challenge course high elements are challenges experienced by individuals, partners, and groups at a height of twelve feet above ground level or higher. All high elements require a safety mechanism called a “belay” system. The elements produce powerful memories and provoke deep thoughts and emotions while challenging physical abilities.

Over a hundred youth participants from the different public high schools in the province of Cebu completed the youth leadership trainings organized by KAC in the last quarter of 2011. These schools are Lilo-an National High School, Lataban National High School, Arselo National High School, Teotimo A. Abellana Sr. Memorial National High School, and Philippine Science National High School.

The three-day camp also included lectures as well as low- and high-element activities that test the participants’ trust, teamwork, and self-reliance. The program aims to champion the advancement of individuals and communities through outdoor experiential education as they discover life’s abundance and challenges and thrive in its fullness.

 “KAC greatly helped me achieve my goals. Without KAC, I think I would not have changed and may still not be able to overcome life’s challenges. I will really remember this experience until I die because KAC allowed me to know myself. I am grateful for this outdoor experiential education program that taught me how to handle my colleagues and to have courage in the face of struggles,” Adonis Pat, Supreme Student Group president of Teotimo A. Abellana Sr. Memorial National High School and KAC youth camper, shared in Cebuano.

“As we send off the campers at the end of each camp, we always say that what they do with the tools and learnings they got from the three days they spent with KAC when they go back to their schools and their communities is the ultimate measure of the camp’s success,” Gonzalvo said.

“I personally look forward to hearing more from our alumni campers, particularly about the progress of their school community projects. As we bring our programs to a higher level with the opening of our Experiential Education Center in 2012, we are excited to serve and reach out to more of our student leaders from the public schools. This is RAFI’s commitment,” she added. 

Since 1999, KAC has organized more than 240 camps for corporate/adult programs, public high schools and other youth programs. It is currently building the Philippines’ first Outdoor Experiential Center at Barangay Cansumoroy, Balamban, Cebu, which is set to open later this year.

KAC is one of the programs under RAFI’s Leadership & Citizenship focus area, one of the five focus areas of RAFI where future leaders are nurtured to prepare them to effect change. Its other focus areas are Integrated Development, Micro-finance & Entrepreneurship, Culture & Heritage, and Education.

KAC is an organizational member of the Association for Challenge Course Technology-USA and Association for Experiential Education-USA.

For more information about KAC and its programs, please call 418-7234 local 407 and look for Althea May Santillan, or email at [email protected], or visit www.rafi.org.ph or www.facebook.com/rafi.org.ph. (FREEMAN)