Recently, Deaf Children Australia hosted a leaders’ camp for ten deaf and hearing young adults interested in nurturing their skills mentoring and supporting children and young people through our recreation activities and leisure experiences. Travelling from far away as the regional towns, Ballarat and Bairnsdale, participants were from all walks of life. They shared their day to day experiences as Auslan, Outdoor Education and Audiology students, a parent of a deaf son, a personal trainer and a pharmacist throughout the duration of the experience.
“The leaders’ camp was a fantastic experience! It was lovely to meet the other participants at the camp and to get their insights from their own experience and discuss what they think is important in a leader as well as what activities would be enjoyable for D/deaf and hard of hearing young children at future day events and camps. Andrew was a fantastic facilitator who challenged us to think of solutions to difficult problems as a team, enjoying ourselves along the way. I would highly recommend the leaders retreat to anyone who wants to make a difference for young D/deaf and hard of hearing children in the future.” – Participant Carah Ryan
The group was engaged in team building activities led by outdoor education coordinator, Andrew Welshe. The activities challenged the participants’ capacities and abilities to negotiate creative solutions within a team setting.
An important camp learning was to project manage team inspired activity ideas for young people from 14 – 17 years of age. The participants spent a significant amount of time discussing the activity ideas, identifying their skills, creating task teams and building up a presentation and proposal to pitch to DCA Recreation for consideration/ evaluation in the coming months.
This May Leaders’ Camp was a rewarding experience for all, participants and organisers alike.
If you would like to participate in any future Leaders’ Camps, please contact Recreation at recreation@deafchildren.org.au
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
