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Theme:
"Wisdom in Activity "
Blue Star Trinidad and Tobago held its annual ‘July/August Youth Retreat’ from July 28 to August 1, 2008. This year’s theme was ‘Wisdom in Activity’. All the activities and sessions were geared towards learning how to use wisdom in all activities.
The camp began with an exciting session of Hatha Yoga with our in-house instructor, Suditi. The focus was on standing postures. While presenting quite a challenge to many of the kids, it was truly a fun session. The Hatha Yoga was done every morning and as the week progressed, the kids became better and enjoyed it even more. Some of them were even practicing the postures throughout the week during the break periods.
 
The first speaker for the retreat was none other that our dear Sri Vasudeva. He spoke to the gathering of some thirty plus youths on the selected theme, ‘Wisdom In Activity’. The session started of by him asking the kids about God, where they believe God is, how we can tap into His power and how can this allow us to use wisdom in all that we do. The kids certainly provided him with some entertaining but very meaningful answers. This was the session that really set the pace for the entire week.
 
In the afternoon, our presenter, Ernesto Kesar focused on ‘Leadership and it’s Key Components’. Ernesto started of with the important question, “How many of us are leaders?” In response to this question, just a handful of the youths present showed their hands. Through a series of activities, such as the human web and the use of games such as ‘Simon Says’, he showed that in order to be a good leader, one must also be a good follower since both go hand in hand. He also showed via the activities, that in leadership, group dynamics is especially important in allowing the opportunity for a task to be accomplished. It was very interesting to see the feedback the kids gave when questioned about the activities in terms of what the saw happening and what was learnt. At the end of the session, he posed the question he started with, “How many of us are leaders?” This time however, all the kids raised their hands with great confidence.
Our first presenter for this day was Anthony Leonard, a leader with the Scouts’ Association of Trinidad and Tobago. Anthony went through a series of survival skills which included tying knots, building a tent using a rope and a tarpaulin, first aid techniques and setting up a fire for cooking. This was truly a fun session. Some of the youths even capitalized on their new skill of tying knots by tying Youth Co-ordinator, Vijay to one of the posts of the pagoda.
The second presenter of the day was Pearl Gonzales. Pearl is no stranger to the Blue Star Youth Group. She is one who always enjoys working with the group. The focus of her session was ‘Team Building’. Here the kids viewed a part of the movie ‘Happy Feet’. This was used to show that sometimes in a team things happen that we do not cater for or expect to occur. In so doing, all members of a team must be flexible so that when the unexpected happens, one can easily adjust. The other activity was that the kids were required to build a bridge using specified parts that must be able to hold two coffee mugs filled with water. One of the objectives of this activity is to use as little parts as possible. Surely we saw some very creative designs and good team work taking place.
 
At the end of the session, the kids were able to state what the key components of good team work were and showed it in their activities throughout the retreat.
The day everyone looked forward to, the day spent outdoors. This year we chose a very short nature trail, the Chagauramas Golf Course to Macaripe Bay trail. The day started of by Guruji coming down to see us off and blessed us with a word of prayer.
 
We had just about everything we wanted; fun, bonding and the perfect weather.
Along the trail the kids displayed qualities of leadership, team work and using wisdom in all they did.
 
It is very difficult to put the beauty of this trail into words, so the pictures will speak for themselves.
This day started of with a really dynamic and creative presenter, Selvyn Lewis. Selvyn’s presentation was based on leadership and the popular tool used in the corporate world, ‘S.W.O.T.’ (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). He started of by saying that leadership is a quality that comes from within in the same way that all other qualities, love, compassion etc. comes from within us. He explained that the skills learnt in the world sometimes help us to have a better understanding of what lies within and relate to world better but always, all that we need lie within us. Selvyn’s approach was very interactive and hands on. He led the youths through a series of activities which showed them that in leadership, it is important for the leader to possess the quality of awareness and to know when to be a follower. The activities showed that in leadership, the team must also be aware of what is taking place so that all can work towards a common goal. Again through activities, he showed that in leadership, one must be able to trust those he is leading since this can greatly affect the final outcome. The final point he focused on was using playing cards to relate stories. This showed that people can use the same materials but derive various conclusions and express different point of views.
Our next presenter was the very popular Trinidadian entertainer, Peter Kelly. Peter’s focus was on ‘Drama’. His activities were geared to show how we can use drama in our daily lives in a very wise and constructive manner. Always a favourite with the Blue Star youths, his colourful personality really got the kids engaged in the session and allowed them to learn in a very fun and exciting manner. One of the key things focused on, was that in life you never know where the next moment will take you so that one must always keep an open mind in all situations.
The final day of the retreat we had one presenter, Dr. John Campbell who is a lecturer in ‘Caribbean History’ at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. He spoke to the kids about using wisdom in their everyday lives and in all that they do. He used such examples like the Terry Fox story, the story of the butterfly coming out of its cocoon and even the story of Peter Parker becoming Spiderman. Though he was not as activity based as the other presenters, his talk was interesting, meaningful and fun. It really gave the kids a new perspective. He looked at actions that display wisdom and sometimes not doing anything at all can also display of wisdom.
The beautiful week came to an end with a truly wonderful closing programme in which the youths gave their reflections on the week and displayed their various talents in drama and music.
 
  
The retreat was truly fantastic.
We thank all those who supported us and we look forward to seeing you soon again.
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