Summer Camp

◎ Karen Wang

My name is Karen Wang, I am 17 years old, and grew up in Canada. This year Toronto Ming-Hwa Temple held a summer camp, of which the theme is Benevolent—Be Kind to All. And I had the privilege of being the ‟Banzhan (班長)” of the camp. I would like to start off by thanking Master Ho and everyone else who gave me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I would also like to thank my temple family for the support they have given me through the week of the camp.

▲  營隊的靈魂人物──班長Karen！

2019 was a year full of change; not only was the volunteer camp changed from two days to three days, but the camp itself was extended to five days (originally three). To start off, we had the benefit of having a three-day volunteer summer camp. This year, we were very lucky to have approximately 15 volunteers which was the most we’ve had compared to the previous years. As a representative from Toronto Ming-Hwa Temple, I appreciated the fact that we had friends from Taiwan coming and helping us prepare for this camp. We had a lovely woman named Da Guan preparing multiple activities for us volunteers to get to know each other better and become closer as one. I like to think that this year’s group became not only closer, but became a family. We all worked together to make this year’s summer camp a memorable one. I’m thankful that this year’s summer camp turned out the way it did as this was my last year doing this. Next year, I will be in the other city for college.

As mentioned, this was the first year that we had a three-day volunteer camp. Usually, we would have a two-day preparation with the counselors from Taiwan. This year we had two days getting to know one another and one day for preparation. Although the last day was long and involved learning all the classes, time went by fast as I had spent it with many of my friends. Playing the activities was not only fun, but very smart and effieient, for it made us evolved from each individual into a team. I would like to thank specifically Da Guan(大觀) for organizing this section as it was really helpful.

Now the real deal. Surprisingly, I was not nervous on the first day (August 19, 2019) of summer camp. I was very confident as many people have encouragingly said I’d do great and how they had the confidence in me. This first day was hectic and difficult to understand all the campers as this was my first time being the banzhan. Throughout the day, it was hard to get the children’s attention, but I found the method of saying ‟hands on top” and the kids replying ‟that means stop” was the way to go. I was very surprised that this method gathered their attention and was grateful that it did. The day did go by very slow, but from the first day I was able to learn a lot. As the days went by, it was the final day. I’m not lying, it flew by very quickly. The last day was the best day as all the kids were laughing. It made me smile when every single kid in the room had a big smile on their faces. That was probably the best memory I vividly remember. At the end of each summer camp, we asked for the kid’s feedback as well as a reflection. When I heard many kids talk, my heart grew bigger and bigger because of the amount of fun they said they had. This camp would not have happened without these kids and their positive attitude.

▲  「自我檢視」課程中，學員真誠分享活動感受。

I learned many things through this camp such as helping others and being patient. Why is additional patience needed? It was because different children need different things, and it would be disrespectful not to be attentive to each of them. I also learned how to quickly act if anything in the schedule was to change. Thinking back, although there were many ups and downs during the camp itself and the preparation (started last December) for the camp was lengthy, this year’s camp did fly by fast. I genuinely feel that I have learned lots from this camp and from the people I have interacted with. Also, since I want to be a teacher in the near future, this was an extremely great chance to see if being a teacher was suitable for me. Lastly, I would like to thank those who made this year’s camp possible starting from Master Ho, the coordinator, the friends from Taiwan, the volunteers, the kids, and finally the hardworking chefs. Without those chefs, we would not have tasty lunch nor snacks for everyone. Overall, this opportunity was greatly appreciated.

2019加拿大多倫多明華道院國學營

◎ 中譯  王己芸  謝雅琦

我是17歲的Karen Wang（王己芸），從小在加拿大長大。今年，承蒙何阿木點傳師的栽培及厚愛，讓我有這榮幸學習擔任多倫多明華道院舉辦的「仁道我最行（Benevolent - Be Kind to All）」夏令營的班長。對我來說，擔任夏令營班長是一生中難得的一次機會！在此，我也想要感恩多倫多明華道院大家庭，在夏令營那一整個星期對我的支持；沒有這些學長的支持和鼓勵，我無法完成這項艱難的任務。

2019年的營隊真的很不一樣，除了義工訓練營從2天改成3天外，實際的夏令營也從原本的3天改成5天。今年，我們很幸運地召集到15名義工，是道院辦夏令營以來最多的一次。此外，我也很感恩這次從台灣來支援我們的學長們，尤其特別感謝小名叫做「大觀」的林悅慈學長，她所精心設計一系列的幹訓活動，就是為了要讓我們這些義工從陌生人變成朋友，到最後成為一家人！也因為這樣，今年的義工們有了共識要互相扶持將這次的營隊帶好，一起讓參與的小朋友留下美好的回憶。再一次感恩上天，讓這次的夏令營圓滿完成，也讓我在營隊中的服務畫下美好句點，明年我就要去別的城市上大學了。

▲  大觀講師細心引導學員分享心得。

如同上述，今年的義工幹訓天數長達3天。以往的幹訓都是2天，且最主要就是和台灣支援的學長跑流程和討論課程內容。但是今年，義工們卻有2天的時間先認識對方，流程及課程內容的討論則留到最後一天。雖然最後一天裡，時間有點長，但是因為我有了新夥伴的陪伴，感覺時間一下就過去了。我覺得經由活動的方式，引導義工們從個體蛻變成一個團隊，是非常有趣、聰明暨有效率的方式。我在此真的非常感謝大觀學長的用心，所策劃這2天的活動，對我們非常有幫助！

現在來分享我的心得。其實這次我非常驚訝，原本以為自己會很緊張，但是從夏令營的第一天（8月19日）開始，我完全不緊張。我很有自信能夠完成這次的任務，因為有很多人不斷地鼓勵我，一直跟我說我一定會做得很好且對我有信心。儘管如此，第一次擔任班長的我，在夏令營的第一天還是感到無比忙碌，而且很難認識所有的小朋友。在這過程中，我面臨的難題是如何引起小朋友的注意，但是後來發現，在他們吵鬧的時候，就用我一開始跟他們練習的小默契─―我只要大喊：「手放頭上。」小朋友必須回覆：「就要停下來。」我其實非常訝異這小默契如此好用，也非常感恩這個方法有效。雖然每天都感覺時間過得很慢，但是我真的學到很多，且轉眼間就到了最後一天。對我來說，最後一天是最棒的一天，因為所有的小朋友都歡喜地笑著！看到他們臉上都掛著燦爛的笑容，我也跟著笑起來了；他們的微笑是我最好的回憶。當夏令營到了尾聲時，我們都會邀請小朋友分享心得，並給予一些回饋。每當聽到他們的回饋，幾乎都說這次的夏令營很好玩時，我心中的那份感動就增加一分。如果沒有這些孩子及他們的積極態度，也不會有這次的夏令營了。

▲  營隊結束後，小隊輔歡慶留影。

經歷這次的營隊，我學到了很多，像是幫助他人，以及還要有更多的耐心。為什麼會需要更多的耐心呢？因為每位小孩子的需求不同，如果草率地聽聽就算了，這樣豈不是不尊重他們了？所以要用更多的時間聽他們敘述自己的想法。在營隊中，流程難免都會有些變動，而這些臨時的變動也訓練我對變化的應變能力。回想這一切，雖然籌備階段很長（去年12月就開始），而營隊過程中有歡樂也有艱辛，但是一轉眼間，這次的營隊已經完成了。我真心感覺自己在夏令營還有跟其他人互動中，都學到了很多。除此之外，因為我立志成為一名老師，所以這次擔任班長是一個很棒的機會，讓自己看看是否真的適合當老師。最後，我想要感謝所有一起完成如此盛大活動的人，包含何點傳師、夏令營總召、來支援的台灣學長們、義工們、學員們，還有最辛苦的廚師爸爸、媽媽們，沒有他們，大家就沒有好吃的午餐和點心。最終，我再次感恩大家給我擔任班長的學習機會。