Jessica Errington from NSW attended the Singapore 2010 Friendship Camp. Here is her account of the wonderful experience:

Well first off, it was amazing. So much fun and totally radical!

We were split into groups with 13 participants and two leaders. The participants were from all over the world. Some spoke English, some spoke only a little and some spoke no English at all.

For me, this was the first barrier as there was only one other person in my room who could speak English. However, as friendships formed it really did not matter what language you spoke as we found other ways to communicate with one another and to show we care.

Day One: Team building session

I was in group 30 and if you ask me it was the best group ever. There were games to meet and greet and just find out a little about one another. For example, what sport we play and where we are from. etc. The opening ceremony was next and there were many performances from local schools in Singapore and our camp theme song which was 'together'. This was great as we got to dress up in our traditional costumes. Matt dressed in a crocodole costum and i was wearing boxer shorts with the australian flag, aussie shirt, ausssie thongs and a cork hat with green and gold snick.

I felt like a celebrity! I was interviewed about 20 times, it was amazing. It was very exciting for me to see all the other participants dressed up in their national outfits. This was followed by a world feast (yum!) with food from all over the world. It was good to experience new culture and great to learn new things.
 
Day Two: Sports exploration

We had the opportunity to pick a different sport to try. There was a whole range of sports and I  chose a traditional sport of Dragon Boating. We travelled outside the school and rowed this massive boat in pairs down the river viewing sights of Singapore. I made new friends who were in my boat and we stayed friends throughout the camp, even though we were on different teams.

In the afternoon in our different groups we got sent to different workshops. Group 30 and our buddy group 26 were sent to a technology workshop where they taught us how to use facebook and introduced some online sporting games. It was fun but everybody wanted to be outside playing games like other groups were doing.

That night we got a chance to chat with three successful athletes about their career and challenges they had to face through their sport. This was good and it really gave me an insight into how hard the path of an athlete is and surprisingly i still want to be one.

It was time for bed, however a group of us started playing a game of netball and slowly other people started joining in, and every night after this we met to play and other friendships were formed.
 
Day Three: Journey to downtown

The first place we went to was an old villlage, the artifacts, customs, costumes and culture was amazing. It was so good to see the excitement that everybody had to learn about this new culture. We then went to a place called 'Little India' were we learned about the Indian culture, food and costumes, and also got time to shop. A bus then took us to marina barrage where we enjoyed a typical Singaporean lunch and had activities which helped us all better understand how to work together as a team, to preserve water and to look after our enviroment. At night we had our second "Chat with a Champion" which was a great reward. We spoke with Michael Klim and for me this was a great honour and my heart rate was almost out of my chest, I was lucky enough to welcome him onto the stage and start a cheer for him as well as grab a photo of him.
 
Day Four: Island adventure

Sort of like a sport and rec camp, it was fun and we did many activites, such as a high ropes challenge and a boating activity. Group 30 split the girls and boys and naturally the girls won. It was then time to bring the boats back in and I fell off the edge into the water! Everybody laughed including me and it was a fun experience. Our last activity was team building and as our group learned our strengths and weaknesses and build on what we had, we ended up winning the game.
 
Day Five: Last day

We had another chance to pick a new sport and I chose Sepak Takraw, a game which uses a straw like ball with three people on a team. You had to kick the ball over the net and could only touch the ball three times using your feet, head and shoulders (no hands)

Following this activity was a community project. We went to a reserve and helped keep the natural habitats clean, pulling out dangerous plants and vines that were harming the environment.

The final activity of the camp was the closing ceremony where we had lots of wonderful performances and a feast of traditional Singaporean food.

The ceremony ended with singing and dancing the theme song 'together' on stage. We were then seated outside where we had a reflection time and commented on the camp. I cried as we left Singapore as the friendships I formed touched me and the bonds and memories I will cherish forever. I do feel however it is not goodbye, it's just the beginning.
 
The camp made me realise that I want to be back in Singapore next year for the Youth Olympic Games. I know it is going to be lots of hard work but I'm ready. My motivation is the friendships I formed and to see these people again it would be a dream come true for me. The only faliure is not trying so I'm going to give it my all and see those wonderful people next year.
 
Jessica Errington