Camping for charity

Last month Sino-Canada High School held a charity auction in which teachers would offer an activity and students would bid for the event of their choice. All the proceeds would go to three charities; Roots and shoots, Wujiang Orphanage and We Haul 2 Play. My group offered a true Canadian experience.... camping in the great outdoors! Mr. Joslin, Mr. Wilson, Miss. McCallum and I had the privilege of taking 5 special students to spend the night at Moganshan, a tranquil escape surrounded by a beautiful bamboo forest.

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When we arrived, we hiked through the dense bamboo and pine forest to reach our campsite; the Moon Pavilion. Many students have never been camping before and at times I questioned if they really knew what they got themselves into. The idea of sleeping outside with no showers or amenities was associated with being homeless in Chinese culture. I demonstrated how to put a tent together and our amazing students caught on right away. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Joslin forgot their night light.... so they decided to position their tent between students to be protected from the mysteries of the night and Miss. McCallum lucked out with the penthouse suit on the top of the Moon Pavilion.

Once set-up we started to prepare dinner and together we cooked chicken and prepared burritos with all the fixings. Once everything was washed and put away, the students pyro instincts came to life. Michael a student from Germany lead the charge using a special technique passed on by his Father to start a fire using wet wood. Mr. Wilson would have probably resorted to gasoline or banging rocks together like a wild ape, but Michael proved that he could survive regardless of the elements presented by nature. The night also included singing songs, playing the guitar and roasting marshmallows. After an exciting day we quickly fell a sleep in our tents listening to the rain and night sounds around us, which was occasionally interrupted by Mr. Wilson's orchestra of snoring. With an early start we packed up out tents and gear and the students cooked up breakfast which was scrambled eggs. Then we headed out for a four-hour hike through the bamboo forest heading towards a beautiful temple. It was a difficult climb back up to our campsite but the journey was worth every step as it was beautifully inspiring to be outdoors and working as a team.

I will never forget this experience and hope for there to be many more like it for all of Sino Highs beautiful students. It was a very memorable charity auction activity; a big thank you to Miss McCallum, Mr. Chris and Mr. Wilson as well as the amazing students, who donated a significant amount of money to several worthy charities, for making this event possible. In the end the students of Sino-Canada raised 31000 RMB which is close to $5000! Congratulations students and staff on a job well done!

Post by Ms. McCallum and Mr. Hayes

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