| Aziz Idris |
SUMBILING Eco Village (SEV) will be part of the Brunei December Festival 2017 organised for the first time by the Brunei Tourism Board with the cooperation of various ministries, private sectors and stakeholders.
With the aim to increase the number of tourists visiting Brunei Darussalam, SEV will host a school camp for students in conjunction with the year-end event.
The school camp invites students aged 15 and above to have an interactive nature learning experience in the forests of Temburong. Students can opt for day or overnight packages with various activities to choose from.
The first batch of students comprising 11 students from Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (YSHHB) Secondary School left yesterday for an overnight group camp, accompanied by seven teachers.
Upon arrival, the students were served with lunch in the jungle. As part of its team building efforts, they were involved in the preparation of bamboo chicken and glutinous rice by using bamboo.
The students were also taken to a guided water trek along the Mutong River.
During the trek they were able to identify plants and its properties along the way explained by the local village guide.
In the evening, they had a ‘kampong’ themed dinner consisting of traditional Malay cuisines. The highlight of the first night was the night walk in the nearby jungle where they spotted nocturnal creatures.
The theme for Day 2’s morning activity was cultural and traditional.
The students had a chance to get to try the local art by doing rock painting and also the traditional hunting weapon known as blowpipe.
They spent the remaining day relaxing and swimming by the river facing SEV.
The jungle trekking activity was the students’ favourite.
Mohammad Hanan Kadir from YSHHB Secondary School enjoyed jungle trekking.
Being in the police cadet team, the experiences gained through the trekking benefited him.
He also finds the teamwork and encouragement among his fellow peers beneficial and he joined the camp as he wanted to get to know everyone (his peers) much better outside the school setting.
According to his peer Adam, on the other hand, was more excited to know about the traditional herbs and plants, especially their healing properties during the jungle trek.
He also learned the importance of trust and communication among his peers and teachers.
