Travel, Camp and Educate with the Duke of Edinburgh International Award program

DerikNg
Sep 25, 2019
2 min read

Hiking into the deep end of Boh Tea Plantation, Cameron Highlands

Being re-positioned to the heart of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur after completing my studies in the United States, I begun to start my career in the outdoor education industry where I had lead groups of international students into the unknown, educating them knowledge that can only be acquired through the mighty outdoors as their informal classroom.

Travel: It is the first step that everyone takes to learn something. Travelling is an action that we partake to challenge ourselves into the unknown, discovering new things and passions. Working with international students from the Duke of Edinburgh award program, travelling has became one of the key essential step towards growth because students are able to learn beyond their classrooms.

Photo taken in Lake Kenyir, Malaysia

Camp: We camp, cook and huddle together because it only makes us stronger. Camping with the equipment and tools in our rucksacks makes it an incredibly tough task to do, especially for a teenager who had spend most of their times in the city with proper facilities, amenities and social media. However, camping teaches us to be self-sustainable and appreciative towards the little things we have in life such as the people around us. Here, new friendships are formed and bonds strengthening on its own without the presence of social media and any other form of distraction. Camping also helps students understand that wastage should not be a choice which food and water are always limited in such an unknown area. Money no longer becomes useful to the community as it only exists as fiat currency which does not withhold any commodity value. Thus, the nature nurtures each student here.

Picture taken in Survival Island, Pahang, Malaysia

Educate: We experience, learn, adapt and grow to our best form. Education takes place everywhere and anytime, it is always up to the willingness of each individual to learn and soak the information given. Working with the international students from the DOE program, I've always encouraged personal development and self-growth to each individual as I've believed that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Here, students are given the room to make mistakes to learn from it. No one is ever too stupid or smart in a sense, and only from that we can hear the perspective and voices of everyone.