Lessons from the wild

Let me make this clear – this is not about my experience.

It is about the experiences of three Filipino delegates who won in this year’s Cathay Pacific International Wilderness Experience (CXIWE). In existence for the last eight years, the CXIWE is part of Cathay Pacific’s corporate mission, which is to "accept its responsibility towards the environment."

The CXIWE is a program where delegates are sent to camp in South Africa to learn more about the environment and themselves as well as to grow in respect of other cultures. There have been about 500 people who have participated in the program. Between 16 to 18 years of age, the delegates come from South Africa and the Asia Pacific Rim countries. This year, there were a total of 40 students from the Asia Pacific Rim and 11 from South Africa.

The delegates from the Philippines are Joseph Sarreal, 18, and Nikki Lizares, 18, both studying at Ateneo de Manila University and Nikki Zuluaga, 18, from Velez College in Cebu.

The three were chosen because of the essays they submitted on what they are doing to save the environment. They also went through two screening committees and were chosen out of the 50 who applied for the CXIWE.

What they won was an opportunity to stay for eight days in Kwa Nyathi Tented Camp, which is part of the Entabeni Nature Reserve, a big five wildlife haven in the Limpopo Province of South Africa with their campmates.

The trip for Nikki Z., Nikki L. and Joseph began when they got to Hong Kong and met their fellow delegates. From there on it was their chance to make new friends and exchange notes about what life would be like for the next eight days.

Chaos, sticking together with the familiar and then reaching out to a seatmate was what the first day in Hong Kong was like. But once the kids boarded the plane for South Africa, they had made new friends and were so excited about what they did not as yet know.

"Give the kids room to grow on their own," the media group was told by Tracey King, marketing executive of Cathay Pacific South Africa the first night we were there. "This is their camp and they need the space. Don’t be too in their face."

And so it was for the next few days as the kids followed a well-planned eight-day schedule, where we followed them but tried not to get in the way.

We walked through the African bush just as amazed as the kids were about how each leaf served a purpose. "Taste it," said Pieter Lessing, one of the camp staff who led us through the four-hour bush walk. "I can’t move my tongue," said the delegate from Thailand. "That is what that leaf is for – it’s an anesthetic," answered Pieter.

No one complained as they walked – no matter the heat. The discovery was more important than anything else.

We ate meals from all the countries at camp with the kids, taking in how the kids showed appreciation for the different kinds of food. We sat and listened to the mapping of countries where each group of delegates discussed their own countries and cultures. We watched mock wedding ceremonies, showing just how weddings were done back home. We saw the fear in the kids as they climbed down the steep cliffs. We witnessed how they tried to do the best at archery. We helped them when they asked – even if meant that we almost fell into the freezing pool of water, too. We were in awe as much as they were of the cliffs and the wild animals. We saw how they worked together to get the school painted. And then in the afternoon, we saw how they pushed each other in the mud, in good clean fun.

At night we joined the kids as they watched the stars, sang songs and told stories about each other and the day that just ended.

"I believe if the kids are empowered here they can do whatever they want to do wherever they are," said Henneke van der Merwe, head of the Ubungani Wilderness Experience which works together with CXIWE. "If the kids have the skills but they feel disempowered and do not like themselves they can’t really achieve."

Ubungani means friendship – and that is what the experience is really all about. Friendship with oneself, with the environment and the people around you. One of the important lessons at camp that the staff hoped the kids would catch would be to value and respect not only themselves but to grow and respect others as they do themselves.

"This is why this year we tried to bring in some of the Seven Habits of Covey. We want to empower the kids. The activities like abseiling down a cliff and archery are also new to the program. And then there was the community project where the kids painted a school," added Hanneke. "For me it is important that with this program, Cathay be more specific as to how to give the delegates the tools needed to be aware of their habits. Both the good and the bad and then when they know that they will better discover the driving force within themselves."

Hanneke made it clear to me as we spoke on that cool afternoon in camp that it was not her intention that all of the kids would work directly with the environment, although some of the past delegates have done this. What was more important to her was that each delegate find what was important to them and then go where that would bring them. "Because we need people who are truly concerned about the environment in all professions. In any office there must be people who care for the environment, this way it can truly be saved," added Hanneke.

Problems in the camp may arise but Hanneke makes sure that each one of them is addressed immediately. "I believe in this camp there is a promotion of caring for one another," said Hanneke.

After all, working with kids between 16 and 18 years of age is no easy task. They all have their own ideas and moods, too. But for Hanneke and her team, it is important is that the kids are respected for who they are. "You can’t fool these kids. If we really care about them, they will feel that," quipped Hanneke. "What I do know is that it is best to respect them for who they are. The kids we get in this program are very special."