OSC Day 4!

Today's blog post is written by: Nitika.

Today’s session started with a combination of group activities. It included rope untying, boiling an egg, jumping off the rope, filling up a pipe with water to get the ball out which had holes in it and finding a coin in the flour or water.  It was quite an activity which needed patience and control because some groups kept on failing and starting again, for example: refill the pipe with water if it leaks.

After finishing these activities, we headed out for rafting. We took our paddles and hiked down to the river. Instructions were given and we practiced before starting. We hadn’t crossed a kilometer and we had to face the 1^st rapid. It was a class 3 rapid. It was pretty exciting as well as frightening because it was a new experience for most of the students. The thought of flipping over or messing up gave us an adrenaline rush. As rapids passed, we got used to it and had control over the raft. Unfortunately one boat flipped on the Killer Fall but they coped up well (Editor’s Note: Everyone is uninjured and some actually enjoyed the experience!). As a team, most of the members were synced, which helped us move the raft properly.

After finishing rafting, we got down at the shore of the river. We were asked to create our own rafts using wood, tyres/tubes and rope. We could only use the materials we were given. This was a challenging experience because no one had ever made a raft using basic materials. We really worked as a team because we had to make parts of the raft separately and join them together. We had collaborated well as we agreed to the decisions made regarding the structure of the raft. Finally, we boarded our rafts and moved on (Editor’s Note: After building the rafts, they had to race them about 700 meters). I think no one ever thought that those rafts would stay afloat because they weren’t strong enough but it worked out well. It was something new that we learnt which was technical as well as interesting. Our activity ended after reaching the base camp in our own made rafts. Overall it was a thrilling experience.