RAFI offers kayak program
6:51 AM
Vernon Joseph Go
The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) Kool Adventure Camp (KAC) offers a kayak program that aims to develop and enhance leadership skills. The program is open to both corporate professionals and youth groups.
“This is not just a recreation program. This is a leadership development program using kayak as a tool. With all the beautiful and rich marine biodiversity and potential islets in Cebu, there is no reason for us not to have this kind of water activity,” Anthony Terence Ocampo, KAC deputy director for Professional Programs, said.
A kayak program will last for three to four days, wherein participants will be navigating and paddling to the sites covered by the route, like the islands of Olango, Pandanon, Caohagan, Banakon, and other islands between Cebu and Bohol.
The program will test the endurance, patience, teamwork, and communication and planning skills of the participants, as well as how they respond to changes in the environment.
The 52 tandem kayaks donated by Outward Bound Singapore will be utilized in the kayak program, which is preferably conducted during the second or third quarter of the year to avoid bad weather conditions such as typhoons and monsoons.
The head facilitators of the kayak program are Ocampo and Sheerene Abrea, KAC Professional Development Programs facilitator, who are both certified with Kayak Coach Level 1 by the Singapore Canoe Federation.
To ensure the safety of the participants, the KAC facilitators conduct Risk Assessment and Management System (RAMS) before every expedition. They follow operating procedures and standards from medical to rescue and program design, which are internationally benchmarked.
The program’s pilot group is RAFI’s Micro-finance team, who kayaked from Om Shanti, Cordova to Shalala Beach, Pangan-an and Caohagan Island last July 14-17, 2011.
“The program helped strengthen our teamwork as we cooperate with each other and focus to reaching our destination. I felt secure with several colleagues who know how to handle the kayak and the KAC team boat that followed us along the way,” Nineveh Mascariñas, finance supervisor of RAFI Micro-finance, said.
KAC is one of the programs under RAFI’s Leadership & Citizenship focus area, where future leaders are nurtured to prepare them to take an active role in affecting change. RAFI’s other focus areas are Integrated Development, Micro-finance & Entrepreneurship, Culture & Heritage, and Education.
KAC is currently building the Philippines’ first outdoor experiential center at Barangay Cansomoroy, Balamban Cebu, which is set to open in 2013.
