Second day of Fo Guang Happy Camp

The second day of the Children’s Happy Camp took place on Saturday 8th of January 2011. The Children were all excited to see each other again and rushed off to join their groups. The day started with a fun game of musical chairs. The children were all determined to earn their group some points and to be the last ones standing. After all the running around the groups moved to the dinning room to take part in making Pizza, taught by, Margret. The children added their own pizza toppings and while they waited for the pizza to bake they moved to the room next door to get their creative side into gear as they participated in the “kind hearts radiate” drawing competition. After a creative morning, the children moved into the dining hall for lunch and they managed to do everything better then the day before as there was a huge improvement. Lunch was followed by walking meditation and the children made their way into the Guang Ming Hall for a class with their teacher Uncle Pang, a former principal in Malaysia. The children had a fantastic time with Uncle Pang and all participated extremely well. Uncle Pang taught them how to use the three goods in everyday life through song and dance.

In the afternoon, the groups all participated in a mini game of ‘capture the flag’. The groups competed against each other and the winner of the game was the group Practice who had won all three of their games. The next two teams, Habit and Compassion both tied at third place because no one was able to determine the winner of the games between the two teams. Prior to the Closing ceremony, the groups were able to rehearse their play and group chant once more before presenting them to their parents and BLIA members at the Closing Ceremony. The closing Ceremony was packed with parents who had come to watch their children perform and every group performed their play one by one followed by the group chant. Everyone was quiet whilst they anticipated the final results of the winners of the 2011 Happy Camp. First place went to group ‘Habit’, followed by group ‘Action’ in second place and third place went to the group ‘Determination’. Everyone was a winner in the end as each of the groups came up to collect their prizes. To end the day, Venerable Abbess Manshin invited some of the children to talk about their experience at Happy Camp and what they had learnt. One child said “Happy Camp was so much fun; I wanted it to happen everyday”. The group leaders were also invited to share what they had learnt from the children and the experience; they said how this experience has helped them learn how to laugh and how to be responsible. The last day of Happy Camp concluded at 4.30pm.