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Well, how do I begin this time?
Before I begin, I would refer you to the mentor diary for the second day just so that you can get used to my style of writing and any references I link to that entry.
So, I have begun again and let me just say what a journey its been……So far!
I am now coming to the end of this amazing endeavour but as I’ve been told many a time, it is merely the beginning of the end.
Whichever way it is, beginning ,middle or end, I know that a whole week has passed by blazingly fast and here I am again having the great pleasure of conveying my current state to you, so on to the next section…
How do I feel?
In 2 short words...... Absolutely overwhelmed!
This time the spread of being overwhelmed is over a variety of areas. Not only have I had to be continuously aware of the of the welfare of my planet and the entire campsite, I have to comment on my own health.
I had to be incognito for a day due to ill health (don’t worry, it was nothing serious) and our young Neptunians were in the good hands of Shuayb Bha. So, I am still in my recovery period but Alhamdulillah have resumed my role and have taken on my duties again (thanks to all that covered me while I was snooooozing!).
So, that’s one half of why I am so overwhelmed, the other is similar to my other entry. The campers (and not only the ones that I have been assigned to) have absolutely astounded me with the ways in which they have individually grown and developed - Masha-Allah!
What’s happening right at this moment you ask? (01:46 01st August 2009)
Well, as I sit here from the Columbus common room, we are finishing off one of our very last night meetings. Should I cheer? I think not... Honestly these are the meetings that kept us sane throughout the camp. And no, don't worry your children didn't drive us mad, the lack of sleep did. Now the rest of the CoEJ staff are cleaning up the kitchen and I will begin rounding off my entry.
What about my planet?
Neptune again will be fortunate to serve food tomorrow. One of the last days that we will have all meals in unity, not to mention all salaat in Jamaat (Congregation).
Also, what can I say. I am honestly dumfounded at what each camper has shown me. There were many timid young men presented to me on the day of arrival, but today each and every one of them has been able to crack out of their little shells and find their absolute comfort zone. Alhmadulillah! And yes, they are definitely striving "towards excellence".
My last notes...
This is going to be very brief.
I have had my ups and downs, jokes, laughter and 'talks' with certain campers but in the end I can not iterate just how amazed and changed I am through this camp.
In a nutshell, I couldn't be happier. Allah (SWT) has blessed me with this opportunity and I honestly cannot be more thankful!
Zahir-Abbas Sumar
Planet Neptune Mentor
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As the long john Silver theme tune rang from the alarm clicks in room 1, there was five minutes to Fajr azan. As I rushed into the courtyard of Columbus, I stood back for a moment and watched as the campers had fallen into the Fajr groove. Small streams of Pyjamas and jackets leave their rooms to join the collective river of slumber struck campers into the namaaz room… As the clock struck noon I drew my lesson on greater sins to a close, a gloomy yet vital part of the camp’s syllabus, but that didn’t dampen the growing buzz around the camp site. The campers swiftly dispersed into their holes getting ready for their journey ahead. Warm wet proof clothes packed lunches and pocket money at the ready as the entire camp site set of for Stockholm town centre. The butterflies within began to flap their wings, anxious tense and alert we marched on, boarded bus and train, and soon enough we had arrived. The city made up of islands. 40, 000 of them. Souvenirs filled the campers bags while ice cream filled their bellies, exhausted, shattered, fatigued we marched on and boarded the bus back to the camp. As we got off and headed down the grassy pathways into the camp site, I sighed with relief, the constant unnerving array of possible risks and hazards that alerted my senses from the point of departure had now settled, and as I sit here in the calm of the night, I take a quick look up to the starry heavens and Thank Him, our protector who sheltered us on our journey. |
30th July
Finally the day has arrived It is here, today we visited the Theme park. It was good to see the campers interacting with each other outside of the campsite. The campers were let loose to enjoy them selves on the rides. The highlight of the day was the ghost house which brought the campers closer to God and reminded them of the hereafter. My arms will never recover from how hard they squashed them. They even pushed me to the front as a human shield for their protection, but who will protect me?
When them time for namaz arrived, the part of them camp overlooking the lake was converted to a prayer area. This was a life changing and confidence boosting experience for the campers as it breaks down their fear of Praying in public, and gives them confidence to practice their faith in the public domain.
After we arrived back at the camp we recited Dua Komail after Maghreb and isha namaz. This was recited by various campers in Arabic with English translation by the sheikh. This was good as the campers were able to understand and contemplate what they were reciting.
After the dessert we sat down with the campers and had a discussion circle on various topics. This was interesting as it gave us an opportunity to get to know the campers in an informal environment and be able t find out what their views are.
Hope to see you soon in Stanmore. We will try and bring your children along with us - if we can.
Neptune mentor
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The day began with Fajr as usual. Alhumdulillah we all made it in time. Breakfast was the same as usual with some French toast. Today we had classes on creation, love of the Ahlul Bait, and breaking promises.
We then had a session of planet time in which we began to prepare for our evening debate titled mankind is the best of creation. We also managed to fit a small session of football training as we have the inter-planet football tournaments tomorrow.
Lunch was amazing today. We dug into kukupaka which reminded us of home. After this we had our daily Quran sessions. Lessons were held across the campsite including the jetty, logs, octagon, on the grass and also classrooms, this provided us with a nice change in an natural environment.
For sport we began our activities when the sun was shining, but Allah (SWT) wanted to bless us with a little bit of torrential rain which also reminded us of home. This led to a few indoor games of jenga, uno and 4 in a row. After a short break the clouds cleared and the sun began to shine again we continued our activities and had some canoeing and raft building.
For dinner we had fish and chips followed by cake and chocolate milkshake for dessert.
In PDT after the initial few lateral thinking quizzes we had a bridge building activity which we managed to win despite some suspicious rulings and suspected sabotage by the admin team, after which they still came fourth.
Today’s mid namaaz speech by the sheikh was on cleanliness, and hygene, so we are all going to brush our teeth extra longer tonight as we don’t want to let the sheikh down.
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Thursday 30th July
Today was the best day of the camp for it was Themepark Day and it was incredible. There were so many funny stories that happened. However regardless of the fun of the Themepark, that was not the start of our day.
We woke up, had our breakfast and then went to classes. It seems that regardless of what sports or activities or outings we have in the day we always have to have classes. However we aren’t complaining! We spent our full class time with Ali Akber Uncle this time and who talked to us about
After this it was time for the Themepark! A 45minute coach ride there wasn’t enough to disperse our excitement! When we go there we split up into our groups, took a mentor then went straight in. First stop, the bumper cars! Second stop, the bumper cars! Third stop, the bumper cars! That’s how awesome it was.
Following this we went for Salaa. For the first time ever I prayed salaat in public and it was scary, at first. We didn’t know how it would be when everyone would be looking at us. We were really nervous but it was quite strange. Once we started praying, it was fine. Infact we felt proud to be praying on time and in public.
Next stop was the ghost house. Now this was a Swedish style ghost house were real ghosts and jinns live! Or supposedly so anyway. There are costumed Swedes that walk around to scare you and jump out at you. We know that they were just Themepark staff, however that doesn’t mean we weren’t scared. Especially when Arif Bha jumped out at us - we jumped back 3 metres! It was sooooo much fun! Kumayl Nasser was the luckiest though. He managed to persuade one of the ghosts to give him a tour of the haunted house!
After several rollercoasters and one very competitive racing game of Shuayb Bha against a young Swedish/Arab boy (which Shuayb one he has told us to say!) it was time to go back home.
Dinner of jacket potatoes, PDT with a game of millionaire and dessert of banana milkshake and we had recovered our energy enough. Then salaat time and Dua e Kumayl with the Sheikh reading in English and us in Arabic. Then, bedtime!
All in all an excellent day filled with laughs, new experiences and fun!
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The day began as we were woken up for Fajar salaat. It was colder than usual but we quickly made our way to the namaz room where we found the Sheikh waiting for us. Alhamudlilla we swiftly made our way back into bed…
We started our lessons where our planet mentor taught us about greater sins, and to be specific “insulting fellow believers.” the lesson definitely made us think about the way we should treat each other and how much Allah hates muslims insulting fellow muslims. As much as we enjoyed lessons we couldn’t wait to go on our outing to Stockholm.
We began our trip at the main mosk in Stockholm which was surprisingly large. We never there would be such a mosk in Sweden. One of the other planet mentors, mentioned that it used to be an old train station. Stockholm seemed very much like any other city in the UK, but it just felt different. Maybe because they spoke Swedish. We went through the old town but because the streets were quite busy we didn’t enter any of the shops up until the actual town centre.
We bought some souvenirs but blew most our money on ice cream and chocolates. We then went to the underground station and started making our way to the camp site. The day was a long one but there were so many different things to see that there just wasn’t enough time.
We ended the day after eisha salaat, with planet time where we played jenga up until bed time.
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After a long tiring day at the theme park, I finally find myself in a welcoming seat on the coach with what I think are a few precious moments to myself; none of the campers around me are speaking loudly, or eager to relay their own unique news from the trip, or asking me questions about the possibility of playing football in planet time… but that immediately means that there are some campers around who are sitting quietly, not speaking to anyone, their thoughts to themselves. A perfect opportunity for some quality mentoring.
These opportunities never present themselves, they need to be identified, found and used. This year’s camp in my opinion has called upon the skills of careful vigilance and being totally on top of time-keeping, organisation and awareness.
I feel that this year I’ve learned a lot more about myself, especially my interactions with and habits when it comes to working in a group and team dynamics. This year I find myself as one of the “experienced” “seasoned” mentors who have the insight into how to be a mentor; charged with the undercover task of subtly preening the new mentors, introducing them to the practical role of being a mentor.
However this year I’ve found myself almost trying to protect the new mentors, taking on unnecessary tasks and duties so the other mentors are comfortable. Obviously, this mentality and habit is absolutely draining on myself, but it’s also de-motivating to the team; and it took some well-directed, well-targeted feedback for me to be made aware of this destructive flaw of mine. I thought I was being superbly helpful by taking on extra, but then had the gall to complain that I was doing all the work.
“Why do you see the speck of dust that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye”
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The day started with the usual yelling of “come on boys, FAJR TIME!” Out of the people chosen to recite in the morning, Haiderali was on the list to recite ziyarat. We quickly got back to sleep after Fajr, to be woken up a few hours later for breakfast and showers. Breakfast was the standard combination of bread or toast, thin Swedish cheese, jam, cereal, milk and this time we didn’t have to make our tea, we were treated to ready-made tea straight from the giant thermos!
Classes then followed and today was slightly special. Our own mentor, Muntazir Bha was teaching us and he taught us about the sad reality of Asraaf. This class definitely made us all think about the amount of Asraaf whether it’s time, money or food. Shuayb Bha was the other mentor who taught today, and his topic was public speaking. He taught us to move our arms, to gesticulate, change our pitch and tone, and don’t move around too much. He also told a few people to think of a one minute speech, they may need it for later.
Ali Akber Hussain uncle was the third teacher and his topic was on the wide topic of communication, about how we need to listen to each other and not hear each other. The Sheikh was in the charge of the final lesson and his topic was on the Qur’an. We learned what it is, what its contents is, how it was revealed and how to improve our relationship with the Qur’an.
Planet Time was on the timetable after classes finish, and our mentors had decided to take us for a chill out Planet Time. They took us to a square formation of logs near to the lakeside and we discussed why we wanted to go to the camp. Namaaz time was at 13:00 and out of our planet, Aliraza was chosen to recite Ziyaraat. Lunch was next on the timetable and it was an incredible lunch! BIRIYAANI!! And it was incredibly tasty! On top of that, someone from the camp requested that the kitchen send out the “orange sauce.” This sauce must have been made in a volcano because it was amazingly hot! Although Ali Akber Hussain uncle finished that sauce like it was no more spicy than honey!
Qur’an Khaane saw the end of the Namaaz Assessments, and sports was after that. Sports was very important for today as it was the long-awaited Volleyball Tournament. The planets were first introduced to start using their brain strategically in an indoor session of Connect Four. With our strategy brains working full steam ahead, we went to the beach volleyball courts and our first opponents were Neptune. Each planet had two teams, and the results were very close. Neptune won a game and we won the other, but Neptune had scored more points. A quick interim session of football and we were back on the courts to face Saturn. Unfortunately we lost both games, but we made a good show of ourselves. Wash-up and Dinner were after sports, and for dinner we had chicken corn soup, garlic bread and vegetable pilau.
PDT was after dinner were we had a special activity planned. With only two sheets of cardboard, three rolls of newspaper and ten elastic bands, we had to make a structure that would balance one of our notebooks. Points were awarded for the highest structure, and for the structure that could hold a book for ten seconds. Of course, Jupiter used our superior engineering skills and we won the competition.
Namaaz was after PDT and Zuheir Abbas from our planet recited Maghrib Dua. After Namaaz we had a dessert concoction of milk shake and ice cream blended together with biscuits to follow. Planet time was the last thing on our timetable and we decided to relax with a friendly game of Jenga and Connect 4. Arif Bha is soo bad at Connect Four!
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Today was our last day and what a day it was: informative classes, football tournaments and hilarious sketches performed by the campers. I think every mentor can agree that it has been a long tiresome process, but the results have been astonishing. Watching the campers develop physically, mentally, and spiritually has been a reward that I can assure every mentor has enjoyed.
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Monday 27th June
Shuayb Ismail
Being a Sweden Mentor for me is amazing primarily because of the moments and times in the camp where you see caper development. Meeting the boys and seeing them change over the camp or seeing the way they become so close together over only ten days is amazing and today was just one of those days.
During our sports session today we organised a board games tournemant. They may have just been playing Connect 4 and Uno but the intense concentrtion and passion they put into their sports was amazing. Further than this however, what was most impressive for me was to see the sportsmanship they showed whilst playing. For example when you see them shaking hands with their opposition after the games, you realise that, alhumdulillah, the lessons of sportsmanship they learnt during Football and Volleyball and Rounders arent simply lessons they apple to those sports but much rather that they have fully taken these lessons on board and implemented them accross the board. It truly is heartning to see this.
Later on in the afternoon we went and did the RaftBuilding activity. This was Awesome! The activity got the campers to design a raft out of old bits and bobs such as baby chairs and plastic tables. Amongst differing points, the task tests their development skills. I was pleasantly pleased to see that it was the quietest boys in the group that rose to the occasion and started directing the creation. Not only that but to quote our Swedish Camp Facilitator the raft that they built was definitely the most "ambitious" he had seen - though ofcourse it didnt really work. However regardless the way they worked together was very well and even the way they chose who would be the raft sailor showed the spirit between them and it made me very proud.
After this we had PDT or much rather our styled 'Kushali Party'! The room was decorated with the posters they had made for the kushalis, balloons were strung up and they all came in their Kushali clothes. The atmosphere was amazing and the activities were great. It wasnt just a standard kasida night celebration - though we did have some very nice ones recited - but rather it had campers reciting poetry; giving speaches on Imam Hussein (a.s), Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s) and Hazrat Abbas (a.s); some birthday celebrations; quizzes themed on the kushalis; planet jenga competions and then to finsih it all off a special celebratory desert and kuhsali gift bags. The campers loved it and more than this it emphasised the importance of celebration on Wiladaat nights. |
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Mentor Diary 26/07/09
Muntazir Rai Kushali Mubarak is how we started of today, although as mentors we didn’t feel to jolly after a long mentor meeting kept us up until 6 in the morning. However, the entire camp was rewarded with a lie in and the day was scheduled to start at 12 noon. The campers carried out a classic countdown and stood in their doorways until 12 o’clock on the dot, and then raced out to get to breakfast, which included omelettes! What has been interesting so far is how the campers often have a real group bond in their behaviour. More often than not they unanimously share the same feelings and opinions on issues. This can sometimes be a nightmare for us mentors, but so far there hasn’t been a Swedish camper revolution. Salaat and quran assessments followed, with certain students showing real competence and maturity considering their age, and insh’Allah will set the tone for al youths in all Jamaat. The highlight of the day was definitely tube skiing. All the campers started of rather worried and asking for the driver to go slowly, but by the end of it were ecstatic and begging him to drive faster. A few campers managed to fall into the water, but the shocking victim of the day was the camp media personnel, who after having taken many photos found himself overboard. The Jupiter planet really got together on this event, which saw them boost each others confidence and before and celebrate together afterwards. Dinner was also a real treat today, with a dish apparently called Akbar steak. With a side of grilled vegetables and garlic bread, it was befitting for the occasion. PDT has been a real hit, especially for me as it is my first time on this camp. It has bought out the competitive spirit within all the planets, and all have some sort of celebratory cheer (originated by Jupiter). The day ended with a solid planet time that included some recaps of the jokes of the day, preparation for the upcoming debate on “This house would rather read than play PS3”, and to top off this memorable and special day of the birth of one of the panjatan, chocolate milkshake and biscuits for desert! |
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