The Women of Terengganu

After the mid year break I held my first over night English Camp with 5 other schools, 6 other ETAs, and 120 female students at a beach in Dungun, Terengganu. We called it “The Women of Terengganu English Camp” and it has been in the works since January.

We noticed right away that our female students tended to be very shy and passive in class. So we decided that we wanted to take some of our top female students somewhere special to work on their self-confidence in English.

All of my girls before getting on the bus to go home.

As a part of the camp we mixed fun activities like cooking s’mores and slack lining with confidence building dance and drama competitions with a little bit of seriousness in the form of a ‘Love your body workshop’ and small group discussions about relationships. We packed the two days full of activities and the girls really seemed to respond. It was a lot of fun hanging out with the girls in a place where they felt comfortable to be themselves. By the end of camp the girls were making speeches (in English) in front of large groups and performing their own dance routines in front of 100+ people. Definitely things I never would have expected out of my girls who use to hide behind their hands while speaking in class.

Climbing the rocks at the end of our morning beach hike

Since our return to school I have noticed that the 20 girls I brought with me have begun to open up more in class and every once in a while running up and giving me hugs in the hallway. Hopefully this won’t fade overtime, but instead spread to their friends. One can only hope. Now it’s time to stop writing blogs and start planning for camp number 2! Any suggestions on favorite camp activities would be more than welcomed.