Tenderfoot Camp (8 Feb to 9 Feb 2025)

By Bees Sixer Isaac Li (Echidna Assistant Sixer)

It was a sunny morning when I reported to the Kidzone. I saw recruits in their school uniform sitting at their bags, and other Assistant Sixers like me talking. The leaders asked the senior scouts to gather in Indian file at a corner of the Kidzone first, then explained that the P6s would be having their Sixers Refresher Course, and would not be the Sixers for the camp. We were meant to take over their role and be the Sixers instead.

We had just finished our briefing, and the recruits were already lining up in their camp sixes. After they were all assigned a six, the Assistant Sixers were assigned to each of the sixes. I was the Sixer of Bees, and Ding Wen and Lucas were helping me as Assistant Sixers. There were 5 sixes in total: Ants, Bees, Chicks, Ducks and Eagles, which eventually became Elephant.

I soon got to know the names of my six members well. They were Mika, Navaneet, Anson, Lee Jaek, Anji and Samuel.

We then were passed some worksheets by the leaders, and there were reflections for the new scouts to do at the end of the day. Then, the leaders handed out snacks for the scouts to eat. After that, we played some station games until lunchtime.

The leaders told us to bring our mess tins and utensils to the car park as we were going to cook our own noodles. Every recruit was paired with a senior scout, and the P6s helped out with this. I buddied Mika, and we first filled our mess tins up with water before lighting the solid fuel and boiling it. Soon, the water was boiling and the alumni helped to put some food inside the mess tins to cook. I usually do not like noodles, but the Bee Hoon looked so good that I wolfed down the food. We then went to wash the mess tins and dried them before heading back to the Kidzone for more activities.

After the scrumptious meal, Baloo taught us various campfire songs like BP Spirit and Scouting Light. The whole cohort had fun singing the different songs and we kept practicing as there was a campfire later in the evening. Then, the unit split into 2 groups and we took turns to learn about the meanings behind the pelican scout logo and the left-hand shake.

We learnt that the Pelican was a sign of generosity and was chosen to match the school acronym, HPPS (Henry Park Pelican Scouts). We also learnt about attire and how to wear our uniform properly. Then, it was time or campfire.

We ate our dinner before heading to the field for campfire. I saw many familiar scouts and a few brownies with us too. Alongside Dragonheart, we sang songs, watched skits performed by the alumni and the P6s, and even played limbo. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. After refreshments time, we went back to the Kidzone to get ready our bathing materials before heading to shower. After the shower, we were all ready to go to bed. The leaders told us the reporting time for the next day, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

After waking up the next morning, I washed up and called all my six members to Indian file in the middle of the Kidzone. The day begun with an exercise to warm us up. After the exercise, we went to enjoy a delicious breakfast. Before the camp ended, Hathi clearly explained how to obtain our badges. Then, Dragonheart went deeper into the uniform and thought us the multiple purposes of every part.

Soon, we had our final horseshoe and camp ended. Though it only lasted for two days, I genuinely enjoyed myself and had a really memorable time.