Outbound Training 2013

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Bright and early on the 15th of June 2013, the inhabitants of #44, Guildford Crescent, arrived with excitement painted on their faces, looking forward to an interesting weekend. Yes! It was time for the much anticipated Outbound-Training weekend.

Once everyone had arrived, the facilitators took over. They started off with a quick ice breaker to make everyone a bit more comfortable and laid down a set of quick rules/guidelines for the rest of the training period.

The event that kick started the weekend was the Amazing Chase. The pre-defined teams were first asked to make their own original “Haka”. Next, teams “Zumi” and “Yakas” faced off each other by performing the haka, which got everyone’s blood pumping. The facilitators provided each team with the documents and mobile phone SIMs required for the Amazing Chase and the teams were briefed and sent off on their way.

The objective of the Amazing Chase was to learn how to wing it as a team, decide what the team would do or what they would skip based on the points they would earn or have to spend. Giving each team member a role/responsibility was also important to succeed in this activity. The use of Augmented Reality Software as part of the activity was quite a new and interesting experience for the Mazarins. After running around various parts of Colombo in search of hidden clues, a few bus rides and about two hours later, the teams made it to the final rendezvous point at Nugegoda.

From Nugegoda, the Mazarins set off to Kithulgala and everyone got in to “trip mode” singing and making jokes with each. After a quick stop on the way for lunch, we finally arrived at Kithulgala.

On arriving at the camp site, we were again briefed on rules and regulations, and given our tent assignments. After a quick freshening up and a cup of tea, the teams started off on the next activity, which was to create a video of how they would describe “the ideal Mazarin life”. Being a talented bunch of people, the three teams came up with a lot of cool videos. It was quite remarkable that even though the teams were separated, the ideas that came through were quite similar. An Oscars like award ceremony concluded the activity, where the Mazarins voted for the best actor, actress, best video, best camera work, best soundtrack and the “Sexiest Personality”.

Before moving on to dinner, the teams were debriefed on the amazing chase, the facilitators provided us with an insight on the good things done by teams as well as the things that needed to be improved. Dinner marked the end of the first day. We were agog with excitement as we made our way to our tents, in anticipation of the next day’s activities.

Day two began with a quick fun activity, followed by breakfast and a quick exercise session. Then we were off to the rock pools.

The Mazarins arrived at the rock pools, equipped with safety gear and a few butterflies in our stomachs. After we were briefed on safety practices, it was jumping from rocks in to the water and sliding down chutes of water. This activity was more towards getting those of us who live very ordinary lives, to do something adventurous, doing something out of our comfort zone and getting over our fears.

On arriving back at the camp site, it was time for lunch, followed by the bridge building activity. For the bridge building activity, the Mazarins were divided into two teams and were given bamboo and rope needed to build a bridge. The catch was that, both teams were not given the same amount of bamboo, and the objective was for each team to build half of the bridge, which would be integrated in to one, and tested by having all the members cross the bridge. Needless to say, the teams were well coordinated and we ended up making quite a sturdy bridge which we crossed with no problems what so ever.

The next activity on the agenda was a modified version of the classic computer game minesweeper. The task was to navigate over a grid, by finding the path that was safe, i.e. without mines. The team members were not allowed to speak, so it made things very interesting. The first small grid was easy as pie, the medium size grid was also easy, but for some reason the large grid took longer than we expected to complete.

The last activity of the day was for each of us to draw our life line. The life line represents the important things in one’s life, from the day you were born to the present day. This activity was quite insightful and helped us to get a better idea of the fellow Mazarins, to see a side of them that we normally wouldn’t get to see at our work environment. Once everyone had described their lifelines, it was time for some BBQ, followed by an unplanned story session.

The last day of out bound training was the most anticipated day of our outbound-training. The day started off with another quick fun activity, followed by breakfast, and we were off to the rapids for some white water rafting. At the starting point, we were briefed on safety, as well as on paddling, the commands issued by the navigator, and what to do in case of a spill. And then we were off down the river, for a heart stopping, unforgettable experience which would be etched in our minds forever.

We arrived back at the camp site for lunch. And after a final debrief of the whole weekend and the various experiences we had, the Mazarins were back on their way to Colombo, as a well knit group of unique individuals.