..::Post Report::.. - WaterloSSA Sikh Youth Camp July 2006
Vaahegurooo ji ka khalsa, Vaaahegurooo ji ki fatehhh !!
(Before we start this email, we apologize if there are any mistakes in writing this email ... bhul chukaa maaph!)
WATERLOOSSA SIKH YOUTH CAMP JULY 2006 …in three words … A GREAT Success !!
We personally thank all participants, all sevadars and councellors, all generous donators, all the community members and EVERYBODY else that somehow contributed to this wonderful 3 day camp !!!
Honestly, no one wanted it to end, it felt just right. Everyone felt it was home simply because it was fully at the gurdwara sahib, with guru sahib! All 3 days evolving around guru ji, PRICELESS! There were about close to 70-80 kids in total with over 25-30 sevadars and councellors. All together, the numbers were over 100! For a small community such as kitchener/waterloo, this was UNBELIEVABLE and the kids just LOVED IT!
(The following is a small outline, we may miss something big or small trying to remember all the activities that were done throughout the day. We apologize if anything was left out)
Day 1 - Friday
All the kids arrived bright and early at 10am with 3-4 organizers coming in and help setting up with opening icebreakers/introductions and activities for the kids. More sevadars/councellors and participants and also kids start coming in throughout the day.
Our first event with the kids was a game called SIKH-tionary, where one team draws something related to sikhi and the team needs to guess what it is in a time frame to get a point. We had pizza for lunch to start off, with a break and soccer for the kids. WOW, it was like the whole khalsa army playing soccer out there. Having fun with those kids was just amaazing. The end score was 3-2 but the judges ruled that Jaspaul Singh was 'out of bounds' when he scored the winning goal after a nice play by Jagdish Singh. So the judges ruled it was a tie game! Then we came back in and had a break.
We think no kid will forget Randip bhaaji and his great inspirational discussions with the kids. The kids absolutely loved him. He was famous for his simran with the kids, which every kid just loved. Repeated so lovingly, and with full concentration.
The bani that was used for the camp was..
mehelaa 4
gur sathigur kaa jo sikh akhaaeae s bhulukae outh har naam dhiaavai
oudhum kurae bhulukae purubhaathee eisunaan kurae anmrith sar naavai
oupudhaes guroo har har jup jaapai sabh kilavikh paap dhokh lehi jaavai
fir churrai dhivus gurubaanee gaavai behadhiaa outhadhiaa har naam dhiaavai
jo saas giraas dhiaaeae maeraa har har so gurasikh guroo man bhaavai
jis no dhaeiaal hovai maeraa suaamee this gurasikh guroo oupudhaes sunaavai
jun naanuk dhoorr mungai this gurasikh kee jo aap jupai avureh naam jupaavai
It was repeated over and over again throughout the camp until the kids knew what it meant. They loved it!
Arts and Crafts time with the kids where the kids got a plain white tshirt and drew sikhi related stuff on them with markers, cut/paste materials, and they were simply astonishing!! One of a kind artists!!
Then it was time for simran/rehiras and kirtan. One thing we have to say is that the kids loved kirtan time. EVERYONE of them sang with everyone and it was just soo amaazing guru kirpaa naal! We ended with langar.
10pm, we all started getting to bed.
Day 2 - Saturday
3AM wake up call!!
We were aware it was a big responsibility expecially sleeping at gurdwara sahib. The singhs were sleeping on the main floor with the main councellors sleeping on the entrances of the rooms and the bibian on the top floor with the entrances blocked. There were about 15 guys and 15 bibian sleeping at the gurdwara sahib with one bathroom each so it was a mission for everyone to get ready for amritvela. It was really unbelievable to see little kids getting up on the first call and be ready for amritvela. We had nitnem, simran and even asa di vaar on the first day! It was great to see all the kids sitting together and singing guru jis praises. Cereal for breakfast and then a small break with ALOO VALAI PARAONTAI !! HMMMM SOOO GOOD!!
We thank Sukhsehj bhenji for coming in doing a discussion group exercises with the kids, the kids simply loved her. Her encouragement on the girls of the camp was needed and the kids will not forget her sweet and inspiring words. She introduced a theme of winning 'vouchers' for the kids. If they do something good to earn something like though seva, or answer a question during discussion, they were given vouchers and told by collecting vouchers they will be given prizes at the end of the camp!
Then it was time for another break. These were little kids from ages 6-18 so we gave them more breaks then usual :). We had langar for lunch, follow with some fun activites with the kids. The kids really had a good time tackling down Jaspaul Singh for no reason, hahahah!
We thank Harmanpreet Singh veerji who came all the way from Toronto to do a little seminar with the kids which included a short video on discrimination of sikhi, discussion on such topic and then followed by a video "Rise of Khalsa". Some kids fell asleep, some watched the video and some had freetime outside (we dont blame them as some sevadars took naps as well) hehe.
Then it was finally time for simran. This time it was the little kids that joined in for simran and they were absolutely amaazing! Some did simran they never ever touched a vaja before. Some did it and were taught by lending hands by sevadars sitting beside them and did simran! It was really amaazing. Rehiras sahib followed by kirtan. Nehee Choudhun re babaa raaam naaam .... wow kids you guys were LOUD! Then we had a treat for the kids including gurdwara made pasta salad and sholai pooriaa. Kids loved it!
It was close to 9pm when we had another treat for everyone which was a CAMPFIRE. Aside from billions of musquitos running around for our blood, none of us can forget the words of veer Randip Singh around the campfire explaining the meanings of the shabad that everyone just sang together.
Then close to 10:30pm, it was sleep time.
Day 3 - Sunday
3AM wake up call!
We believe everybody including all the kids got up and did nitnem together. Along with simran for a full hour and a half. It was really something for the kids. Amritvela is really the blessed hours of the day! Even simran sessions with Randip paaji the small kids described as peaceful, calm, and even being happy! hehe.
Then we had langar with the kids followed with free time. The kids challenged the elders to a 'friendly' game of basketball. It was bibi Sarbjot Kaur vs bhai Randip Singh. The challenge was if the kids win they get to do whatever they want, and if the organizers win they get to tell the kids what they have to do. Both sides were trying to score but it seemed like the elders had some trouble keeping up with them kids. After a controversial game, the kids did lose 15-14, but it was a hard faught game for both sides. The kids were awesome! Thanks to Dilbar Singh and Navroop Singh for the 'water full of jug' ..hehe.
We came back inside and had another discussion session with veer Randip Singh. "mehelaa 4 .. gur satgur kaa.." Free time was again given to kids after a warming discussion with singh ji. They finished off their tshirts. WOW, we have to say they are awesome designers.
Around 11AM we decided to take all the kids outside for another surprise! It was "Pinyaata" time (if that is how you spell it) and voucher prizes. Kids loved it again! At the end of it, the "Pinyaata", which was of 'winnie the poo' was sliced by the head in gatka moves. Pretty fun and enjoying by the kids. They were given chances by age groups and by answering question by the sevadars. At the end everyone got equal prizes and explain that the voucher idea was just to encourage kids to get involved in seva. And sevadars explained the theme about Haumai (ego) that we should strive to get away from that.
We all went inside to have another mixed vegetable stir/pasta servings with juice and watermelon! Again, it was SOOO delicious. Great thanks to the auntian, veers, bhenjis that helped with the cooking in the kitchen for the kids!
And to end it all off, we began the kirtan darbar for the kids at roughly 1245 and ended around 530pm. All the kids got a chance to do kirtan. Even ones that didnt ever do kirtan before either in sangat or nothing period were given a chance and encouraged by sitting with them and helping them play the vaja while the rest of the sangat helped them sing together! EVERYONE was singing! The kirtan itself was beautiful and pumping. Waterloo sangat ROCKS!
To end this never ending email, we would like to give out thanks to all the sangat locally and by far that came out and put in their two cents towards the camp. We love you all !!! Sevadars from York University, Western University, University of Toronto (scarborough/mississauga), Laurier University, Sheridan College and even high school students were all there!
We thank you all!
We ask for any lack of discipline, mistakes we may have caused during the camp and we ask forgiveness. Bhul chukaa maaph jio!
Departing from them was the most depressing moment of many kids/sevadars/auntian/uncles. Everyone encouraged that this must be done more often, because the kids are our future and they need to be given these oppurtunities instead of going to parties, clubs etx. If we can get to them now, it may change their lives forever. We MUST take actions now. We encourage everyone that from whereever you are, please get involved in these sevas. Or if there arnt anything like this, take the seva yourselves! With guru jis kirpa everything falls in positively!
Sevadars will be getting up all PICS and RECORDINGS up on ONTARIOSIKHYOUTH.CA real soon, so please keep tuned! OSY.CA sevadars are currently upgrading servers and switching their whole database so they have told us to let sangat know to be patient! :)
WATERLOOSSA.COM COMING SOOON !! PLEASE STAY TUNED !!
Vaahegurooo ji bless you all and hope in guru jis baana we can do another camp like this in the future! Please forward out to anyone we may have missed and to your lists to encourage others to come out for next time!
JOOO BOLAAAI SOOOO NIHAAAAAALL ..
SATTTT SRIIIII AKAAAAAAAAALL !!!!!!
VAAAAHEGUROOOO JI K A KHALSAAAA, VAAAAAHEGUROOOO JI KI FATEHHHHHHH !!!
(Before we start this email, we apologize if there are any mistakes in writing this email ... bhul chukaa maaph!)
WATERLOOSSA SIKH YOUTH CAMP JULY 2006 …in three words … A GREAT Success !!
We personally thank all participants, all sevadars and councellors, all generous donators, all the community members and EVERYBODY else that somehow contributed to this wonderful 3 day camp !!!
Honestly, no one wanted it to end, it felt just right. Everyone felt it was home simply because it was fully at the gurdwara sahib, with guru sahib! All 3 days evolving around guru ji, PRICELESS! There were about close to 70-80 kids in total with over 25-30 sevadars and councellors. All together, the numbers were over 100! For a small community such as kitchener/waterloo, this was UNBELIEVABLE and the kids just LOVED IT!
(The following is a small outline, we may miss something big or small trying to remember all the activities that were done throughout the day. We apologize if anything was left out)
Day 1 - Friday
All the kids arrived bright and early at 10am with 3-4 organizers coming in and help setting up with opening icebreakers/introductions and activities for the kids. More sevadars/councellors and participants and also kids start coming in throughout the day.
Our first event with the kids was a game called SIKH-tionary, where one team draws something related to sikhi and the team needs to guess what it is in a time frame to get a point. We had pizza for lunch to start off, with a break and soccer for the kids. WOW, it was like the whole khalsa army playing soccer out there. Having fun with those kids was just amaazing. The end score was 3-2 but the judges ruled that Jaspaul Singh was 'out of bounds' when he scored the winning goal after a nice play by Jagdish Singh. So the judges ruled it was a tie game! Then we came back in and had a break.
We think no kid will forget Randip bhaaji and his great inspirational discussions with the kids. The kids absolutely loved him. He was famous for his simran with the kids, which every kid just loved. Repeated so lovingly, and with full concentration.
The bani that was used for the camp was..
mehelaa 4
gur sathigur kaa jo sikh akhaaeae s bhulukae outh har naam dhiaavai
oudhum kurae bhulukae purubhaathee eisunaan kurae anmrith sar naavai
oupudhaes guroo har har jup jaapai sabh kilavikh paap dhokh lehi jaavai
fir churrai dhivus gurubaanee gaavai behadhiaa outhadhiaa har naam dhiaavai
jo saas giraas dhiaaeae maeraa har har so gurasikh guroo man bhaavai
jis no dhaeiaal hovai maeraa suaamee this gurasikh guroo oupudhaes sunaavai
jun naanuk dhoorr mungai this gurasikh kee jo aap jupai avureh naam jupaavai
It was repeated over and over again throughout the camp until the kids knew what it meant. They loved it!
Arts and Crafts time with the kids where the kids got a plain white tshirt and drew sikhi related stuff on them with markers, cut/paste materials, and they were simply astonishing!! One of a kind artists!!
Then it was time for simran/rehiras and kirtan. One thing we have to say is that the kids loved kirtan time. EVERYONE of them sang with everyone and it was just soo amaazing guru kirpaa naal! We ended with langar.
10pm, we all started getting to bed.
Day 2 - Saturday
3AM wake up call!!
We were aware it was a big responsibility expecially sleeping at gurdwara sahib. The singhs were sleeping on the main floor with the main councellors sleeping on the entrances of the rooms and the bibian on the top floor with the entrances blocked. There were about 15 guys and 15 bibian sleeping at the gurdwara sahib with one bathroom each so it was a mission for everyone to get ready for amritvela. It was really unbelievable to see little kids getting up on the first call and be ready for amritvela. We had nitnem, simran and even asa di vaar on the first day! It was great to see all the kids sitting together and singing guru jis praises. Cereal for breakfast and then a small break with ALOO VALAI PARAONTAI !! HMMMM SOOO GOOD!!
We thank Sukhsehj bhenji for coming in doing a discussion group exercises with the kids, the kids simply loved her. Her encouragement on the girls of the camp was needed and the kids will not forget her sweet and inspiring words. She introduced a theme of winning 'vouchers' for the kids. If they do something good to earn something like though seva, or answer a question during discussion, they were given vouchers and told by collecting vouchers they will be given prizes at the end of the camp!
Then it was time for another break. These were little kids from ages 6-18 so we gave them more breaks then usual :). We had langar for lunch, follow with some fun activites with the kids. The kids really had a good time tackling down Jaspaul Singh for no reason, hahahah!
We thank Harmanpreet Singh veerji who came all the way from Toronto to do a little seminar with the kids which included a short video on discrimination of sikhi, discussion on such topic and then followed by a video "Rise of Khalsa". Some kids fell asleep, some watched the video and some had freetime outside (we dont blame them as some sevadars took naps as well) hehe.
Then it was finally time for simran. This time it was the little kids that joined in for simran and they were absolutely amaazing! Some did simran they never ever touched a vaja before. Some did it and were taught by lending hands by sevadars sitting beside them and did simran! It was really amaazing. Rehiras sahib followed by kirtan. Nehee Choudhun re babaa raaam naaam .... wow kids you guys were LOUD! Then we had a treat for the kids including gurdwara made pasta salad and sholai pooriaa. Kids loved it!
It was close to 9pm when we had another treat for everyone which was a CAMPFIRE. Aside from billions of musquitos running around for our blood, none of us can forget the words of veer Randip Singh around the campfire explaining the meanings of the shabad that everyone just sang together.
Then close to 10:30pm, it was sleep time.
Day 3 - Sunday
3AM wake up call!
We believe everybody including all the kids got up and did nitnem together. Along with simran for a full hour and a half. It was really something for the kids. Amritvela is really the blessed hours of the day! Even simran sessions with Randip paaji the small kids described as peaceful, calm, and even being happy! hehe.
Then we had langar with the kids followed with free time. The kids challenged the elders to a 'friendly' game of basketball. It was bibi Sarbjot Kaur vs bhai Randip Singh. The challenge was if the kids win they get to do whatever they want, and if the organizers win they get to tell the kids what they have to do. Both sides were trying to score but it seemed like the elders had some trouble keeping up with them kids. After a controversial game, the kids did lose 15-14, but it was a hard faught game for both sides. The kids were awesome! Thanks to Dilbar Singh and Navroop Singh for the 'water full of jug' ..hehe.
We came back inside and had another discussion session with veer Randip Singh. "mehelaa 4 .. gur satgur kaa.." Free time was again given to kids after a warming discussion with singh ji. They finished off their tshirts. WOW, we have to say they are awesome designers.
Around 11AM we decided to take all the kids outside for another surprise! It was "Pinyaata" time (if that is how you spell it) and voucher prizes. Kids loved it again! At the end of it, the "Pinyaata", which was of 'winnie the poo' was sliced by the head in gatka moves. Pretty fun and enjoying by the kids. They were given chances by age groups and by answering question by the sevadars. At the end everyone got equal prizes and explain that the voucher idea was just to encourage kids to get involved in seva. And sevadars explained the theme about Haumai (ego) that we should strive to get away from that.
We all went inside to have another mixed vegetable stir/pasta servings with juice and watermelon! Again, it was SOOO delicious. Great thanks to the auntian, veers, bhenjis that helped with the cooking in the kitchen for the kids!
And to end it all off, we began the kirtan darbar for the kids at roughly 1245 and ended around 530pm. All the kids got a chance to do kirtan. Even ones that didnt ever do kirtan before either in sangat or nothing period were given a chance and encouraged by sitting with them and helping them play the vaja while the rest of the sangat helped them sing together! EVERYONE was singing! The kirtan itself was beautiful and pumping. Waterloo sangat ROCKS!
To end this never ending email, we would like to give out thanks to all the sangat locally and by far that came out and put in their two cents towards the camp. We love you all !!! Sevadars from York University, Western University, University of Toronto (scarborough/mississauga), Laurier University, Sheridan College and even high school students were all there!
We thank you all!
We ask for any lack of discipline, mistakes we may have caused during the camp and we ask forgiveness. Bhul chukaa maaph jio!
Departing from them was the most depressing moment of many kids/sevadars/auntian/uncles. Everyone encouraged that this must be done more often, because the kids are our future and they need to be given these oppurtunities instead of going to parties, clubs etx. If we can get to them now, it may change their lives forever. We MUST take actions now. We encourage everyone that from whereever you are, please get involved in these sevas. Or if there arnt anything like this, take the seva yourselves! With guru jis kirpa everything falls in positively!
Sevadars will be getting up all PICS and RECORDINGS up on ONTARIOSIKHYOUTH.CA real soon, so please keep tuned! OSY.CA sevadars are currently upgrading servers and switching their whole database so they have told us to let sangat know to be patient! :)
WATERLOOSSA.COM COMING SOOON !! PLEASE STAY TUNED !!
Vaahegurooo ji bless you all and hope in guru jis baana we can do another camp like this in the future! Please forward out to anyone we may have missed and to your lists to encourage others to come out for next time!
JOOO BOLAAAI SOOOO NIHAAAAAALL ..
SATTTT SRIIIII AKAAAAAAAAALL !!!!!!
VAAAAHEGUROOOO JI K A KHALSAAAA, VAAAAAHEGUROOOO JI KI FATEHHHHHHH !!!
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