CAREER AS AN OUTWARD BOUND INSTRUCTOR

Outward Bound Sabah, an international non-profit outdoor educational centre, based in Kinarut Sabah Malaysia, is seeking candidates to become INSTRUCTOR! 

The job of an Instructor is "To conduct safe and quality Outward Bound Sabah courses and ensure participants achieve the course objectives".

The preference is as follows:

               - Age 18 and above
               - Able to swim, loves outdoor and physically healthy
               - Interest in outdoor education
               - Good interpersonal and communication skills

Selection program will be conducted at OBS center, if you are interested and meet the criteria, contact us to book your place!

                 088 - 750311 (Ms Elyna) or 
  email at secretary@outwardbound.com.my

Striving For Excellence

The use of adventure as a process for learning is relatively new development in modern education. Some people may perceived it as an ancient approach to learning. Young people are placed in situations where they would be challenged and from which they would learn what character and leadership required to face the reality of life.

Outward Bound conducts courses of a highly strenuous, physically and mentally challenging nature in remote wilderness area. The wilderness is our classroom that provides the perfect adventure experience to our course participants. 

However adventure involves elements of risk and uncertainty. It is crucial to have well trained staff to operate the activities because the safety of the participants depend on their expertise. It demands many skills and especially judgment, it simply cannot be taught in a single workshop or course. Therefore continuous learning is needed in order to achieve excellence.

The Department of Skills and Character Development at Outward Bound Sabah is responsible for training and re-training of Instructors so that they can perform at their best. The Instructors are the back bone of all our programs as they are the front line staff the directly affecting the participant's experience. 

       

Recently from 10-11 June 2013, we organised the Basic Rescue Technique at our ropes course activity i.e giant ladder, flying fox, rock climbing etc. The training is important to refresh the skills of the instructors that will improve their judgment during emergency.

Written by,

Benjamin Benedict

Great Fund for Fun Educational Exploration

Tun Fuad Foundation has generously funded three organisation allowing participants from aged 13 to 55 years old to experience fun outdoor challenge at Outward Bound Sabah. Programme has divided into 3 batches, to allow participants from Sabah Cheshire Home, Rumah Kanak-Kanak Toboh and Sabah Society for the Blind, to take part in the Outward Bound Programme which took place from mid April to early June 2013. 

The 3 - 5 days programme was designed with elements of high energetic yet educative activities to accommodate the objectives of the programme. participants took part in the high ropes challenges (e.g. abseiling, rock climbing and Flying Fox) as well as water courses which were sailing and kayaking in the South China Sea, journeyed to Pulau Dinawan approximately 4 kilometres from the school. All of them grasped an opportunity to camp on the island. whilst installed activities such as camp craft, bush cooking and Bonfire.

Datuk Chin Kui Bee, the Trustee of Tun Fuad Foundation said that this programme has brought great impact to the life of the participants and impressed to see the transformation in their life. She hoped that more participants to be given such opportunity in time to come. She was speaking to the children from Rumah Kanak-kanak Toboh in the closing ceremony at Outward Bound School on the 28th May 2013. Pn. Rosalind Chiew, the President of the Sabah Society for the Blind shared the same sentiment with Datuk Chin as she spoke in the closing ceremony on the 8th June 2013.

Written by,
Ms Jamie Lee Cyuen 
(Jamie is OBS new Business Development Executive, from Kuala Lumpur)

 There shall be no hindrance for the blinds to undertake challenges that normal being does.   

The participants from Sabah Cheshire Home were all ready 
for the morning exercise at the beach.

The participants of Rumah Kanak-kanak Toboh and the instructors of Outward Bound Sabah.
Sitting at the left; Datin Theresa William, Datuk Gabriel William (Executive Director of OBS),
Datuk Chin Kui Bee (Trustee of Tun Fuad Foundation), Mr. Benjamin Benedict (Asst. Director of OBS)
and Mr Johnny Suti (Programme Manager).

Sabah Cheshire Home Program

"You are our source of inspiration; it made us work really hard to make this program successful but we were never bothered by that; because you have made the course so fun to run; we really enjoyed ourselves; I will personally volunteer myself to run another similar program in the future" says Rechel George, the Course Manager for the 5 Days Sabah Cheshire Home Program. 

The program was sponsored by Tun Fuad Foundation and Co-organised by Outward Bound Sabah and Sabah Cheshire Home Kota Kinabalu. 20 students and officers consisting of bakery students, members of the Young Voices and single mothers attended the program.

Perhaps our society have too much negative perception and stereotype on these group of people. Although they are "disabled" but they have so much potential that we "the able people" failed to see. 

They have proven to us that they have the same human spirit and strength to live happily in this world. They have climbed the Giant Ladder, they abseiled down the 40ft rock wall, they rode our 100m flying fox, they sailed to the island of Dinawan, they cooked and slept in the island...what more can you ask! Overall they have successfully completed our 5 days Personal Discovery Program. 

Listening to their sharing at the closing ceremony is something extraordinary because you can feel the honesty that comes directly from the heart. The joy and appreciation were truly remarkable, I am sure many have been touched.

"Your disabilities is your opportunity" - says Dr Kurt Hahn, founder of Outward Bound. We all have our own "disabilities", only if we focus and reinforce our strength, we may discover new ways to improve our ability.

Thank you Tun Fuad Foundation for the opportunity!

Written by:
Benjamin Benedict

International Program Review for OB Sabah

The program review is a mandatory process undertaken by Outward Bound centers to gauge the standard and quality of services to the highest level. This process must be done every two years interval and it is conducted by two appointed senior staff members from other Outward Bound center.

The criteria and standards of assessment is produced by Outward Bound International based on some of the best quality award framework such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the European Quality Award, the Japan's Quality Award, Singapore Quality Award etc.

Recently Outward Bound Sabah organised its 7th Program Review since the idea was first brought to Sabah in 1997. The reviewers were Malcom Hughes; the Safety Manager of OB New Zealand and Rob Chatfield; the Associate Director of Outward Bound International. The review was held from 2nd March to 7th March 2013. 

  

The process involved the entire management team and staff of OB Sabah. The review looked at the standard practices and offered a different perspectives for improvement. It did not cover only standard practices but also the strategic planning of the organisation.

Obviously there have been plenty of learning opportunities happened during the review. From the staff perspective, it was an opportunity to share and learn from other experts.

Written by;

Benjamin Benedict 

Program for American International School Dhaka

On the 21^st February 2013, the American International School Dhaka, arrived in Sabah to take part in a 7 Days course at Outward Bound Sabah. 50 students with over 10 different nationalities ages between 13 and 14 years were accompanied by 5 teachers.

In the early part of the course, the group completed the ropes course challenge which include tree climbing, rock climbing, flying fox and the Giant’s ladder.

The school then split into 4 teams whereby 2 groups tackled a two day one night jungle trek - a very different experience to the busy streets of Dhaka; whilst the other groups went on a sea expedition, sailing and rowing to Dinawan Island. The groups later swapped to complete the other challenge.

In the middle of this exhilarating fun-filled adventure course, the group took part in community service together with locals from the surrounding area to help plant trees and carry out a beach clean-up. It was a rewarding afternoon where 29 bags filled and 37 trees planted, all in aid of keeping Sabah a natural wildlife paradise.

The ‘Adventure Course’ designed to develop the participants leadership skills, basic survival skills and ability to work in a team proved a great success with one student saying: “This course was an enlightening experience, something I will never forget”.

This course was both a challenge for the instructors and participants with the great array of cultures and nationalities mixing together. The closing ceremony attended by OBS Chairman, YM Tengku Adlin, OBS Executive Director YBhg Datuk Gabriel William and OBS Assistant Director Benjamin Benedict was a great round up to a very happening and vibrant week.

Written by Jennifer Stewart
Edited by Benjamin Benedict

OB Sabah brings smile to the children

This event was organised by Outward Bound Sabah (OBS) before the staff went for a break late last year! I thought it would be wonderful to write something about this event as OBS intends to organize another one this year and maybe much bigger scale!

Twenty children from Kinarut area were sponsored by OBS to attend this awesome party. A lots of games and gifts were presented to the children. The event started at 3 pm and finished at 7pm just right after sunset. 

   
The event were supposed to be held at OBS beach but due to rain, we have to transfer everything to the boathouse. OBS Executive Director Datuk Gabriel William was present to present the gifts to the children.

It is great to see the smiles of the children as they played with "newly found friend". Their parents watched from the corner thinking what a wonderful world it is to have a genuine friendship among people.

By 
Benjamin Benedict

OB Sabah welcomes group from Hong Kong

Hello and how are you all? It is the new beginning of another journey for OB Sabah. Last year was a year to remember for OB Sabah as we surpassed the 28th year of existence. As  an independent organisation, it is probably a good thing because we can have a lots of freedom to steer our direction.

The operations at OB Sabah reopens soon after the new year celebration. About 20 youths from Hong Kong Baptist University attended a 4 day adventure leadership program. Their program never missed out going into the rain forest of Borneo! Perhaps this is one of our main attraction for international clients to come to OB Sabah apart from our friendly and well trained staff.

This year OB Sabah plans to implement various strategies to improve the centre's facilities. No doubt that without financial backing from anybody, it is extremely difficult to raised the funds for capital improvement as the revenue is hardly enough to cover the operations cost. 

Our commitment to the local students and youths remains priority as we continue to offer a highly subsidized rate for them. Many schools have started booking their programme with us as programme from overseas are also starting to fill our small capacity. All the best OBS!

By Benjamin Benedict  

       

December is always nice!

Hello there! Thank you for visiting our blog. It's been a while we have not been able to publish new event, the centre has been hectic and most staff are out in the field helping each other to run programmes.

Five of the industrial practical students have completed their attachment with OBS at the end of November. They have been lovely addition to the existing team of energetic OBS staff, although lots of training were spent to fit them in the team but worth it. Certainly they have acquired valuable experience with us but most importantly they also has contributed to the organisation in a form of helping hands in many areas.

It is debatable actually to ask how much does the students contribute to the organisation. But we believe the students really need this opportunity that we feel we have responsibility to be part of the society. Further as a training organisation, OBS is an ideal location and exposure for these novices to gain some experience! 

Students coming on a short attachment i.e two months cannot gain much because the time will be too short. Some people may think that it is enough for them to see and observe but this is against our philosophy. Our student must be given the opportunity to do it 'hands on' that to do this we have to spend ample time to prepare them properly.  Here at OBS, we are training our students to become instructors, supervisors and managers! Therefore they need to be exposed on many matters i.e orientation, group dynamics, confidence building, policies & procedures, skills training, leadership training etc.   

Anyway OBS will continue this effort and to provide opportunity for those who continues to support our training philosophy. Our best wishes to those who had gained their experience at OBS to have a wonderful future ahead. This could be our last write-up for December as most of us will go for our year end break. The centre will be closed until 3rd January 2013. Today the 10-Day Global Programmes is returning back to Singapore, this evening we have the OBS Christmas Beach Party for children and tomorrow is the big day 'THE OBS ANNUAL DINNER GATHERING'. 

Again thank you and we will be back next year!

        

Asia Pacific Smart School (29 Oct - 04 Nov 2012)

Another new group :) yayyy...! Outward bound Sabah delivered a 6 days programme called the Voyager Course for students aged between 15 to 16 years old from a private school of Asia Pacific Smart School from Peninsular Malaysia (formerly known SAPURA Smart School).

At the beginning of the course, the students embarked on a 2-day 1-night sea expedition paddling and rowing to Dinawan Island. We were blessed with good weather during that day but the paddling on a strong sea current wasn't that easy. After striving for 3 hours we finally made to Dinawan island and rewarded ourselves with swimming and dipping in the clear blue shallow sea water.....!

Upon reaching the campsite... the participants were taught to set up their tents and started fire using firewood for bush cooking. The group's teamwork was fantastic and the group leader managed the activity effectively.

Beautiful scenery at Dinawan Island 

The REWARD....! Dip in the clear blue water...!

The second expedition was the 3 days 2 nights Jungle Expedition in the Crocker Range! The group was given with map and compass to navigates their way to the checkpoints and to find their campsite. It was so nice to see the team supporting and encouraging each other when climbing up the slope. We reached the campsite at around 4pm and the team managed to pitch their tents and cooked their meals just before dark. It was really great to see the group performed all the camp craft skills and bush cooking skills that were taught to them earlier on.

Jungle rice has always been the best.....!
 Cause u'll eat it anyway:)

The Campsite

The next day, the group was in high spirit and reached the 2nd campsite early. With so much spare time, the group took the opportunity to have a nice dip in the stream which they called it "The Jungle Spa". The have a lots fun time splashing water and of course sometimes you can hear loud scream from them " Leeeeech....! leeeeeech......!" Most of them have never experienced showering in the middle of the jungle in a crystal clear stream water... again.... its was rewarding.

At about 5pm, we heard the roaring thunder from far so everyone started securing their tents including the instructors. The rain started to pour heavily and it continued for about two hours. The clear stream water earlier on started to get milky color and the stream water level started to raise. And then a few minutes later we heard a loud whistle blown by the students...(when the whistle is blown it is actually a sign of emergency!)... So we (the instructors) quickly changed into our wet clothes (oh! we were comfortably in our dry clothes already!) and hurried to the group's campsite. We heard them shouting "Move...! move...! hurry up...! safe all you can...! cepat...!". We could see torch lights moving up and down the slope. We found out that the group panicked as they saw the stream water near their camp site has risen so they decided to move up to a higher ground.

From our assessment, we can see that the situation was manageable and decided to let the group to experience the situation. We asked the group to calm down and here are our conversation with the group:-

Student: We're not panicking....we are excited....!

Instructor : Oowwhh.... well okaaay..... (confused) so what's the plan.....?

Student: We need to relocate our tents but we need to save the girls first.......

Instructor : Okaaaay...... (awww so sweet....!)

What we saw that night was actually a rewarding experience for them as the group help one another and really work hard together to rebuild their  jungle house (tents) in the dark and in the middle of the rain. It was great to see that nobody was sitting around waiting for help to come during a disaster. 

So...they survived the night as they called it "the rain disaster". We, as their instructors were really proud of them....:)! High credits to all the students because with their backgrounds we know it was not easy for them. They have successfully overcame a huge obstacle as a final challenge in this programme.

At the end of the 7-day programme, the group shared their great experiences, completing a great Outward Bound course with great pride on their face. For us the instructors.....we also shared the joy, seeing another individual's life improved through an Outward Bound experience is rewarding :)....! This is what we called an experience that will last a lifetime......

Written from the Instructor's point of view,

Ira:)

Lawatan ke Air Terjun Mahua

Pada 24 Oktober yang lalu, seramai 32 orang kakitangan Outward Bound Sabah (OBS) telah mengikuti lawatan ke Air Terjun Mahua yang bertempat di Tambunan, Sabah. Saya, Cecilia sebagai pengerusi penganjur bagi lawatan ini merasa amat bangga kerana dapat membawa kakitangan OBS datang ke kampung halaman saya. Semuanya kelihatan sungguh gembira dan teruja untuk datang menikmati keindahan semulajadi yang ada di Air Terjun Mahua. Sememangnya lawatan seumpama ini merupakan satu inisiatif yang baik untuk kakitangan OBS kerana ianya dapat merapatkan lagi hubungan silatuhrahim dan semangat setia kawan antara satu sama lain.

Walaupun keadaan air terjun pada ketika itu amat sejuk sehingga mencengkam tulang namun semuanya nampak berpuas hati dan gembira kerana akhirnya berpeluang merasai keindahan alam semulajadi di air terjun Mahua. Dalam kesempatan ini, saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kepada semua kakitangan OBS yang begitu 'sporting' dalam menjayakan lawatan ini. :) 

By

Cecilia Cyril
UiTM Practical Student