It's eight on a Friday morning and most children across the UAE are sleeping. But not these 50. They are climbing the tower at an adventure camp in Fujairah and then abseiling from it. Then, just because they want to, they are doing some raft-building and kayaking. All the time learning skills and building friendships.
These children are in the Adventure Centre of North Star Expeditions, "the ultimate adventure" company - the first to have set up a permanent structure in the UAE from which adventure activities are conducted. In this camp that can accommodate up to 90 students, the children learn things about themselves and their environment that they cannot possibly learn in city schools.
"We provide opportunities for children that are not readily available. I was an inner-city kid myself in Liverpool, England. I was taken out on trips by the British Army. The excursions definitely altered my course in life.
They allowed me a wider view and gave me an aim, a specific ambition. I could so easily have drifted along otherwise," says Paul Flaherty, ex-British Army, founder-director of the North Star Group.
North Star's adventure and eco-awareness excursions are obviously popular in the region. Clients include Latifa School for Girls, Rashid School for Boys, the American School of Dubai, Emirates International School, Horizon School, Al Ittihad Private School, Jumeirah College (all in Dubai), The British School - Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi), Al Dhafra Private School (Al Ain), School of Research Science (Sharjah), The New English School (Kuwait) and Muscat Private School (Oman). Flaherty also runs a community service project for British Petroleum.
In this project young UAE nationals are put in touch with their cultural and environmental roots. "We've taken four excursions with North Star," says Adrian Macaulay of The British School - Al Khubairat. "They were excellent, very safe and very professionally managed. We did all kinds of things like mountain biking and kayaking."
The children especially enjoyed being with friends and classmates for a day or two. "We've found that a lot of children who don't excel in school do very well away from a school environment. A lot of individual targets were set at the camp. The children met the targets and also learnt so much about team-building. They learnt to trust and depend on each other, they learnt to be responsible," he points out.
Flaherty agrees. "A couple once said their child's whole attitude and direction in life have changed since he spent time with us. An introverted child has become outgoing."
A team-building exercise at Fujairah camp. |
And that helps when we all come back to class," he says. The adventure company evolved out of a Dubai Summer Surprises project. Flaherty had organised an indoor adventure course in the Dubai World Trade Centre exhibition halls during the first Dubai Summer Surprises.
"Five thousand children visited us in 10 weeks. Teachers asked us if we could put bits and pieces together for their schools and the whole concept grew out of that," he explains. North Star takes pupils on ecological, environmental and cultural expeditions.
Primary school activities include visits to the Kalba mangroves, Fujairah Heritage Village, Wadi Zikt and Dibba. The children are given a series of short talks on the mangrove ecosystem and explore the beach in search of the many and varied forms of marine creatures and bird life.
In the heritage village, the children experience the old way of life. In Wadi Zikt, they explore the old, abandoned village of Zikt and learn about the falaj system of irrigation. In Dibba, they visit the ports and travel to the areas where the Shihu tribe from Oman live.
The children participate in beach team-building projects that include raft-building, rubber raft races and beach-combing. They take a dhow trip along the Musandam coastline, snorkel and visit isolated fishing villages and beaches.
The company also organises a coral study adventure in the Musandam. Three or four days before leaving, the children are told about corals and associated marine life to be found in the region.
Once in Oman, they conduct a snorkelling study from a dhow out of Khasab. Usually, they see dolphins. Sometimes, if they are lucky, they see turtles and huge tuna shoals. The trip also takes in the local culture of the area, visiting the fishing villages of the Shihu and Kumzari peoples.
In Fujairah, the children do some mountain biking and also some climbing and abseiling at the adventure centre's Climbing Tower. They go on a walk in the moonlight, sing and tell stories around a campfire, play healthy competitive games such as a tug-of-war, draw cartoons on the day's activities and have a quiz on anything that interests them.
Marfleet says his students really like the Climbing Tower. "I think the tower gives them great opportunity to overcome their fears. When they see it, it is quite daunting for them. But they're given a lot of encouragement and they're able to succeed in reaching the top.
Initially a lot of them are quite scared, but when they are able to reach the top it gives them a great sense of satisfaction," he explains.
Flaherty remembers a particular incident. "We had one child who was terrified to death of climbing up. We didn't force her. But she found everyone else climbing so she did as well. When she got on top, she was so happy. She called out, 'Look at me, I did it'. And when she came down, she burst into tears. She had achieved something tremendous."
North Star organises similar activities for older school children, but at a higher level. It also arranges expeditions for gold, silver and bronze qualification for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
There is a stronger focus on team-building exercises plus opportunities to scuba dive, map read, learn camp craft and do some survival training.
Expedition costs, for younger and older students, is Dhs 330 per child per day. For every 10 children, one adult - teacher/guardian - joins free. Whether at the centre on along the Musandam, the company focusses on safety.
An average sized group is around 50 with one adult to every 10 children. When the children are younger - between eight and 10 years - there is one adult to every seven pupils.
Whenever a water activity is planned, Flaherty visits the school, sees the children actually in the water and checks that they can swim at least 200 metres and will be able to snorkel. He also asks parents to sign consent forms so that they know exactly what their child is doing.
"Kids are great to work with. They are special. Anything I can do to make them happy I will," he says quietly. He's doing a good job.
