IB Orientation Trip

In September of 2014, the DP1 students all set out to Bordelands River Camp in Kitulgala for three days. The purpose of the trip was to get to know our fellow classmates better, as we would be working with each other for the next two years, and to build on our ladership and teamwork skills. Its other purpose was to get us out of our comfort zones and face up to the challenges presented. Since I had already been to Borderlands before in Grade 9 for Week Without Walls (a week long school trip), I did not find it as challenging as the last time, but it was just as fun. During the trip we were exposed to components of the CAS program as well as ToK (Theory of Knowledge) and we could connect the activites we did back to our school subjects.

The first day, we jumped straight into the action and "took the plunge". After a long bus ride, we were given a lecture on river safety measures. By then we were almost asleep, before we were given a rude awakening and pulled into the river, then taken canyoning and rafting. Canyoning was just as unpleasant as I remember it being - with maybe even more leeches this time around. Here I was challenged when having to jump from high places down into questionably safe waters. However, it wasn't that hard - all it takes is one stupid, reckless thought to jump. Rafting was much better this time around, mostly because we did not capsize again. I must admit that I was kind of sad that I did not have another epic story to tell my grandchildren, but I suppose only one capsized raft story will have to suffice. ~Action

Rafting prep (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

Ha, we look like warriors waiting for battle (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

Random river circle dancing! (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

One of our guides (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Rafting (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

So majestic (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Canyoning prep (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Canyoning (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

Epic canyoning pic (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

The second day started with warm ups and a few teamwork exercises before we went on a hike to a cave, then to the waterfall to absail. In the cave, we learned about the history of our surrounding environment and did a few activities in ToK and art such as making artworks using only materials found in our environment (like Andy Goldsworthy). After that we went up the mountain to the waterfall and absailed to the pool at the bottom. When we went to Borderlands in Grade 9, I really enjoyed this part of the trip and it was a lot of fun doing absailing again. ~Creativity

Teamwork exercises (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Learning about the history of the cave (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Meditating (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

At the cave (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Inside the cave (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

View from the top (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

At the edge (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

"I got this" (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

"No, don't cut the rope!" (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

"Yay! This is fun!" (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

"Oh my golly goodness, I'm going to die" (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

On the third and final day, we went out around Borderlands in groups to have interviews with some of the people living in or around Kitulgala. The language barrier was a bit of a problem, but we were able to ask one of our guides to act as translator. The method of questioning and protocol when asking questions had to be carefully planned before hand, so as not to offend our interviewee. Our interviewee was a tuk tuk driver who will lose a lot of his business from a dam being built on the river the next year. By the river being blocked, many tourists will stop coming to Kitulgala to go rafting on the river, meaning less customers for our interviewee. This change in the environment will also impact a lot of the community also dependent on the river. Our interviewee and other members of the community have takn to protesting against the dam being built. They also have a Facebook page called "Damned - Save the River Kelani". ~Service

Overall the trip was a great experience, and I met a lot of the new people and learned a bit more about the people I already knew, as well as about myself. I really hope I can go absailing again.

Class of 2016 (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

A few weeks after the trip, we made a presentation during assembly about what happened and what we had learned while we were away. My group also made a short skit about our interview with the tuk tuk driver. Below is a link to a video compilation of photos and video that were taken on the trip by various people:

Borderlands Action

(Edited by Prerna Das and Yannis Grimm)