Red Cross Leadership Training (Day II)

The second day of the Leadership Development Program finally came. I put on my t-shirt and pants thinking we will be doing some tedious tasks. So to avoid staining my new garments, I decided to wear my old clothes.

It was around 8:30 when I arrived and the instructor wasn’t there yet—which gave time to those who came in late, including me. Morny got worried and decided to go to the chapter to ask someone to do the speaking.

Finally, as an activity, Mr. Clifford Diaz divided the group into 3 and asked us to make a recipe (with the ingredients and procedures) instructions on a manila paper of the famous Filipino dish—Adobo.

The hard thing there was that we don’t know how to cook it. We have eaten it at some point in our existence but we just don’t know how to cook it! We’re chefs at frying stuffs. :P My group mates were Josh, Cindy, Chris, Gie and Weng (a new face).

Each group presented a different way of cooking it and a variety of ingredients were also shown. The first group decided to go for the tomato and explained it in a glib manner. However, we insisted to put some pepper on the dish to make it tastier. And the third group wanted to put some soda in the dish for it to have a sweet taste.

We all wanted our recipes to be chosen. But Mr. Diaz had a hard time choosing the best recipe. And so he said that each of us had a different way of looking things. One dish cannot be that dish if we decided to omit something from the original one. Yes, it has the ingredients of an Adobo but it will never be the real Adobo because it lacks something. The moral: Red Cross will never be the Red Cross we now know if some of its services will be eliminated. Take away the Social Services and for sure, we can never call it Red Cross again.

Afternoon came and the dirty training was all set. There were 3 groups with 7 members. The team must complete the different sets of muscle work to finish the training. My group mates were Jeff, Eaque, Gie, Moi, Darl, and Weng.

It's game time!

First task was the river crossing in which 4 tiny papers were used as the main props. The objective of this task was for all the group members to cross the given distance, using only the papers. No one is allowed to go ahead. The first member to step on the paper must wait for the last member to be on the third paper to be able to use the fourth paper. 

The Blow Job Game

The second task is called the blow job. It has an amusing name I know. But literarily, we need to blow a ball of paper and try to use the air—through blowing—as its wheel. And by the way, my lungs almost gave in.

Walk together was the third task in which we need to tie our left foot with the other’s right foot, all seven of us, and walk together. It was the easiest.

Human Kayaking-the toughiest one!

Human kayaking came next and was the most tiring one ever. Each member must position his feet to the other’s lap forming a lined people ready to go kayaking. The hard thing was that you need to use your arm for the team to advance. I almost lost my chance of breathing, really.

Crawl! Crawl! Crawl!

After that, running as fast as you can is the key to reach the 5th task which is the splint relay. Seven cups were filled with water and 6 of the members must use their hands to elevate the splint board above their heads in a vertical position. The 7th member then crawls under as a way of advancing. As we reached the finish line, one officer poured the water of the cups on us. :(

Next was the water relay. A cup with water will be put on a manila paper. Each group must hold on to the paper and must avoid spilling.

Human pyramid

And for the team to finish the race, the group will stand in a paper and try to squeeze ourselves in for 3 minutes. Mine’s position was the easiest since Jeff decided to carry me on his shoulders. :D After that agonizing moment, Eaque collapsed and the tiring race ended.

Eaque passed out!

Sweats dripping from all over our body, we headed to a room full of fans. What a relief. But I made some bruises and wounds on my knees. Nevertheless, we had fun and a lot were learned during the two day LDP. And the best part was meeting new faces—Chris, Miguel, and especially Weng.