Holiday Program: Begawan Olympics 2022

School holidays arrived, and it was time for our students to take a break from school routines. Knowing this, the Begawan Learning Center took the initiative to fill the holiday with productive activities entitled Begawan Olympics, carried out from 19 December to 23 December 2022 at the Begawan Learning Center and the Payangan Multipurpose Building.

The program, in which Flower Bud students, Eco Warriors, and Teenagers participated, offered a series of educational, fun, and interesting activities, including routine health checks, making ‘kokedama’, and participating in cooking and sports competitions. The program’s primary objective was to foster friendship and sportsmanship. In addition, it also incorporated significant life-skill components such as social and emotional skills, leadership, empathy, teamwork, respect, and acceptance.

Health Checks by Payangan Health Center

On the first day of this holiday program, Begawan collaborated with the Payangan Community Public Health Center (Puskesmas Payangan) to conduct routine health checks. This free examination consists of conducting health checks, nutritional status, and growth of our students at the Learning Centre. At the end of this examination, parents received their children’s latest health status. If any need for further health checks is seen, the Puskesmas team provides a referral letter.

The team from the Puskesmas also facilitated a socialisation program about the significance of maintaining physical fitness through regular exercise. During this session, Begawan’s students eagerly participated in Q and A sessions with the speaker. They learnt how to maximise body metabolism when they worked out.

The health check initiative is held every six months at Begawan Learning Centre to monitor the students’ health and growth, which also plays a role in supporting the learning process for our students.

A Simple Workshop – Making Kokedama

A series of activities took place on the following days. It began with students making kokedama, the Japanese art of creating ornamental plants. The material for making kokedama is ball-shaped soil, which is then wrapped in coconut fibre and tied with thread. Students grew succulent plants on kokedama, as apart from having a beautiful appearance, this kind of plant can help purify the air and regulate humidity in a room.

Begawan Olympics – Cooking Competition

After making kokedama, students participated in a cooking competition. They worked in four groups – gold, black, red and white. Each of the team creatively and cooperatively cooked food from bananas and made Basil seed drinks. The food and beverages were then assessed based on taste, presentation, uniqueness, teamwork and cleanliness.

For approximately 90 minutes, each group devoted their creativity to making bananas and basil seeds into something attractive and tasty. The food made from bananas included chocolate bananas, dorayaki, croquettes and crispy bananas. Meanwhile, basil seeds were processed into varied fresh drinks, such as green cucumber ice, basil tea, and basil lemon. This activity ended with the announcement of the winners with points earned according to their rankings for each item.

Begawan Olympics – Sports Day

The third day was a preparation day in which each team had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the rules of sports to be held on the following days, including badminton, football and dodgeball. During this time, each team selected representatives who would play in each sport and discussed strategies to earn as many points as possible to win the Begawan Olympics. They also crafted some supporting attributes and chants to support their team mates.

The fourth and the fifth days were the peak of the Begawan Olympics. During these two days, all teams competed with each other to win the sports games. The spirit of the game and friendship commenced when the whistle blew. A fierce badminton match was seen with points collected by students for each group. Neither party wanted to give up and the match continued with each team chasing for points until a winner was determined.

The highlight of the games was dodgeball where all groups were very excited because all members could participate. The passion to compete goes beyond a desire to win, and the game is more fun when accompanied by smiles and laughs.

Congratulations to the Champions!

A closing ceremony ended the Begawan Olympics. In this session, the winning group, the most valuable player of each group, and the best supporters  were announced. The White group won the competition and were given gold medals. Meanwhile, the Best Player from each group was awarded to Kadek Agus Wiraguna from the White Group, I Gede Danu Jaya from the Red Group, I Kadek Ananda Mahadinata from the Gold Group, and I Putu Agus Pradnya Saputra from the Black Group. Lastly, the Gold group won the award for best supporter. Congratulations to the winners of the Begawan Olympics. Keep up the sportsmanship and enthusiasm for the next Begawan holiday program! (Assabti N Hudan M)