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Where is Gurudawara in Ottawa???
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The camp was a major success, as perceived it was reflected in the feed back that was given. Total number of feedback sheets received: 41 70.7% of respondents indicated they enjoyed themselves throughout the retreat. 14.6% of respondents indicated they did not enjoy themselves throughout the retreat. 14.6% of respondents were undecided. 80.5% of respondents indicated they would attend a similar event in the future. 14.6% of respondents indicated they would not attend a similar event in the future. 4.9% of respondents gave no response. The following tables list the averages of the responses given on the feedback sheets. In other words, the number 75.6 is found in the first square. This means that 75.6% of the respondents found the Morning and Evening Divaans very useful.
Written comments: Question #1 Did you enjoy yourself throughout the retreat? Please explain. - Very educational and fun; chance to meet new people; new experience. - A good retreat overall but facility’s deficiencies had bad effect. - I like the fact that there were no lectures. - It was good. - Because of friends, skits and the interactive workshops!; plus no lectures - We learned a lot through the elders and having fun. - Overall it was great spending time discussing various topics and hearing different points of view. - Well it helped me answer many of my doubts about Sikhi concepts and it was fun too. - Made me think about a lot. - It was really fun but you should put out some time for games, sports, etc. - I really enjoyed the discussions we had on the Sikh Religion. The facts were truly interesting. I also enjoyed watching The Matrix again. - I liked the Gutka workshops, everything else was awesome too. - It is a great experience; and is always nice to learn new and more stuff about Sikhi. - It was a very relaxed and open atmosphere. The workshops were helpful. - I like the conversation we got into and I learned some new things. - Well it was okay; first of all the food wasn’t good and second it was not clean. - It was really good. But we need more free time and more sports and Trust! - The campsite sucked! For the first camp in Ottawa it was all right. - Workshops were good but I didn’t like the cabins. Also the area was very spaced out. - No electricity, no washrooms, no showers. - Acknowledging that it was the first camp ever – content wise it was very good. However the lack of organization in combination with the food, made it unbearable at some points. - The workshops were excellent because I learnt many things. - It was okay but it was not organized well. It was boring, not enough sleep, bad food, bad cabins, etc - What happened to the activities, I can learn my culture at home. - The workshops taught me a lot about Sikhi. - It was fun being with Sikh peers and doing activities with them. - I learned a lot being at the age I am now keeping my hair is a decision influenced on a lot of people. I am sure people like myself were helped with info on their decision to keep their hair. - Workshops were very informative and spiritually uplifting. I’m definitely taking something home with me. Rock climbing rocked! - It was so much fun. - It was fun. A few things could have been better (sports, free time, trust). - No light, Bad food, Good Games. Question #5 What improvements would you like to see? - The food, the bathroom facilities, the cabins (were very dirty), there were bats in the barn! - Change facilities; Also, this may seem closed-minded but I think if someone is going to have a lecture preaching Gursikhi principles, I believe the person should AT LEAST be amrtidhari. But I also understand the principle of being inclusive so, no worries. - More electricity and water. - You need to a lot one person for the Guru jee’s sevaa, too much disrespect. Appoint an experienced person. - Better campsite. More organization in the campsite and little more freedom. - New campsite, better food. - Maybe a more better campsite, the camp should be longer. Change the food. - Need to set schedule, punctuality; Enforce rules – make rules more clear. - Follow timetable more. - Better food, more theoretical information, more workshops, a higher intensity towards Sikhi concepts. - More people attending the camp. Camp fee reduced by 90%. - Better food and more Free Time and sports. - More kirtan opportunities. - Longer, more people, move moving around activities. - More discipline. - The food should not be strictly vegetarian. It should be veg/meat alternatives. - More free time. - Change campsite. - Maybe a little longer, more sleep. - Better site, better food. A little more organization. - More electricity, 2-ply toilette paper, dvd player, more activities at our cabin. - Be more prepared for power outage. - Better campsite, less bus, need better chefs, no lectures (workshops) - More activities. - In the food – more games/ activities and less ultra-boring workshops, the dirty campsite, bugs, smelly dogs, bats. - Change to better campsite which has electricity and water 24/7.;A menu should be chosen before hand so we know what we are eating. Uncle Jee’s should not be allowed to come to the campsite period! - More free time for informal discussions. - Cut down on the number of workshops (2-3). Question #7 Other comments. - Well done retreat. Maybe more focus on the theme. Also, the length should be Fri-Mon. - It was very well done. Thanks to all the organizing committee. - Get a better campsite and make plans well before it starts. - I like the whole atmosphere. - Great effort on the part of the organizers. - I hope to come back for another retreat. - Gurdwara should give financial support. It was too expensive for some people, should make effort to see if food is proper. - The Matrix movie was the best part of the camp. - Only that this was an awesome camp and I think if we keep doing it it’ll get better. - Good camp but most of all I am proud of that handsome smart talented Sikh who calls himself Sunny Bal. - Matrix was the best. - Good first effort. - Get more organized. - The only things fun were the sports, free time and sword fight. - The camp needs more activities. - I would like to go again if changes were made – perhaps a different campsite; this one was awful. - Bonfire should have been longer and some activity should have been planned for that. The skits were really fun. - Be more organized. - Overall the camp was excellent, considering it’s the first one. I would consider attending if it was at the same site, but definitely attend if better facilities.
The following is the letter broadcasted to all the members helping to organize the camp. This is what we have so far, further changes may be made to this section after the meeting. The camp site has been decided: Following was the message broadcasted to the organizers. Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki Fateh I have amazing news!!! Found the perfect campsite, and here are the details: It is a YMCA campsite-"Bonnenfant Y outdoor camp" and is in Kanata
(north of March rd.). It has- canooeing, baketball and volleyball courts, other
sport equipment for their open fields, The reason I am mentioning Sunday, is that here is another option: Since we are going to a campsite, 1 and a half days might be too little time. An option is to stay there Sunday until 2pm (can't stay there longer), and then prepare for divaan duties for the next Sunday. And also prepare for the outdoor activity for the next Sunday, so that everyone will come. The challenge to this option is to make sure everyone comes the next Sunday to Gurdwara. A couple of us should also see the site. I told the contact person that I would call him tomorrow. We can either see it this Sunday around 1pm, or next week any week night. This site sounds perfect, and the price is really reasonable, plus the food will be taken care of, and lots and lots of activities there!! I am just really really excited right now- I was losing hope before (after so many rejections from other campsites). Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki Fateh Kiran Kaur
Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki Fateh In regards to the camp schedule, here are some ideas: Since we will have Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, and Sunday will be devoted to the Divaan, we need to be realistic and not overbook our workshops and activities. I was thinking that we could start Friday with intros and ice-breakers, and then start a participatory workshop (maybe on a Guru and incorporate the importance of Gurdwara participation within it). We could then discuss the meaning of one salok of Rehraas, and then all together do Rehraas, with the english transliteration and translation projected on the screen. We could have a theme shabad for the retreat (one that will go with our retreat theme), that we discuss the meaning of and sing all together on Friday and Saturday (after Japji Sahib and Rehraas times), and sing all together for Sunday's divaan. On Friday after Raihraas, we can show the different duties in Divaan, so to help prepare ourselves for Sunday's divaan. We can then end with Langar, and maybe have skits before or after. For Saturday, I was thinking that again, maximum we can have are 3 workshops, and maybe two might be better. The goal is not to throw at them excessive amounts of information, but to really plant a yearning to participate and learn more. We could start in the morning with Japji Sahib, and project the translation and meaning on the screen while reading it. We then could again, discuss and practice the different duties in Divaan and the reasoning behind them. We could then have a small 15 min. demonstration on how to make prashad. After breakfast/snacks, we can have another participatory workshop (maybe continuation of our Guru workshop, or one on the story of a historical Sikh Bibi (I forget her name- Harpreet veerji has done a workshop on this)). We can then have lunch, and maybe an hour off afterwards for sports or fun. We can comeback to have another participatory workshop and/or open discussion on what the participants want to discuss for future events or concerns. We can then have Raihraas, and after go do some activity together (like the ideas given before on go-carting, minigolf, bowling, paint-balling etc...). If we can't decide on the activity, we could have two and have the participants decide which one they want to go to. Again, we need to make sure that we start the activity by the latest maybe around 7pm, so that we are not out too late, and everyone will be at Gurdwara on Sunday morning. We will also need to have a final discussion and duties assigned for Sunday's divaan, and could maybe do this after Raihraas Saturday evening. We could also maybe have some of the participants talk in Sunday's divaan on what we did at the camp, and relay a historical story, future event plans,etc... We really need time to plan with the participants their duties for Sunday's divaan. These are just ideas I am throwing out, to generate thought and conversation on really planning this camp now. So lets have more ideas before Saturday's meeting, so we will be ready to discuss and be productive for the meeting. Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki Fateh Kiran Kaur
ESTABLISHED
TENTATIVE/DEBATABLE
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| Last updated on : November 11, 2001 |
