There are moments when our soul just longs for adventure; the kind that makes your heart leap out of your chest and then back into your chest again. It’s simply cathartic.
What more with an adventure camp that offers learning experiences along with a full-blown adrenaline inducing program tailored for every group who visits?
Cradled in the mountains of Balamban sits the Kool Adventure Camp, the only education adventure camp in the country. For many years, it was known as the Kool Adventure Camp, but with the progress and changes brought about by time and circumstance, its facilitators and pioneers now fondly call the program the Centre For Leaders (CFL).
Last Feb. 22 and 23, 2023, CFL opened its doors to the media as part of the first few ones to engage and experience the new programs being offered. This time, let us take you on the adventure.
Sprawling across roughly 13 to 14 hectares of land, the Kool Adventure Camp boasts of world-class amenities and facilities waiting for leaders to experience.
Camp
Meanwhile, Marie Sol Gonzalvo, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. social well-being cluster executive director, clarified that the facility retained its name, the Kool Adventure Camp, after the rebranding, but the program is now known as the CFL.
The camp has rooms equipped with hot showers, ready to accommodate campers after a sweaty day spent adventuring outside. The views overlook the mountains of Balamban, where one can catch a glimpse of the majestic Mount Kanlaon across the Tañon Strait in Negros Island should the clouds cooperate with campers on a good day.
Sports or outdoor shoes are a must. Campers will be doing a lot of walking, hiking and trekking. Doing these activities in uncomfortable footwear ruins the experience. The place also advises campers to wear active or protective clothing like jackets and windbreakers.
One of the most rewarding things about being in the camp is that campers wake up to breathtaking views of rolling hills early in the morning.
Programs
CFL prides itself in powerful learning experiences, and its programs do exactly that. It has youth development programs for young people centered on bringing out the leadership potential of every young person.
CFL also offers a subsidy program for public high schools. Gonzalvo said the student only has to pay P200 each day. The reason for this is so they can invest in themselves. The courses include outdoor and indoor activities, from going on mountain treks (supervised by staff, of course) to navigating through places and doing interactive activities that end up with learning reflections.
CFL also offers team development and professional development programs. Whether one is part of a team needing to have that spark back, or a company wanting to improve relations and rapport with its employees, the programs provide activities that center on these.
Personal well-being is also a core of their activities, with each program tailored to the needs of the team. The program allows a more personal and deeper understanding of each other through games and recreational activities.
One of the things that sets the Kool Adventure Camp apart from everything else is its certified ropes course that offers multiple exciting (and sometimes heart-stopping) activities like walking and jumping over ropes high up in the air (harnessed, of course).
At the end of the day, CFL provides a one-of-a-kind experience at the Kool Adventure Camp. Campers get to create meaningful relationships and experiences while having fun.
The famed ropes course is set to return in the latter half of this year after inspections from the experts. Gonzalvo encapsulated the core of what CFL aims to do in Cebu with a few words: “We want to equip everyone. We wanna be part of the Cebuanos leadership journey, that journey of discovery, that journey of learning. We believe that Cebuanos can be built by and with communities of leaders.”
After all, leaders can come in different shapes, sizes, with all their imperfections. CFL and the Kool Adventure Camp have created a space to be just that; the leaders that we could possibly be.
