Ayubowan! I am Arnon Pereira and I am from Mt. Lavinia, Sri Lanka. This past December I had the opportunity of attending summer camp in Australia. Nearly 60 young people attended the camp. It was held from the 22nd to the 31st of December, 2006. It was located at the Wambaroo Adventure Centre near Bowral, which is an hour south of Sydney off the Hulme Highway. It was a 13-hour flight to Sydney from Sri Lanka. It was really hard for me to stay awake because it was a long flight, but the beautiful weather changed everything when I got there. The camp was to start on Friday the 22nd, so I got there early in the morning with Mr. Dean, around 9 a.m. As we left we were driving along the countryside, and it was nice to see kangaroos for the first time, and cattle at the foot of the mountains, doing the thing they always do—eating grass. It was nice to see the sunlight falling on the green grass on the mountains.

The staff and the youths greeted me as I got there; everyone gave me a warm Australian welcome, and everyone was really friendly and caring of each other. As the days went by, there were various activities for the youth. Some of the activities were: The Giant Swing, Softball, Cricket, the last night Dance-off, and not to forget the Hike, which was one of the best activities. This year the camp theme was “Building Up Character.” As the days went by and the summer camp came to a very sad ending, everyone found it difficult to leave their friends and to go back home.

As there is a saying, “Every good thing comes to an end,” there is also another saying, “we will all meet again someday…”

If you’re thinking of going to summer camp this year, I would recommend Australia. The people are really friendly, caring, and loving of each other. The weather is beautiful. I would like to thank God for giving me this blessing to attend the summer camp in this beautiful country called Australia.

© 2007 United Church of God, AIA - Pilipinas