TM 2019 EDITION Magnetic North The Spirit of Hong Kong Teaching Generation Z Teaching the Instructors Becoming Outward Bound Vietnam (see page 36)1 Northern Exposure 2 www.outwardboundoman.com FROM THE EDITOR The English word “resilience” is old and EDITOR IN CHIEF well-traveled. In its original Latin it meant Rob Chatfield “to leap” or “spring back”. In Middle French it was found in contract law, meaning “to CONTRIBUTING EDITOR annul” or “return to a previous legal status.” Iain Peter When it entered English in the 16th century PHOTO, ART AND DESIGN it carried a similar meaning, but by the 17th Paper Plane Productions century it had become associated with the physical world and connotations like “elas- COPY EDITING AND PROOFREADING ticity” and “bounciness.” By the 19th century Anassa Rhenisch, Erin Moore it began to resemble one of its current CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS psychological definitions: “the capacity to Front cover photo: “Kayaking in Vietnam,” recover from adversity.” In the 20th century, the Oxford English Dictio- Phil Weymouth, Streetlight Media, Bahrain nary defined it as “the act of rebounding or springing back.” Back cover photo: Paul Batchelor While it is unclear if Kurt Hahn ever used the term “resilience” in Page 2, OB Oman; Contents page, clockwise from describing his educational ideas, many of his frequently quoted max- left: OB Slovakia, Nick Cotton, OB Hong Kong, Tim ims, such as “your disability is your opportunity,” are consistent with Medhurst, OB Oman; pages 6-7, OB Slovakia; pages contemporary definitions of resilience. Its meaning is also exemplified 8-11, OB Oman; pages 12-13, OB New Zealand; page in one of the guiding principles he introduced at the Salem school in 14, OB Singapore; page 17, GoAbroad.com/OB Costa 1920s Germany: “make the children meet with triumph and defeat.” To Rica; page 19, Kurt Hahn Archive, at Schule Schloss Salem - Lake Constance County District Archives at this day, the idea of resilience is evident in the discourse around Out- Salem (Kreisarchiv Bodenseekreis); pages 20-21, OB ward Bound and its intended effects on participants. It has also found Hong Kong; pages 22-25, OB Croatia; pages 26-28, Phil its way into our strategic thinking—the January 2019 World Confer- Weymouth ([email protected]); pages 29-30, ence theme was “Making Outward Bound schools more effective and Yidan University Education Foundation; pages 31- resilient.” 35, STRIVE, OB UK Trust; pages 36-37, Nick Cotton; pages 38-43, Tim Medhurst; pages 44, 45 & 47, Phil Weymouth ([email protected]); page 46, OB In this issue of OBI Journal, readers can learn about two figures from Vietnam; pages 48-51, OB Brazil; 52-54, OB Australia OB’s early days. Both were practitioners of and experienced with the (page 53 chart, Paper Plane Productions); page 56, idea of resilience. The first is Lawrence Holt, the less celebrated of Miir (top)Tentsile (bottom). Annual Report cover, Paul Outward Bound’s two co-founders, whose Blue Funnel Shipping Lines Batchelor; Annual Report inside pages, OBI and Rob suffered such great loss of life during the Second World War that he Chatfield. sought the counsel of Kurt Hahn to help address what he believed was contributing to high mortality among young seamen set adrift in life- CORPORATE OFFICE boats: a lack of perseverance and resilience. To learn more about Holt 85 Grampian Road Aviemore PH22 1RH from one of his Blue Funnel Line contemporaries, see “Lawrence Holt” United Kingdom (page 31), reprinted from the Winter 1971 issue of STRIVE, the former Phone: +44 (0)1479 812544 flagship publication of Outward Bound in the UK. [email protected] The second figure is Marina Ewald, a childhood friend of Hahn’s OUTWARD BOUND INTERNATIONAL credited with introducing him to the educational use of expeditions David Kong CHAIR OF THE BOARD at Salem, the boarding school where he served as headmaster until Iain Peter EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR forced to flee Nazi Germany in 1933. In 1925, while at Salem, Ewald, a geographer, conceived of and then led a four-week school trip to © 2019 Outward Bound International Journal (ISSN 2161-8860 (print), ISSN 2161-8879 (online) Finland, accompanied by a colleague. Hahn, who later described the is published annually by Outward Bound International. trip as “a long and hazardous expedition,” would later extend the use All rights reserved. No part of this publication of expeditions to other educational endeavours, including Outward may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, Bound. To learn about Ewald, see “Unsung Heroines: Celebrating the mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, Woman Behind Outward Bound” (page 18), an article from Outward without the written permission of Outward Bound Bound UK that sets her story against the school’s nascent efforts to International ® explore instructor diversity. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compli- Throughout this issue of OBI Journal, readers can find experiences that ance information that applies to the electronic edition encourage resilience. On page 20 a group of OB participants sets sail of Outward Bound International Journal can be found for Taiwan aboard the Spirit of Outward Bound Hong Kong. Two exam- in our Privacy Policy at ples of organizational resilience can be found in recent journeys at OB www.outwardbound.net/privacy-policy/ Oman (building three national training centres in four years—page 8) Copyrighted material in OBI Journal, 2019 and OB Vietnam (moving through three stages of licensure to become Edition was reproduced from the following the world’s newest Outward Bound school—page 44). Finally, join OB periodicals and sources: Canada on page 38 during a fundraising expedition to the Magnetic “The Architects—LAWRENCE HOLT” was reprint- North Pole, where resilience, teamwork, and collaboration were essen- ed from STRIVE, Vol 1 No 10, Winter 1971. Used by tial not only during the expedition, but beforehand, when OB Australia permission of The Outward Bound Trust, UK. | “Adven- was invited to join the expedition and the fundraising effort. ture Learning for Mental Health” was reprinted from Our Community Matters, June 2019 Edition. Used by permission of Outward Bound Australia. 3 CONTRIBUTORS Thao Nguyen Thu Instructing the Instructors Meg Ryan, 29, worked as an instructor at OBNZ for three years before transitioning into her current role as the course design manager. Meg is a passionate kayaker, runner, tramper, and dabbler in a lot of different outdoor pursuits. She and her husband Dave spend most of their free time adventuring around the South Island of New Zealand. She loves being able to combine her passion for thinking about how things work with her Mark Evans affinity for the outdoors, and translating those experiences to create personal development Nguyen Thai Duong opportunities for Kiwis. Lessons Learnt from Construction, Becoming Outward Bound Vietnam: a Network- Reflections on the 2019 World Conference Supported Journey Mark Evans (www.markevans.global) is the Thao joined Outward Bound Vietnam in 2015 Executive Director of Outward Bound Oman, the as a trainee. She has become the first fully first Outward Bound school in the Arab world. qualified Vietnamese lead instructor at Outward He is Patron of the Andrew Croft Memorial Fund (www.acmf.org.uk), and the founder of Connecting Bound Vietnam. With the founding team, she Cultures, an educational initiative endorsed by has pioneered the development of each of our UNESCO that uses the desert wilderness to bring operational areas. She is a fantastic role model for young people together on journeys of intercultural all new staff and has a great passion in working dialogue. with and helping people. Thao likes learning new things and enjoying hiking the gorgeous mountains Evans has been travelling in wilderness of Vietnam. environments for 40 years, and has, among other things, spent an entire year in small tents Nguyen Thai Duong, who goes by Anthony, is on Svalbard, which included four months of Client Manager at Outward Bound Vietnam total darkness; crossed Greenland in 26 days by parachute and ski, on the trail of Nansen; and (OBV). He joined the OBV development team in kayaked solo the entire 1,700-kilometre coastline Meg Ryan 2011 as an architect before switching to a full- of Oman. He is the author of four books. In time position in 2015 as an instructor and then 2002 he was named a Pioneer of the Nation at operations manager. Anthony realises that working Buckingham Palace for his services to the field of for OBV is a great opportunity to positively youth exploration, and in 2012 was awarded the impact the lives of young Vietnamese people MBE for his work using expeditions to promote Camping with Children: a possible, essential and by helping them gain life-changing experiences Intercultural Dialogue. In 2016, with Outward urgent experience! through outdoor activities. Bound Oman colleague Mohamed Al Zadjali, he completed a 49 day, 1,300km crossing of the He is now steering his career towards marketing largest sand desert on earth, the Rub Al Khali, the Bruno Romano is a Paulistano (born in the and client management, with the aim of making first time the journey had been attempted in 85 state of São Paulo) living in Santa Catarina Outward Bound Vietnam a significant contributor years. who dedicates himself to journalism, mountain to the holistic development of youth in Vietnam. expeditions, and the coordination of social and sports projects, as well as international group travel. He is passionate about the outdoors and once played for the Brazilian juvenile rugby team. He graduated with a degree in Social Communications from the Cásper Líbero Foundation. Trained as an Outward Bound Brazil instructor in the 2019 class, he has experienced the powerful effects of experiential learning and believes in its revealing and contagious essence.