Report of the SMA Youth camp, Nigeria South
The SMA Youth camp 2024 for Nigeria South was held from Wednesday 18th December to Sunday 22nd December 2024 at the SMA Formation House, Bodija, Ibadan. The theme for the camp was “Rising Together: Building Resilience through Unity and Networking”.
The theme captured the vital essence of collaboration and support within a community. It emphasized that by coming together, we can overcome challenges and build a stronger foundation for our future. Unity allows us to share our strengths, our experiences and our resources, creating a network of support that fosters resilience.
Youths from Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Ilorin, Akure and Asaba zones were present at the camp. Also, we had in our midst some SMA Priests, Seminarians, OLA Novices, which brought the total number of persons present at camp to about 140 persons.
Activities
The activities of the camp included spiritual activities that included: recollection, meditation, penitential service, daily Mass, evening prayers and Christmas carols. Intellectual activities were: two talks on the theme of the camp: “The mindset as a funnel to building resilience by Rev. Sr. Monica Onwunali, OLA.” and “Leveraging Social Networks for personal and professional growth. Dr. Sam Ikoku was unable to be physically present the second paper. Dr. Ms. Margaret Ibru” stood in for him. Other intellectual activities were debates and group meetings. There were also social activities such as a Carnival, Sport competitions, drama nights, endurance walk and a Dinner/Awards night.
Evaluation and departure
The camp came ended with departure campers after a session of group photographs and breakfast. However, the executives and Director stayed behind for a post-camp evaluation.
In conclusion, this year’s camp was aimed at helping Youths take advantage of the numerous opportunities that abound when they know how to make proper use of the interpersonal relations/connections they build over social networks.
