Words A.L.I.V.E. (ICC Chapter Malaysia): ICC Retreat 2015: Day 1!

Written by Charis Chen

Edited by Eliza Tan

Greetings from ICC! :)

Before you proceed, I will first warn you that this is a very long post. :)

Welcome to our second ICC Retreat, which marks the second year of our friendship and familyhood! Our retreat was held at the famous and lovely Port Dickson from the 31st of July to 2nd of August.

This year, we gathered at Tanjung Tuan for a visit to the Cape Rachado lighthouse and a short hike to and fro the beach before proceeding to our lodgings.

We took color coded pictures before going up!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The Blacks and Whites

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The Reds

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Yang lain-lain: The Blues and Yellow :P

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Coaches chatting before hiking up

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Hey, you humans, when are you going to start hiking up and

leave me in peace?

Photo by Nathanael Chong

"The Boys" hiking up

Photo by Nathanael Chong

I'm getting there... Just you wait!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Ha! I'm the first!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Oh, really? The Two seem to have arrived first!

Photos by Nathanael Chong

Contentment ^^

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Eunice: Look there, Jonique. That's where sky meets sea.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The national colors rippling in the sky

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The LIGHTHOUSE!

At around ten to ten thirty in the morning, we gathered at the PNB Ilham Resort before embarking on the brief 30 minute hike up to the Cape Rachado lighthouse. Built somewhere between 1528 and 1529 by the Portuguese, the Cape Rachado lighthouse was the first lighthouse in Malaysia. Given the wondrous opportunity of visiting the inside of the lighthouse, we had a delightful time. Wonderfully informative, our guide, Encik Adam, led us around the lighthouse, introducing, explaining, and demonstrating different parts of the lighthouse to us. We learnt about the different locations of lighthouses in Malaysia, and even had the privilege of visiting the engine room, and watching a demonstration of how the lights work.

Photo by Eliza Tan

This shift's lighthouse keeper

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photos by Charis Chen

The lighthouse keeper switching on the lamp for us. :)

Photo by Charis Chen

Photos by Charis Chen

These photos made me think of how much difference we, as salt and light, can make in this fallen world of darkness.

Photo by Charis Chen

Different types of lamps- very badly photographed XD

Photo by Eliza Tan

And... finally, the group pics!

Following the lighthouse visit, we decided to hike down to the nearby beach, where we spent about ten to fifteen minutes playing with the sand, looking for seashells, corals, and the like.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Charis Chen

Coach Honey conducting the tree orchestra(in her own words) :D

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Nathanael Chong

At about 12.45, we realised that we had gotten our schedules mixed up. Late for lunch, we left the beach in a hurry, hiking up the trail and down from the lighthouse. On the way, some of us sighted a dark, glossy scorpion about 1 foot long!

Photo by Eliza Tan

Photo by Eliza Tan
Care to take me on?

Photo by Charis Chen

Kementerian Penerangan Komunikasi & Kebudayaan

^ We saw this on the way to the cars after the hike down. Talk about Cultural

Communication!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

We were pretty thrilled to see this ^ at the centre!

Back at the Methodist Centre, we dived straight into the scrumptious lunch. As we ate, the cafeteria rippled with the noise of our joyous fellowshipping.

Following the delicious lunch, Coach Sandy gave us a short briefing on our room and dorm areas. This time round, the speakers got to sleep in dorms! Jaeriel took charge of the key for the boys' dorm, and I the key for the girls' dorm.

We then headed to our dorms, unpacked, showered, and rested. Actually, we chatted. XD And fooled around.

At about 3pm, we headed to the cafeteria for our tea break before proceeding to the meeting room for the official briefing.

Photo by Charis Chen
^ playing with the chef's son's toy after tea break XD
- balancing practice!

The speakers also gathered in their respective worship and games teams to discuss the activities that they would be leading.

Then... drumroll please :) ... the time we've all been anticipating....

BEACH TIME!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Yay!!!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The speakers walked to the nearby beach with several coaches. We started off with a series of attempts at jump shots. > < Unfortunately, most of them turned out rather strange.

Photo by Coach Daniel

Photo by Coach Daniel Toh

We then splashed through the waves to play, sing, and dance. It turns out that the sea is a rather nice place to play "Blow, Wind, Blow"!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Above: Before the boys decided that the girls were having more fun

than them... or in other words, before the boys joined the girls.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

#fiveminutesofpeace XD

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Time flew by all too quickly. Soon, we returned to the Methodist Centre for our wash-up time. And you know what? Some of us were late-- again-- for dinner. (That includes myself XD) But we had one good excuse- we were preparing for that night's activities. Ha!

After dinner, we tromped up to the meeting room. Team A(Jern Yoong, Ian, Jemima, Charis) then led everyone in a session of worship.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Team C(Nat, Jaeriel, Eunice, and Jonique) split us all up into small groups- Team 1, 2, and 3.
We gathered in our respective teams to decide on a team name and cheer.

I regret to say that no photos were to be found of Team 1-- Team Satu Malaysia.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Team 2: The Tworiffic Winners Only!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Team 2 listing Bible examples of the benefits of two. Funny how
half of us are blue and the rest purple, huh?

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Team 3: Johan

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Team 3 even had a drummer!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The Purple Ladies of Team 2 watching with mixed responses and amusement

Eunice then led us in our first session of Core Value Games. We played Charades! It was a lively and entertaining session. :D

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Turns out this ^ meant "rodeo"! Why didn't we think of it?

Photo by Nathanael Chong

The official timer :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

After the animated game, Coach Alfred came up to share with us about this year's Retreat Theme, Commit and Trust. One of the points that stood out the most to me was about the word Commit.

COMMIT=
C- omplete the task
O- bey coaches' instructions
M- ean what you say
M- aster the skills
I- nitiative works
T- hankfulness and gratefulness

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Lastly, we had our "Nite of Sharing" session, where the CI leaders shared about their CI experiences and Coach Wai Hong about his Nepal mission trip.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Jern Yoong :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Eliza :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Jaeriel :)

Photo credit: unknown

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Finally, exhausted after a long day, we returned to the cafeteria for a supper of biscuits and Cup Maggi. The Devos 1 team gathered at an empty part of the cafeteria to prepare for the next day's devotions. And from there, drama began to unfold.

The team was practicing a skit about Otto Koning's committing his pineapple garden to God. As they did so, several people gathered to watch.

Many of us are in the habit of sitting on tables, but we learnt a valuable lesson that night. Below are several accounts of The Incident (as we now refer to it) from different perspectives, written by several of our speakers. Sorry, no pictures available. :)

Ranen's account:

"Port Dickson Methodist Centre—July 31 2015, Friday, 2330 Hours

Eliza, Charis, Jern Ling, Jemima, and I were practicing a short skit for the devotion the following day. Things were relatively peaceful at the dining hall, except for the time when two speakers sat upon a table, causing it to wobble and almost topple over. This resulted in some stern admonishments from some of the other parents who were present. However, soon after, a speaker sat on another table. This one looked solid at a cursory glance. What was not realized then, was, the tabletop had not been actually nailed to the main support structure. In addition, there was a huge metal urn containing hot water, sitting precariously on the edge of the table!

I heard a scream, turned around, and before I could react, a wave of hot water swept across the floor. The next couple of seconds were a blur. As I tried to run away, my slipper came off and I tripped. I got up and continued to run, in order to escape the hot water swirling around my feet. Later when I looked at the others who had been scalded, I realized that I had gotten off lightly. Eunice had burns on both feet, and Eliza was sitting down, screaming, in the water (now cold). Her legs were burnt and the skin was peeling. By this time, a small crowd had gathered around Eliza. Some people from a Tamil church (which was running a retreat at the same time), also helped to pour water on her to relieve her pain.

By 12 am, Eliza and Eunice had been sent to the hospital. I went along as well, but as my burns were not extensive, I returned to the centre first. The two sisters were still being treated in the ward. As the minutes ticked by, those who were waiting got a little tense. Finally, when Eliza and Eunice arrived back at the Methodist Centre around 2 am, a welcoming party crowded around them and made sure they were well taken care of. Once the sisters were in bed, everyone retired to their respective rooms and dorms.

There is always something to be learnt from an incident such as this; whether it be something exemplary, or something NOT to do. When an instruction begins to sound like nagging, it means that we have shut our ears to it. Our hearts are no longer ready to receive that correction. Unless we open our hearts and ears to it again, we, or someone else, may have to pay the consequences for our indifference.

On the other hand, we had a lot of “teabag moments,” as Coach Joseph later put it. The hot water incident brought out many of our true flavors. In the aftermath, people came together to help Eliza and Eunice and get them to the hospital, while others assisted in cleaning up the dining area. And all throughout, various people prayed.

This incident has taught us valuable life lessons such as the importance of obedience. It has also revealed some of our true character, and what we’re made of."
~Ranen

Jern Ling's account:
"It all happened in the cafeteria at around ten something at night, after Coach Alfred’s inspiring speech about ‘Commit and Trust’ and the honest debrief led by my mum, Coach Michelle. Being motivated by this, we headed downstairs to have our own supper time. After a little while, Eliza, Ranen, Charis, Jemima and I practiced our presentation of the devotion time for the next morning. We were all having so much fun, laughing and all. A few minutes later, two speakers joined us, watching and listening to us did our little skit. They sat on a round, dining table. The table wobbled a bit and one of the speakers almost fell. We were like: “Whoah…. Okay, don’t sit on the table anymore.” We then continued our acting. A little while later, I saw that one of the speakers had sat on another table. This time, the table had something on it… something boiling hot… It was a big pot that was filled with hot water. The unstable table flipped. The next thing we knew, the hot, boiling water came pouring down like a tsunami, only this time, hot water came gushing at us. Talk about Titanic! Everyone started running. I quickly ran away for safety. Everybody was screaming. I think I was too. Eliza was still running when she slipped and fell flat on her hands on the hot water. She was screaming and crawling away from the boiling water. I almost collapsed with fright. Everyone, including those who were from other camp groups came to help. I was by her side, pouring cooling water on her burnt parts of her body. Eunice also got burned on both of her feet, Ranen had gotten burnt on one of his legs. After being alerted, Coach Joseph and Coach Debra brought the two girls to the hospital. While they were gone, I hugged Jemima, Charis and Jonique. We prayed and cried buckets. It was like a horror movie, just only in real life. Later, my mum prayed together with all the speakers at the veranda pleading for our two dearest friends’ lives. When they finally came back from the hospital, we were so thankful and relieved. I have learnt to trust in God and to commit everything to Him, like what our theme for retreat was and because of this incident, it really brought the ICC coaches and speakers closer together. If there was not for any of these experiences, there would not be a teabag moment to show how we really care."
~ Jern Ling

Ian's account:

"While I was running towards the canteen, I suddenly heard a loud crash followed by terribly frightening screams. As I walked nearer to the scene, many people were crowded in the canteen. I noticed Eliza, who seemed to suffer from injury, crying out in pain. Puzzled at what had happened, I was told by Ranen about the accident. After Ranen and I had informed Jern Yoong and Nat, Nat led us in prayer. Through this accident, I learned that I should take heed the advice of the adults. Disobedience can bring severe consequences. Thus, I will obey what my God given authorities ask of me immediately."
~Ian

Jaeriel's account:

"All went well for the first day of our 2nd ICC Retreat. Before we called off our first day, an untoward incident happened right before my very eyes. We were enjoying our much anticipated Maggi cup noodles as our supper with some 3-in-1 Milo. While enjoying our supper, some girl[s] and a boy decided to practice for their [devotional] session for the next morning. I was standing next to Eliza. Suddenly, one speaker sat on the unstable coffee table with the huge pot of hot water at the other side of the table. Things happened so quickly and no one was prepared for what was about to happened. In a split second the whole table top flipped over and the pot of hot water flew off the table and came crashing down to the floor next to Eliza, she was splashed with boiling hot water from her thigh down and on her foot. She was screaming in excruciating pain. I was fortunate enough and manage to jump away before the hot water could have splash[ed] on me. I saw Eliza crawling on the floor trying to escape from the hot water. I felt helpless. The situation was chaotic... [There were] many people trying to help. Later I decide[d] to help to mop the floor to prevent others from slipping and falling. It took us more than an hour to finally remove all the water. Later, Aunty Michelle led us in prayer for them. Ranen and most of us shed tears of sorrow. We cried out to God for mercy over Eliza, Eunice ,and Ranen. We thanked God that they were given an early discharge from the hospital and came back to Methodist Center past midnight. This incident has taught me to obey my authorities. At times, I might not understand why, but I think obeying first and asking why later is the key to the character of Obedience." ~ Jaeriel

Charis' account:

"I was totally unprepared for what happened that night. Nobody was. It was a horror movie in reality. Eliza, Jemima, Jern Ling, Ranen, and I had been putting together our skit for the next day's Devo session, when several other speakers came over for a sneak preview of the skit. Two speakers hoisted themselves onto a nearby table, and were immediately reprimanded by some coaches. But as is often the case with many of us, one speaker forgot about the instruction to not sit on tables. I watched, stupefied, as she walked over to the coffee table. It certainly looked very solid to me. As the horrible realisation of what the speaker was about to do hit me, I screamed the speaker's name. But it was too late. At that very moment, the unsuspecting speaker jumped up, landing on edge of the table and causing the tabletop to overturn. The hot water dispenser landed with a loud metallic crash, and chaos erupted. "It's hot water!" my dad yelled. While trying to scramble out of the way, Eliza slipped and fell. Shrieking and flailing about, she attempted to crawl out of the boiling puddle. We rushed to her aid, and helped her to a spot well away from the hot water. She quickly rolled up her pant legs, screaming for cold water. By then, a large crowd had gathered around us. The adults sprang into action to look for water as other campers rushed up with tubes of toothpaste. As I knelt beside Eliza, trying to relieve her pain, I noticed that Eunice's feet had been scalded a bright red, and asked her about it. She looked down, realized she was burnt, and burst into tears. As the distressing reality of what was happening around me began to sink in, I struggled immensely to keep from crying. However, I was temporarily saved from the imminent torrent of tears by the dilemma of deciding what to do, given the barrage of diverse instructions from people around me and various toothpaste tubes, creams, water bottles, and essential oils shoved into my hands.

The speaker who caused it couldn't stop apologizing to Eliza. Eliza, in her pain, reassured the speaker again and again that she was fine, that it would be alright. Watching the care between the two of them really touched me, and I broke down in tears. Soon after, all the girls were weeping. We wept so hard we had to gasp for air.

Later, after Eunice and Eliza had been sent to the hospital, I helped some of the mothers pack up at the cafeteria. As I looked upon all the files, the once-steaming cups of Milo and Cup Maggi, and the scattered chairs, I thought about all the things that we had planned to do, and had been left undone. During the few minutes within which everything had happened, it had seemed to me as if I had been everywhere at once.

After bringing the all the girls' belongings-- files, bags, bottles-- back to the dormitory, I joined the rest of the speakers and some coaches in prayer at the veranda. Many of us were in tears as we cried out to God for mercy on our dear friends. We were ever so relieved and thankful when they came back past midnight.

When everybody had settled down in their rooms and dorms, the girls lay in their bunks talking about all that had happened. I was grateful that in spite of the suffering they had gone through, Eliza and Eunice were still able to be cheerful.

Over the next two days, I was allowed to help Coach Debra throughout the day as she periodically applied cream on Eunice and Eliza's burns and changed the dressing for Eliza's injuries. Although it was not easy, it is an experience that I learnt a lot from, enjoyed, and am truly grateful for.

Now, as I look back, even though it was a tragedy, God's hand was in everything, granting us all His divine protection and also grace and strength to respond. Through this incident, we were brought closer together. The love that the other campers demonstrated through their help, concern, and prayer as we worked together to help Eunice and Eliza really touched me. God's protection on us became even more evident to me when I returned with Jonique and Jern Ling to the cafeteria to look at the scene of The Incident. The electrical plug-point had been ripped clean out of the wall. Some of us could have been electrocuted-- but nobody was. Both Eunice and Eliza had fallen into the water, but they had only been scalded below the waist. The water could have been hotter, but the heater had only just been switched on again after our night session so we that could cook our cup noodles, and the water had not been fully heated yet.

I am reminded that even though we make mistakes, God still loves us, and will protect, sustain, and pick us up so we can go on. There's something else I've learnt- never, ever sit on a table."
~Charis

Jonique's account:

"As soon as I finished indulging myself with Maggi Cup noodles, which is a forbidden food at home, I walked over to the Devos 1 team. They were practicing a skit in the canteen, when two speakers attempted to sit on the round table [and] it overturned. Coach Jimmy and Coach Sandy warned them not to sit on the tables anymore. One of them then walked over to sit on the other table where the hot water tub was placed. Suddenly the table overturned. The tub fell. Hot water spilled.

“AAAHHHHH!!” everybody began screaming and I immediately ran far away from the scene. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned around and saw a terrible sight; Eliza was crawling in hot water! Somebody quickly asked for cold water so Eunice and I tried cupping water from the tap but it did not work. A huge crowd of people suddenly came and began shouting what to do and some people even took pictures and videos. My mother directed me to alert Coach Joseph and Coach Debra. I sprinted to their room and led them to the canteen. When I was back at the canteen, I forced myself to look at Eliza’s knee. But once I look[ed] at it, I was grossed out because I can't bear the sight of blood. So, I comforted Eunice instead. After they were driven to the hospital, the girls and I cried and I prayed to God in my heart for their safety. It had been a painful experience but it has brought us closer together, this experience taught us a lot of lessons but what I really learned was to be obedient and listen to nagging although it is unpleasant at first."
~Jonique

Nathanael's account:

"The event was totally unexpected. I was in the boys' dorm with Jern Yoong, playing the guitars and talking about the friends who were with us during the retreat. And just as we were mentioning Eliza and Eunice, Ranen and Ian came into the room and told us about what was happening to the two girls. At first we wouldn't believe them, and asked them if they were joking. They told us to see for ourselves, so we got out of there and made our way to the cafeteria, picking up the pace when we realized that the boys were right.

Personally, I was struck dumb when I saw them, with parents gathered around holding cool water, mops, and even toothpaste. I didn't know what to do, so I just watched the whole proceedings as the two girls were put on wheelchairs and hurried to the hospital.

The boys were standing together, at a loss for words. Nearby, the other girls were crying in each other’s arms. Suddenly, Jern Yoong suggested that we pray. So we boys huddled into a small circle of four, arms around one another, and heads put together (literally). I led the prayer, after which we had more peace in our hearts.

Later, we informed Coach Michelle and Coach Daniel, who had already retired to their room, about the incident, as they were the organizers of the retreat. We could see that the girls were still emotionally distraught. Coach Michelle then led us in prayer and we had a period of time of silent companionship. Soon after that, we went back to our rooms.

Each of us can take something back from the incident. For me, I've experienced a new bond that has formed between us that could only result from mutual suffering. I've also witnessed a testing ground that showed us who or what we trusted in, and Who we should place our trust in."
~Nathanael

Jemima's account:

"I was at the cafeteria to practice acting out a story together with Eliza, Ranen, Jern Ling, and Charis for the next day’s devotion. When I was acting halfway, I heard Coach Jimmy tell some other speakers who had sat on a table to not do so. After this, one of them went past me and sat on the edge of a table which had a hot water holder on it. At the moment the speaker sat on it, the surface of the table turned over together with the hot water holder. Hot water spilled all over the floor. I had a splash of hot water on my feet but was not seriously burned even though I was close to the table where the speaker had sat, because she had sat on the far side of the table from me. All at once, I heard lots of screaming, and everything went by, fast and blurred, but I knew that Eliza, Eunice, and Ranen had been splashed by hot water as well.

As Eliza was being sent to the car to head to the hospital, I decided to say a prayer with Jern Ling for Eliza and Eunice.

When Eliza, Eunice, and Ranen had been sent to hospital, I went back to the dorms together with the other speakers to meet Coach Michelle. During the explanation to Coach Michelle, I was sitting on the floor, talking to God, and committing myself to Him."

~ Jemima

Eliza's account:

"It was like any other day. In the retreat, we had been broken up into groups, which contained a mixture of preteens and teenagers, to conduct devotions for the retreat’s participants. Our group decided to do something different. To make things more fun, we planned to perform a short skit to act out the true story of a missionary in line with the message of our devotion.

It had been a long day for everyone. With hiking in the morning, playing at the beach in the afternoon, and sessions of sharing testimonies, everyone was pretty tired, but most people still hung out in the cafeteria just to have supper and to enjoy a time of fellowship. So although it was past midnight, our devotion group decided to take this opportunity to practice our skit in the cafeteria.

“Hmm…let’s go to that corner of the cafeteria to practice. It’s more spacious,” I suggested. The others agreed, so we moved there and began practicing again. After a while, we suddenly heard a loud crash. We turned and saw, a short distance away from us, a huge pot of boiling water topple from a table as an adult shouted out to us, “IT’S BOILING WATER!” Shocked, we immediately began to run as the boiling water from the pot came gushing towards us with tremendous force and speed. In the whole frenzy, I slipped and fell into the water, screaming in pain as wave after wave of boiling water thrust me closer to the ground.

Eventually, someone pulled me out, but the damage was done, and a boy, my sister, and I were rushed to a nearby hospital. The other boy and my sister were discharged soon after due to minor burns on their feet, but I was burnt from the waist down, primarily on one leg. As a nurse cleaned my wounds, I tightly squeezed my mom’s hand as she pleaded with me not to go into shock while I tried unsuccessfully not to scream, my eyes darting around frantically. After a while, I stopped crying and the excruciating pain had become somewhat bearable with painkillers, but I discovered that I had second degree burns on my thigh and leg and that the scars wouldn’t go away soon.

It all happened so quickly I didn’t know what to feel.

I remember crying on the floor of the cafeteria. I remember crying in the car on the way to the hospital. I remember crying as I was wheeled and carried. I remember crying on the hospital bed. But I remember that throughout the traumatic ordeal, throughout all the pain, there was always someone there holding my hand and telling me that it was going to be okay. Tons of people, including many strangers, rushed to my aid. And when I came back to the resort from the hospital past 2:00 in the morning, I remember seeing most of the people from our retreat and many strangers standing at the entrance waiting and praying for me. People came to me crying and were surprised by the fact that I had already resumed a cheery attitude although I looked like a mummy with all my bandages.

It’s really hard thinking back to the events that took place that night, or technically early morning. It’s hard replaying the scene in my head and “experiencing” the pain and electric shock waves of the boiling water over and over again. Yet I thank God. I could have easily been electrocuted due to the circumstances, and yet I wasn’t. There were little kids walking around, but thankfully none of them were standing beneath the pot of water when it fell. It could have been so much worse, even life-threatening, but God protected us and was with us throughout the whole incident.

Throughout the next few days, I was so touched by how much people sacrificed to take care of me. Many girls in my dorm stayed up late to bandage my wounds. Many inconvenienced themselves by wheeling or carrying me to places. Strangers would pass by, ask me how I was doing, and pray for me on a frequent basis.

It was meant to be a normal Christian retreat. But it turned out to be so much more. We cried together as a community. But we grew closer as a community. And I am so grateful for how God has used people to touch my life by their care and concern. Often we might take for granted the people God has placed around us, who are worth so much more than material goods. Although conflict and hard times are inevitable, they can be used as opportunities to show love and foster peace. Just as Christ loved us, so we should love and encourage one another. Sometimes it might be beneficial to show our appreciation to those around us by making the extra effort to thank them for the difference they have made in our lives instead of always focusing on the negative or on points of improvement. It’s a small way to say thank you, but it can go a long way in showing love and building community"

~Eliza

So you've read of all that happened. The girls returned at around 2 a.m. We welcomed them with a little procession, and after the hustle and bustle of where they were to sleep that night, they settled down back in the girls' dorm. (Yay!)
Aunty Michelle then came into our dorm to inform us that the boys and the coaches would be taking over the devotions the next day, and that the activities would either be delayed, cancelled, or swapped. We were extremely grateful that the coaches were flexible about this, responding quickly by making changes to the schedule.
I'm not sure what time the boys and the parents slept, but Eliza, Jern Ling, Jonique, and I stayed up talking about the incident long after Jemima and Eunice had fallen asleep. At around 3.30 a.m., we decided we'd try to get some sleep, and due to sheer exhaustion, some dropped off to sleep immediately.

The night was a fitful one for some of the girls. Some had nightmares, and especially for those of us who had witnessed everything, traumatizing scenes of The Incident kept replaying in our minds and jerking us awake. I certainly had a time climbing up and down bunks, trying to calm people (including myself) down!

On a lighter note, some momentous pictures: