The SYA’s Green Team started off their first event of the year with a bang! Doubling as a post-SYA Summer Camp reunion, “Green Day Out- Part 2” was an Amazing Race-style challenge set around Sydney, where participants were required to travel to different parts of Sydney and complete exciting challenges.
Over 50 people braved the chance of rain on Saturday 14th of January to help spread the Green Team’s environmental message. The excitement was palpable at Bi-Centennial Park, as 10 teams of 4 or 5 energetic youth waited to launch into the series of mystery challenges the Green Team had lined up around the leafy suburbs of Harris Park.
The question on everyone’s mind - Why use cars at an environmental awareness event? Justine Eigner, Green Team Coordinator, explained: “We wanted to spread the message that being mindful of the environment did not have to take over your whole life. Using cars is an integral part of our lives here in Australia, and being eco-friendly doesn’t mean that you have to completely stop using them, it just means using them responsibly, for example by car pooling as we did here.”
Each team faced various challenges during the race, ranging from eco-friendly Seva such as cleaning up Wigram Street, to random bursts of Bhangra throughout the day. Each challenge demanded a high level of ingenuity and vision, showcased when teams were asked to create dares for other teams in the Race. Dares varied from pretending to buy sweets for a hypothetical wedding to climbing trees in the name of fun.
Participants undertaking one of the challenges on the day
Creativity was also displayed in the final challenge as participants were asked to do a short performance with an environmental twist. From dances and skits to teams mimicing a tractor, the teams really ventured outside the box. The atmosphere was energetic with all team members having an active role and video was used to capture the moment.
One of the Teams doing a Performance with an Environmental Twist!
“We had a lot of fun coming up with the tasks,” said Sanjeet Kheray, Green Team member, “our aim was to show that protecting our environment isn’t boring, and it’s not something that has to take up our entire lives.”
After working up an appetite, teams headed back to Bi-Centennial Park for a picnic and to share their experiences. Team Girlpower prevailed with the winning team of Rusna, Manmeet, Jaideep and Gunjan announced after the final task! The prize? Free movie passes for all!
At the end of the day, teams walked away with much more than they walked in with, be it a raised environmental awareness, friends, prizes or memories.
The Green Team would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants and sevadaars who helped make this event possible. We would also like to extend an invitation to anyone who feels passionate about this venture to join us and help us plan out our next events! Just shoot us an email at ecosikhs@sikhyouthaustralia.com and we’ll get back to you.
Stay tuned for more!
SYA Green Team
