Students started the day by taking part in the rites and rituals in morning jamatkhana, Later the group went to the Kurmitola Golf Club to enjoy the greenery, walk, breakfast and some golf. Students experienced the sport of golf and it gave exposure to the children to play golf and appreciate the spirit of the sport, for which Imam gives the Gold Cup every year (Aga Khan Gold Cup Golf Tournament).  Students really enjoyed the sport and were very excited with this new learning and experience.

The Talim Teachers used the Talim Curriculum to review and introduce ideas to reinforce learning about the ethics and values of Islam through topics like: The Prophets and their values, Prophet Muhammad, Allah’s Creations, Farmans of Hazir Imam, and more. The Primary Teachers used very creative activities to make the class interesting and also to engage and inspire the students like matching of cards, games, drawing, project work, sports, video, etc.

The Secondary Session, started by children probing themselves if they are empathetic or not and what that means. Having empathy means that we think about others’ feelings, don’t make fun of others, feel what it’s like to be in others’ shoes, listen to what others are going through, and understand others’ points of views. They also viewed different pictures of human beings that are different from us but are facing some challenges and tried to empathize by thinking about what they may be feeling, seeing, thinking, and hearing. They reflected on how empathetic we are and how we can be more empathetic in our daily lives. Students were also given character descriptions where they had to be that character in the race of life, and they took a step forward for every advantage or privilege they had over others. This showed the students that each one has a different starting point in the race of life based on what we have or don’t have and so the race is not fair so we should think about others around us who are all coming from different perspectives and lives and may not have gotten the same opportunities that we have received in life. The session then concluded that due to this we are responsible for each other because we are all created by Allah and have a duty to take care of each other as well as the environment.

The students were divided into three groups where they acted out the relationship between Allah and Man, Man to Man, and Man to Environment. This helped us understand what our responsibilities on earth are and why we should live according to our ethics and values which are stated in the Aga Khan Development Network Framework as: Ethic of Inclusiveness, Ethic of Education and Research, Ethic of Compassion and Sharing, Ethic of Self-reliance, Ethic of Respect for Life and Health Care, Ethic of Sound Mind, Ethic of Sustainable Environment, and Ethic of Governance. The students learned about these ethics through group work, problem solving tasks, riddles, Sudoku, games, cryptograms, etc. Through these activities, students understood the meaning of these ethics as well as how they can be practiced and implemented. The students then implemented the ethic of sustainable development through the REC wide project.

In addition to STEP Camp, an extra-curricular session was also held. All Primary and Secondary Students took part in “creating Do It Yourself (DIY) Projects from recycled products”.  Students created many different things like cards, mobile phone holders, photo frame, candles, pen/pencil holders, jewelry boxes, and even a bookshelf. The students really used their creativity and originality to make these objects that can come in use and are purposeful. The products that the students so lovingly created was displayed after REC Student Navroz Majlis in March.

The ECD children also participated in the camp and did different activities. As the ECD Parwaaz curriculum highlights the importance of reading with your child for early literacy and bonding, and as the curriculum is geared towards helping parents to understand and do age and developmentally appropriate activities with their children, so an activity was done in the camp related to that. The following objectives were covered:

• Create a passion and interest in both children and parents to make reading part of their every day lives.
• Introduce the children and their parents to various age-appropriate books they can read to their children on a daily basis that are available in the library.
• Encourage both parents and children to form a habit of visiting the library and borrowing books.

About 67 teachers and students attended.