Outward Bound is 21 — ‘a duty to impel people into experience5

Press, 21 October 1983, Page 21

Outward Bound is 21 — ‘a duty to impel people into experience 5

By

GARRY ARTHUR

In the 21 years since the Outward Bound school was started at Anakiwa in Queen Charlotte Sound, more than 15,000 students — both young and old — have learned that an Outward Bound course is no Sunday picnic. It’s tough going, both physically and mentally, and it is meant to be. Its philosophy is based on the spartan training ideas of Kurt Hahn, a German educationist who founded Gordonstoun School in Scotland after being kicked out of Germany by Hitler in the early 19305.

Hahn believed that “your disability is your opportunity” and that it is "wrong to coerce people into opinion but a duty to impel them into experience.” Outward Bound was begun in Wales during World War II to give

young merchant seamen the knowledge, skills, and confidence to survive the war at sea. It worked so well, building character as well as survival skills, that it was adapted and expanded after the war until today there is a chain of about 40 Outward Bound schools around the world. Hamish Thomas, a Christchurch lawyer who became the first warden of the New Zealand Outward Bound school, travelled to Britain to study schools there before the New Zealand one was established at Anakiwa, 23 kilometres from Picton, at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound.

Anakiwa was an old guest house

built on the site of a Maori pa in a spot that combined all the necessary features of bush, mountains, rivers, and sea. It has been described as the most perfectly situated Outward Bound School in the world, and gets many visits from admiring and envious Outward Bounders from other places. The old building became the Cobham Outward Bound School in 1962, and continued in use until a decision was taken in 1980 to replace all of the buildings at a cost of about $1.5 million. The school was named after Lord Cobham, then Governor-Gen-eral of New Zealand, who was an enthusiastic supporter of the project. Announcing the purchase of Anakiwa in 1962, he quoted from Kurt Hahn’s formula for Outward Bound: “There are three ways of trying to win the young. There is persuasion, there is compulsion, and there is attraction. “You can preach at them — that is a hook without a worm. You can say ‘You must volunteer’ — that is of course the devil; and you can tell them ‘You are needed’ — that appeal hardly ever fails.”

impelled into experience, as Hahn recommended, Outward Bound students are offered challenges “which call for previously unimagined effort and are tested in situations which demand courage, team spirit, initiative, and a sense of responsibility. In surroundings of perfect natural beauty dissociated from everyday life and in a rare spirit of comradeship, bodies and spirits respond under stress.” Their 24 days in an idyllic but demanding environment are said to amount to more than a strenuous outdoor holiday. “Intellectuals meet physical demands, athletes, outdoor types, and loners are committed to social groups where the; must share their views and impressions.

“The dependent are flung on their own resources, introverts must reveal themselves and extroverts learn to listen. Dreamers are awakened and the wayward redirected.” Anakiwa helps them find new sources of strength within themselves, the trust claims. Students’ own comments tend to bear this out. “Yes, it was tough,

but what a terrific experience,” wrote one 21-year-old. “I will never forget our gentle introduction to ‘simply messing about in boats’ — trying to keep the gunwales from going under in the teeth of a Cook Strait gale as the sheets cracked about your head.” “Both the 14-mile run and the feeling of looking down on the Pelorus River from the bridge before we jumped — these things stick vividly in my mind. “But perhaps the biggest lessons were learned when we had to depend on each other even for our very lives (the guy on the other end of the rope). Just getting along with a group of fellows from all walks of life was an education in itself.

“I learned about my strengths and weaknesses in a new and more real way. And I learned that given sufficient determination, a positive attitude and sheer guts, those weaknesses could be largely overcome. I think we drew that determination and courage from each other and from the challenges we faced.”

A young Maori student admits that the mental attitude he had when he arrived was “pretty antisocial,” but says that the schools naval-style watch system cured him of destructive tendencies.

“I really can’t go around picking holes in a pastime I enjoyed so much,” he wrote, “and I only hope that others enjoy it as much in the future as I have.”

One 18-year-old girl did not enjoy her early days at Anakiwa at all. She says she felt lost, confused, and very alone. “In the time that has followed I have been subjected to a programme of intense physical, mental, and emotional stress,” she wrote. “This has revealed to me my more unsavory characteristics and how they affect the way I react to different situations. What I have seen of myself has not been a pretty sight and I am now aware of the objectionable individual others have had to tolerate for so 10i.g.” The physical challenges at Anakiwa come from rock climbing, a ropes confidence course, bush tramps, kayaking, and sailing. Social challenges arise from being part of a group that demands cooperation and understanding, and through solo activities and community service.

“Today young people rarely have to face alone situations of stress or challenge,” explains Paul Chaplin, chairman of the Canterbury Outward Bound Association. “They can always turn to social agencies or to support of other kinds, and they play a valuable role. But our object is to give young people the opportunity to discover their own potential and what they are capable of.

“The environment and activities of Outward Bound are such that the physical challenge outdoors is used to demonstrate to individuals what their capabilities are. Then they can apply them in other ways in ordinary life. Outward Bound

uses that environment as a medium for this discovery.” Paul Chaplin says an Outward Bound course is not confined to the popular image of “macho” physical activities; it is also a social and emotional experience. “Very intense activities take place within a watch or group, which is made up of the widest spectrum of people. You must work closely with people that you would not normally work with.”

Although Outward Bound developes leadership qualities, that is not a specific objective. Paul Chaplin says priority is given to helping the under-achiever achieve more.

The course tends to prove to the ultra-confident that they have one or two shortcomings and need to ask for help. “It’s a humbling experience for many,” he says.

Graduates of Outward Bound often continue as active old boys and old girls, working to support the school at Anakiwa, and also in community affairs. The Canterbury Outward Bounders have a campsite at Kaituna where they conduct regular summer camps for deprived and underprivileged children under the age of 14. They also have camps specifically for diabetics, the hard-of-hearing, and patients from Templeton Hospital. Anakiwa, too, has special programmes for the disabled and disadvantaged.

Outward Bound measures its success largely by the continued support it receives from the community. Courses are booked up to eight months ahead, and the business community continues to sponsor young employees through the course.

“Many large and small business organisations sponsor staff on Outward Bound courses,” says Paul Chaplin. “Their primary motive is normally financial, and they would not be making this investment if they were not getting value from it. Many have put through considerable numbers each year, and I’m

sure that it’s not solely out of good wilt

“Their reports indicate that the improvement and responses from apprentices and shop assistants more than justifies their investment. That’s the best tangible measure of results.” Outward Bound’s standard 24day course is for those aged 18 to 23, but since 1975 special nine-day programmes at Anakiwa have included courses for adults, others for special need groups, and contract courses tailor-made for employees of particular businesses or industry groups. Teachers’ practicum courses are for schoolteachers involved in outdoor activities. The standard course fee of $715 covers only the direct costs of putting a student through the course, including travel and equipment. Administration costs come from contributions and grants. Many who would like to go to Anakiwa cannot afford the fee, and Paul Chaplin says Outward Bound’s concern that the costs could turn it into an elistist organisation has led to the development of schemes such as endowment scholarships to help those who cannot raise the money.

“Our aim is that no-one is kept out,” he says, "and by and large we’ve achieved that. In Canterbury in the last five years no inquirer has been turned away.”