Coinciding with Father’s Day, Outward Bound Oman is introducing a Family Course - a three-day experience filled with expeditions and activities aimed exclusively at fathers and their children.
Outward Bound Oman has regularly been training youth as well corporate members, but there had been requests from families and this year’s Father’s Day, which is celebrated on June 20, will see the launch of a three-day course for fathers and their children maintaining all protocols of Covid19.
“This is a new type of course for us here at Outward Bound Oman, but it has been very successful for Outward Bound Brazil. The concept of Outward Bound Oman is taking people into the outdoors to give them the experience to unlock their potential,” said Anisa al Raisi, Head of Corporate Training at Outward Bound Oman.
The focus has always been on getting individuals out of their comfort zone, being with people you are not familiar with or being in the environment or being on expeditions which you are not comfortable with and so on.
“When you are stretched out, you can accomplish more – to accomplish more than you think you are capable of. So this is a real opportunity planned out for Father’s Day. It is an opportunity for families to bond. The course is exclusively for fathers and their sons or daughters. The age group we are looking for is between 11 to 14-year-olds. In the future, it will be open for moms and their children and offer it to different age groups,” Anisa explained.
The three-day planner starting from Friday to Sunday is filled with activities while camping in Jabal Al Akhdhar, which continues to enjoy cool temperatures through the summer.
“The three-day focus will be on strengthening the family bond and values within the family. Just like in the corporate world, values are important. Sometimes it is not talked about, and sometimes, parents expect children to live up to their expectations and live with the values of the family. So building the communication and allowing them to be resilient together as a family unit through an expedition, navigation, etc is what it is going to be about,” she pointed out.
Navigation will be trained using the sun, stars, GPS, maps and compass, and learning outdoor skills by asking, ‘how can we do better, especially as a team?’
“The instructors are super excited,” she noted.
In addition to the environmental factor, the instructors are hoping to see a switch of roles as parents who usually control situations. At the same time, especially outdoors where there could be a bit of risk involved is expected to develop trust in their children and see their development in these three days. Planned are discussions on finances, future, what one needs to grow, plans etc. Through these discussions, parents and children will write down their commitment. Sometimes expectations are not met because they are not talked about.
“There is a massive change in people within three to four days, and so now parents can actually be there to see that change in their children and change together as well. There will be a big change in parents, too, in learning to let go and develop trust. On the other hand, the child’s ability to speak up on their expectations,” she said.
Each family will have their camping equipment, and social distancing will be maintained at all times.
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