More than 300 youth from the Laie and Waipahu Stakes came together for a conference titled BASEcamp hosted in Laie from March 21 to 25 to learn, serve, and experience walking in the footsteps of the Savior.
Drew Tanner, the program administrator from Utah, who created the idea of BASEcamp together with his father, Greg, explained the purpose of the camp. “Too often at youth conferences kids get told what to do or are entertained into doing something. Our idea was to get the kids to set goals and start the process of planning in order to take charge of their own lives at an earlier age.”
He continued, “BASEcamp is a metaphor. Usually people think of a base camp at the bottom of the mountain, but it’s actually in the middle. It’s a place where experienced climbers, who already know to a certain extent the ins and outs of life, can come to have safety. They can talk to other climbers, share thoughts and ideas and inspire each other to make the final ascent.”
BASEcamp stands for believe, act, serve and endure are the patterns of discipleship in Christ, said Tanner. “The pattern works with everything. You have a dream, then you got to believe in it and act on it. The action leads to sharing it with other people by serving them and getting them involved. And then handling any bumps or trials along the way.”
He added, “It is a pattern of getting yourself motivated that works as well in a business setting as it does in a gospel setting.”
With the safety net of young single adult guides for the more than 30 groups of youth, the youth set out with their self-made plans to serve the community.
“Sometimes I feel like they are the guides and I am the youth,” said Georgina Yandall, a YSA volunteer from Makakilo. “The roles are reversed. Yesterday from noon to 3:30 p.m. we were out at Bikini Beach and everybody had two bags each. I told them that we wouldn’t leave until all bags were filled. They were so quick at filling the bags.” After two hours she felt the kids had worked enough, but they insisted on not taking any breaks and kept going.
“I have heard people say often: ‘I want them to experience,’” said Tanner. “The fact is you can’t. You can facilitate it, hope to inspire them, but unless they don’t experience it for themselves, they’ll never understand. It is not the same for each person either,” he said.
Noah Uluave, a high school freshman from Laie, said of this unique style of youth conference, “It is fun because we get to plan all we do. It is a challenge too because it is our first time doing it and... some people don’t cooperate with you, but it’s good.
“My favorite part was when we went to serve at Gunstock and learned to trust each other and make good decisions,” he continued. “There was a 10-foot wall, and we had to try to climb over it without ropes or anything. I had to learn to trust the others to catch me in case I’d fall.”
Lehua Siaosi from Laie was one of the receivers of the acts of service. While suffering from cancer and the recent loss of her husband, one of the youth groups spent more than half a day helping in her backyard hammering, laying cement, and digging.
“Our dream was to plant a garden,” she said, “to try to stay alive as we could by eating from it. But in all of the plans I have to gauge my energy. Once my energy is gone, I am down for days. It was such a slow process. All of a sudden they called and said, ‘We have a bunch of kids to help,’ and I said, ‘Yes, please, I need the help.’ I can’t even believe how this blessing dropped into our lives.”
Tanner said he always asks people what life lessons would tell themselves if they could go back 10 years. He said common responses are, “I wish I would have been more confident. I wish I would have been better at managing time.”
Tanner tried to implement those lessons into BASEcamp this year. “It all starts with doing something, getting out there, doing new things. You go through a program usually and they tell you what to do. It helps, but you go home and it was a youth program thing.”
Tanner’s final feelings about the event were of accomplishment. “I had never thought I’d manage to get this far with the kids,” said Tanner. “I had my doubts as a guide and thought I wouldn’t be the best fit for them. But they teach me more than I can teach them.”