Guest Speaker Deborah Fletcher, the Club RYLA attendee this year is Auckland based and teaches Dance.
Deborah was one of 15 delegates from Auckland and Northland who attended this years RYLA event that was conducted via Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Deborah said that they broke off into smaller groups, to better connect and arranged a dinner together in Newmarket to experience some face time.
One of the highlights was a group project to form an NGO Prototype of an Online Market Place for Art and Trade services. The 5-hour project produced some high-quality work that proved very satisfying.
Deborah commented that a younger person can be demoralised by the state of the world and RYLA enabled the sharing with people experiencing the same feelings. Also sharing of past RYLA attendees their current experiences, including Brain Research and work into the community.
Students were particularly impressed with Inspirational Guest speaker Cam Calkoen, who was born with Cerebral Palsy who says his life has been “normal” for him since birth and his life would have carried on in whatever direction he chose to take.
Some quotes from Cam:
- Life is what we make it and the values needed to achieve awesomeness are simple
- We need to believe and in doing so, leave no stone unturned. My offerings help you identify these unturned stones
- In other words, I inspire others to dream big and achieve more!
Deborah said the Group will continue to arrange outings together in the future.
Peter Garnett presented Deborah with a RYLA certificate and reminded her that she was now a member of the RYLA International Alumni and could take advantage of connecting with RYLA Alumni worldwide.
