The ‘re-wilding’ course helping empower Hong Kong’s young women and teach them ‘to step into their full power’
- Women have been conditioned ‘not to assert themselves’, says organiser Jasmine Nunns, who is determined to change that
- The six-day programme will train girls aged between 11 and 14 to face the challenges they face at school or in their future workplaces
Building shelters out of natural materials, whittling sticks to use as tent pegs and making adornments from plants are not common pursuits in a busy city such as Hong Kong, but they are all activities that feature in the programme of a six-day nature immersion course aimed at young women.
Wilderness expert Jasmine Nunns, 34, is the brains behind Kembali, which organises forest bathing and wild swimming adventure days that reconnect Hongkongers with the natural world.
Offering a new course, for girls aged 11 to 14, she hopes to instil practices, techniques and habits that will carry them through any challenges life throws at them – be they in the forest, classroom or the workplace.
The immersion, she says, is “giving girls the tools to be able to express themselves in a way that they may not have been able to before”.
For the Hong Kong-born guide, who has been running experiential programmes with schools, companies and charities for 12 years, focusing on girls was important.
“Women and girls have been conditioned not to assert themselves,” she says. “I’m trying to allow girls to see that it’s OK and important to step into their full power. Part of that is transforming our understanding of our bodies in an environmental space: it’s less about what we look like to other people but more the function of our body and what we’re capable of doing in a natural setting.”
The course was born out of Nunns’ realisation that modern society is lacking in “rites of passage” – the recognition that a person has transitioned to a new stage of their life, such as a young person learning to look after themselves or, equally, a parent feeling comfortable with their child doing so.
The programme aims to redress that absence by encouraging a “sense of stewardship and responsibility”, particularly towards the environment.
Making the most of the natural resources found in country parks, participants will spend four days learning practical skills such as hiking and safe knife use while dabbling in more holistic elements, such as expressing gratitude towards nature and people, building resilience, addressing fear and overcoming obstacles.
Two days of camping will follow, with outdoor cooking and fireside singing and storytelling.
Kembali’s “Re-Wilding Nature Immersion for Girls” will take place from December 17 to 22. Workshops will be held on Hong Kong Island while the two-day camping excursion will be in Sai Kung. The course costs HK$4,250 per participant and is limited to six. For more information, seekembali.org.
