Participants were able to remove their armour and barriers, and really build themselves up to ignite their leadership potential.

This year, RYLA was postponed in February amid COVID concerns. Thankfully, the program went ahead from 20-26 April 2022. The Capricorn Caves has been the home of RYLA for several years.

Rotary Youth Leadership (RYLA) is an intensive leadership experience organized by our District 9560 to enable young adults to develop their skills as a leader, while having fun and making connections.

RYLA is an opportunity to serve to change lives. This wouldn’t happen without the incredible facilitating team. The facilitating team consisted of Joel Frost (third year facilitator), Chloe Johnson (second year facilitator), William Field (first year facilitator), and Rebecca Blakemore (first year facilitator). We were also supported by long serving RYLArians, PDG Terry and Debbie Daley, as camp mum and dad.

Around the District, participants came from Childers, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Yeppoon, Mackay, Sarina, Agnes Water and Mareeba. Participant ages ranged from 18-28. Of the 14 participants, three were sponsored through Bundaberg Regional Council. The remaining 11 were sponsored through Rotary Clubs and Rotaract across District 9560.

Across the week, participants were guided through their journey of self development and discovery. Joel Frost delivered sessions such as, ‘turn the ship around’ which was a leadership empowerment session. He also conducted a session called, ‘opinion dominion,’ and ‘balance’. Chloe Johnson delivered two sessions, ‘creativity and leadership,’ and ‘say yes’. Becky Blakemore also delivered two sessions, ‘values and visions,’ and ‘v for vulnerability’. Will Field delivered our morning ANZAC day dawn service as well as a session called, ‘the vital role of the first follower’. As chairperson, I delivered sessions on ‘Tuckman’s stages of teamwork,’ ‘emotional intelligence,’ and ‘meditation and mindfulness’. As a team, we took turns in facilitating mandatory morning exercise, which included a bush walk, circuit, yoga and dancing. The facilitators delivered outstanding sessions and should be proud of their own growth and development across the week.

Our guest speaker line up included Professor Kerry Reid-Searl (AM) from CQ University sharing her journey, research and application of nursing simulation. We had Michelle Yasso from Bridging Health who gave us the opportunity to understand the medical hardships faced by the people of Vanuatu and we got involved by putting kits together. Tot Moran from Toastmasters presented on public speaking and debating. 

Debbie Daley, Rotarian and camp mum, ran a session on Days for Girls, raising awareness of the feminine hygiene kits and allowing participants to be involved. Chris Doring and Jess Calderon spoke about their RYLA experiences and leadership since RYLA. Anton Guinea from the Guinea Group enthused us with a session on perseverance, habits and overcoming obstacles. Sessions with the Caves included a night cathedral tour, abseiling, high ropes, adventure caving and [humane] toad hunting.

Overall, it was a phenomenal week of transformation as 14 strangers entered the week unaware that they would leave the week in a better condition than when they arrived. We witnessed people pushing through their fears and becoming vulnerable and courageous during sessions that required a personal view, opinion or action. Participants were able to remove their armour and barriers and really build themselves up to ignite their leadership potential.