Who knew that those skills I gained while working at camp WeHaKee all those summers would be so useful all the way on the other side of the world?
Almost two months ago now (I know, I’m slow to get this on my blog), Tigray region PCVs hosted their first ever Tigray summer camp, and I think the overall opinion was that it was a huge success.
This process started about 4 months before camp for me (for the volunteers directly in charge of this, it started long before that). Each volunteer was responsible for selecting three eligible campers from their town; I worked with the vice director at my local high school to select possible students, then met with them and explained camp and that any who were interested could submit an essay on why they wanted to attend. From this process we selected three awesome students from our high school; 2 girls, both in 11th grade, and 1 boy in 12th grade. Over the next few months I met with the students and discussed rules and expectations for camp, dates and timeline, and the permission slip for their parents.
The day of camp arrived and we all eagerly sat in a café waiting for the bus to pick us up (it was coming from a nearby town with other campers). I’m pretty sure my campers believed this was to be a typical ‘training’ like they are so used to: dry and boring with very little interaction, despite my attempts to explain this foreign concept of ‘camp’. However, when we arrived, the moment we walked in the door they could tell it wasn’t anything they had expected.
As they walked in, each camper was placed in a color team, of which I was the orange team leader (AKA, counselor of ‘cabin’ Orange). Campers spent the first afternoon creating nametags and decorating their new camp journals with craft supplies so rare to Ethiopia; stamps, glitter, stickers, markers, and colorful paper. All 34 campers seemed a little unsure of what to think or do, or what was expected… especially after a round of ‘BANANAS UNITE!’ Little did they know, we were easing them into this camp experience.
Each day of camp had a specific theme: Leadership, HIV-AIDS awareness, Environmental Awareness, Gender Equality, Nutrition/Healthy Lifestyles, and Field Day (team spirit and some friendly competition). I assisted with a session on Leadership day, taught two sessions during Environment day (one, an introduction to environmental awareness and the other on food-security and small scale gardening practices), and the rest of the time worked as the Orange color group leader, taught about a million girls to make friendship bracelets (ok, more like 15), played waaay to much Uno for one week, and helped with behind the scenes stuff, like trips to the market and filling water jugs. With our little remaining free time, some of us shamefully spent hours putting together puzzles. (If anyone wanted to send me a couple 1000 piece puzzles, definitely wouldn’t complain… though, I might not leave my house either) Alas, no horseback riding program like at Camp WeHaKee to make it really feel like camp, but still a great week.
By the end of the first day campers were getting into the camp idea- color teams had cheers for their teams when they won a precious glittered bottle cap and campers were enjoying the lessons, all of which had fun, interactive games, skits, and crafts to help them learn (slightly different here in Ethiopia: most teaching is in a classroom setting and more ‘listen and memorize’ than ‘creative thinking’), and it was almost impossible at times to drag campers away from the craft table or their friendship bracelets…
The last day of camp was full of games we’ve all played a dozen times, but things like a wheel barrel race or a three legged race were brand new to them. My favorite was the ‘dizzy-bat’ race (you know, stick your forehead on a bat and spin 10 times) I don’t think a single one of those kids had ever been so dizzy in their lives. My other favorite competition of that day was the ‘You got served!’ Dance off. Each color group had to dance to first, Tigrinya music, second, Amharic music, and third, American music. If only I could describe... In the final rounds, the teams had little skits to open a song, choreography, and some serious moves. I think all of us Americans were a little shocked, however, at what the perception of ‘American Dancing’ was; although when you consider their only images of American dancing come from MTV, I guess it makes sense.
Throughout the field day, my team did pretty well; I didn’t tell them this, but by the end of the first half of the day we were in the lead, but after a rather rough second half, we dropped to a respectable 3rd place. The end of camp also meant camp awards and the fabulous orange team gained the most glittered bottle caps throughout the week and earned the coveted ‘Gobez Color Team’ Award (gobez meaning smart or clever). The campers I brought from my town also made me proud: One of my girls got the esteemed ‘Gobez Female Camper’ Award; the other was in the winning dance troop of ‘you got served dance off’, and the boy from my town got second in the camp talent show (held earlier in the week) with some impressive acrobatic skills.
Camp finished traditionally with songs and dancing around the camp fire and of course, S’mores: a definite first for all our campers and as some described to me later, the most ‘tu’rom’ (delicious) thing they’d ever tasted.
Again, just another note about the project I am working on with my high school- we are trying to get funded through Peace Corps Partnership Program for a well and pump for the school. This way the school can maintain their grounds, the Environmental Club can start their projects of a tree nursery and demonstration gardens, and the school will have a reliable water source. Funding relies on the donations from generous people back home and so far, it has gone pretty slow and we’re starting to worry we won’t get the funds by the time we need to begin. We really, really need your support- even if it’s just a few dollars- we truly appreciate every bit of help given.
Please donate if you can at the following link!
https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=663-028 or go to www.peacecorps.gov/donate, and search for ‘Peatross’, or the project number 663-028.
Thank you and የከንየልና!
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