Ok, so that may be a bit overly pessimistic. While the camp
was a lot of work and drained me a bit I am happy to have had the opportunity
to hold such a camp for kids who likely had never had the opportunity to attend
a summer camp until a couple of Gringos showed up. For sure the rewards
outweighed the drawbacks.
The idea to hold a summer camp was hatched by a fellow
volunteer who lives in a small community about 15 km from my site. Her site, Pujilí,
is comprised mainly of indigenous Ecuadorians and the city is at a
significantly lower economic state than my site, Latacunga. My friend suggested
we hold a free summer camp for the youth of Pujilí giving English classes along
with other typical summer camp activities. I initially had reservations about
jumping into such a large project so early into our service but was eventually
convinced that we would be fine and the camp would be great. I would be lying
if I said that I did not think back to my initial feelings of doubt when the
going got tough over the past two weeks but I am still very glad that my friend
twisted my arm just enough to get me to commit.
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| Chillin' wit da homies |
The camp was…
…a day camp running from 8:30 until 1:00.
…held at a local high school that allowed us to use their
campus.
…open to any youth in Pujilí ages 5-16.
…free.
…created completely from scratch.
…ran by two PCVs that looked like they had it all together
when really we would meet every afternoon and scratch our heads as we tried to
plan the activities for the following day.
…exhausting yet exhilarating.
The camp was attended by about 30 kids depending on the day.
Many of them were from the city of Pujilí but after we were featured on the
news a few students from very rural very indigenous areas joined the camp as
well. I remember working at summer camps in the States and how accountable the
counselors were for the safety and well being of each and every student. Those
summer camps assumed the liability for the students that are at their camp.
Here it is just about the opposite. Children here are very independent and this
was reflected in their behavior during the two weeks. Many times a group of
three or four students would simply leave our camp to go buy bread from a store
down the road. Invariably they would return though with their bread and things
would continue. It was my instinct to immediately ask where they went and
instruct them that they could not simply leave whenever they wanted to. I was
responsible for them and didn’t want them to get hurt. (My very American fear
of being sued for losing a child sometimes gets the best of me). The children
did not understand why we wanted to know where they were at all times and this
was something that I had to adjust to.
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| My sunglasses and my backpack made Joel look so cool |
The students ranged from 4 years old all the way up to 16.
This presented a special challenge. Keeping all ages busy and happy was
something that undoubtedly expedited my premature balding. We planned activities
we hoped would appeal to all ages. Many times we would ask the older kids to
help the younger ones to keep everyone working.
The children were not required to come every day. We told
them that we had fun activities planned each day and if they wanted to take
part in them they would have to show up. This enticed them enough and we had
steady attendance from almost everyone. It probably didn’t hurt that we had a
tall blonde American female leading the camp.
Camp Activities:
English classes: We started these with the best of
intentions. We wanted only to play games that involved English words and
phrases. I allowed my friend to teach these because I had had my fill of
English education for the year. These classes ended up being a time for the
older kids to ask us questions about the United States and how to say certain
phrases in English. I think I taught more English at times when a kid would
want to know how to say a random word. For example, a young boy ran up to me
and grabbed my stomach. I told him he was grabbing my fat, in Spanish of
course. He then wanted to know how to say “fat” in English. I suppose learning how to say “fat” is better than nothing.
Scouts: This was my specialty. I wanted to teach a few basic
things dealing with the outdoors and survival. On the first day we did a
challenge course where the teams had to complete certain tasks and the team
that finished them all first would win a sticker on their team’s card. This was
our monetary system that we used to keep track of who was winning. One activity
in the challenge course was searching for food, shelter, and water which were
represented by three discs. Another activity was to get every member of the
team over a “poisonous rock” that was represented by a rope that was about 4
feet in the air. If a member of the team touched as they tried to get over it
the entire team would restart. This activity led to only one kid landing on his
head from five feet in the air so I consider it a success.
Como Planear Mi Vida: This is an activity that the Peace
Corps encourages us to implement in our sites. I realize not everyone who reads
this blog speaks Spanish so I will translate. The direct translation of Como
Planear Mi Vida is “Not a good activity for 6 year olds.” Actually it means
“how to plan my life” and basically it is meant to make children think about
the decisions they make and how they can affect their future. My friend decided
she would use an activity where each child is given an egg and told to take
care of it as if it were a baby. The activity is meant to give kids an idea
what it might be like to take care of a child. On paper it sounded like a great
idea. But when you give a room full of little kids eggs, the results are
predictable. Within the first 10 minutes we had 3 baby casualties. Egg yolk was
everywhere. As the day progressed I found “baby brains” in many random places
including the bathroom. Hopefully when these kids actually have babies they
will try and take care of them better than they did with their eggs.
Sports: I decided the kids needed to learn American sports.
The first sport I taught was Ultimate. The kids took to it pretty quickly and
even asked to play in the following days. We also taught kickball. Man those
Ecuadorians kids can kick a soccer ball (couldn’t locate a kickball). Those two
sports were fun but the kids fell in love with Capture the Flag. After we
taught that game that was all they wanted to play. They would just scream
“Bandera, bandera, bandera!” when we would ask what they wanted to play. (We
told them that the name of the game was “Capturar la Bandera”.)
Recycled Art: Because the camp cost nothing for the kids we
had no budget. Every resource we used was either something of ours or we
purchased it. Therefore recycled art was very appealing to us. We made wallets
out of used milk cartons. The kids really enjoyed making these and I enjoyed
seeing the kids using them throughout the camp.
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| Recycled milk cartons turned into wallets |
Music Class: A local musician offered to teach a music class
to the kids. The younger kids really liked the class. The older kids decided
they were too cool for music school and hung out outside with my friend and me.
This was when we had “cultural interchange”. We would chat about the States and
the differences between Ecuador and the USA. I call it “cultural interchange”
because that is one of the main goals of the Peace Corps and just in case my
boss is reading this I want to cover all my bases. Hey Maria Dolores! J
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| Musical production put on at the final meeting |
Olympics: On the last day my friend planned Olympic Games
for the kids. We set up 6 stations that the kids would have to complete. The
team that finished all of the stations in the quickest time would win. Though
the games were very simple and short the kids loved the activity.
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| It may look like gambling but really they were bowling down water bottles |
Working within the system to get the camp set up and ready
to go was probably one of the most difficult things about the whole ordeal.
There were many leaders in the community that pledged support for our camp.
While one of them was able to come through and deliver what was promised many
fell through due to various reasons. It was frustrating to rely on someone and
then when you really need them they fail to hold up their end of the bargain.
Improvisation became the name of the game many times. This taught me the value
of two things. 1) Rely only on people that you really trust and 2) have really
good backup activities.
Each day I would return to Latacunga around five in the
evening thoroughly exhausted. On Wednesday of last week my students at the university
called me and asked if I was busy. I told them I was not but I had not planned
on coming to the university that evening. They pleaded with me to come because
they were not going to have classes on Thursday, the day I normally taught
them. I wearily agreed to come even though I had no lessons planned. I arrived
to a surprise party they had planned for me and another teacher. We ate dinner
and the students thanked me for working with them. It was a very nice surprise.
Near the end of the evening a student stood up and gave a small speech about
how grateful she and her classmates were. She concluded her speech by giving us
matching leather jackets from the class. I have never owned a leather jacket
before and I like the one they gave me. I look as if I just got off a Harley. It
was very nice of them and I am truly grateful to get to work with students that
want to learn as strongly as they do.
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| University students in an English Masters program |
Now that the camp is over I have been working on a
presentation that I will give in Quito in a week. The work of a volunteer is
never finished. Next Wednesday I will go to Quito to work at a summer camp for
the US Embassy. It promises to be a lot of fun. Hopefully they don’t plan on
giving the kids eggs…
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| Last day. I bet in a week or so I will miss them! |
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