A couple weeks after school Sylvia and I, along with several other Tigray volunteers from G11, G12, G13 and G14 came together to hold a week long overnight summer camp in a nearby town called Idaga Arbi. It is actually our woreda(county) capital. We had been planning this camp for the past six months and raised money from friends and family in America to make it happen. Each PCV was able to bring 3-6 students and a counterpart. Altogether we ended up have 37 students from six different schools. I know 37 is not divisible by 6 but I had one student show up uninvited and I couldn’t possibly tell her to go home. So, when we got there you could tell the students were a little uneasy because this is something that was completely new to them, this concept of a summer camp. The students stayed close to their classmates from the same cities and were a bit reserved, not completely sure how to behave or what they were even doing at this thing called camp? We quickly had some fun team building exercises and lots of ice breakers and you could start to see this group of students form into a new family over the next week. We had a lot of fun. We talked about leadership for one day, nutrition and health, healthy relationships and safe sex, HIV/AIDS prevention, malaria, gender equality, how to be change agents, planning for the future and of course the majority of the camp was in English, so they were practicing and learning English indirectly and most importantly they built their confidence.
I thought a lot about my personal camp experience as a kid going into this camp and one of the best parts that still took me by surprise was the bonds formed between the campers and counselors. My students saw a different side of me and we all had a chance to grow in ways that other circumstances just don’t allow for. The sessions on the various topics listed above were informative and fun but what makes camp unique is the fact that because we are stuck together, overnight, for one week, we get to put the session ideas into immediate practice. By modeling behavior, informal discussion, and positive reinforcement we can have a greater effect. Let me share an example, at the end of the camp we held a talent show and a group of students were at the front of the room performing a drama. All of a sudden a 10th grade female from Jimi’s school ran out and everyone laughed. We found out later that she had forgotten her line and said so on stage. Sure, it’s funny but what one of her drama-mates (my student) said to her after and the fact that so many girls here struggle with confidence made the situation quite heart breaking. I sat on her bed with her for a long time, trying to discuss confidence and share my personal experiences growing up. It was difficult because of language but at the very least she appreciated that I refused to leave her and go back to the talent show. This issue of confidence and “shame” (embarrassment) is a huge problem here. Girls want to change this within themselves but some of the cultural beliefs don’t help them to do that.
Later in the evening a counterpart helped me to talk to the male student. I wanted him to remember our previous various gender sessions where we discussed different challenges females and males face and connect that to what had happened that evening. He promised to talk to the girl. I saw the two of them later sitting together as they watched the camp picture slideshow.
One of my favorite sessions was an Iron Chef Tigray competition. Of course, being a Chef I was in charge of this program and it was amazing. It was preceded by a great nutrition session lead by a new health volunteer (G14) Jenn. The idea was to have some fun and have the students create a nutritious meal and work together. Also, it worked on gender roles issues because the boys had to help the girl students, or else they would lose points. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to be honest and our lunch was riding on the success of their dishes, so I was a bit worried. But as soon as I said ‘GO’ the students got together in their teams and quickly took the foods they wanted to cook and began quickly chopping, sautéing, boiling, fanning the coals and a buzz went over the area. Some students turned on music and the competition turned into one of my favorite days at camp. The students needed to make a nutritious meal, present it to the judges, all team members had to help and they had to obey the cleanliness rules. All the teams did all of this, it was amazing. In the end, the food they produced was beautiful, nutritious and delicious. Needless to say, we ate well that lunch.
These two stories are just some of the highlights of the amazing Camp Anbessa. Every time I looked around the students were smiling, constantly, all of the time. Ethiopian students work hard, they have many duties for their families, working on the farm, working in the house, fetching water, watching animals and studying. This camp was a unique experience in that they got to forget about those responsibilities for a week and just focus of themselves. I am so grateful for the teachers and parents that allowed the students to come and the great volunteers that we planned and made this camp a reality with.
The camp was probably the most fun I have had as a volunteer and one of the more rewarding activities we have been a part of. The students were so amazing, engaged and enthusiastic. Below are a couple of pictures of our amazing students, they requested that we post pictures to show our friends and family how great it was. Thank you for your donations, if you helped out, and if you did not, there is always next summer!
Peace and Love,
Jimi and Sylvia
We have not written in a long time because our summer has been a whirlwind. We cannot believe that we will be having our mid service conference in the next couple weeks, meaning that we have finished one year already and are starting our second. It has flown by and we have learned so much. We are so excited for the new year and are feeling refreshed and reenergized.
A couple weeks after school Sylvia and I, along with several other Tigray volunteers from G11, G12, G13 and G14 came together to hold a week long overnight summer camp in a nearby town called Idaga Arbi. It is actually our woreda(county) capital. We had been planning this camp for the past six months and raised money from friends and family in America to make it happen. Each PCV was able to bring 3-6 students and a counterpart. Altogether we ended up have 37 students from six different schools. I know 37 is not divisible by 6 but I had one student show up uninvited and I couldn’t possibly tell her to go home. So, when we got there you could tell the students were a little uneasy because this is something that was completely new to them, this concept of a summer camp. The students stayed close to their classmates from the same cities and were a bit reserved, not completely sure how to behave or what they were even doing at this thing called camp? We quickly had some fun team building exercises and lots of ice breakers and you could start to see this group of students form into a new family over the next week. We had a lot of fun. We talked about leadership for one day, nutrition and health, healthy relationships and safe sex, HIV/AIDS prevention, malaria, gender equality, how to be change agents, planning for the future and of course the majority of the camp was in English, so they were practicing and learning English indirectly and most importantly they built their confidence.
I thought a lot about my personal camp experience as a kid going into this camp and one of the best parts that still took me by surprise was the bonds formed between the campers and counselors. My students saw a different side of me and we all had a chance to grow in ways that other circumstances just don’t allow for. The sessions on the various topics listed above were informative and fun but what makes camp unique is the fact that because we are stuck together, overnight, for one week, we get to put the session ideas into immediate practice. By modeling behavior, informal discussion, and positive reinforcement we can have a greater effect. Let me share an example, at the end of the camp we held a talent show and a group of students were at the front of the room performing a drama. All of a sudden a 10th grade female from Jimi’s school ran out and everyone laughed. We found out later that she had forgotten her line and said so on stage. Sure, it’s funny but what one of her drama-mates (my student) said to her after and the fact that so many girls here struggle with confidence made the situation quite heart breaking. I sat on her bed with her for a long time, trying to discuss confidence and share my personal experiences growing up. It was difficult because of language but at the very least she appreciated that I refused to leave her and go back to the talent show. This issue of confidence and “shame” (embarrassment) is a huge problem here. Girls want to change this within themselves but some of the cultural beliefs don’t help them to do that.
Later in the evening a counterpart helped me to talk to the male student. I wanted him to remember our previous various gender sessions where we discussed different challenges females and males face and connect that to what had happened that evening. He promised to talk to the girl. I saw the two of them later sitting together as they watched the camp picture slideshow.
One of my favorite sessions was an Iron Chef Tigray competition. Of course, being a Chef I was in charge of this program and it was amazing. It was preceded by a great nutrition session lead by a new health volunteer (G14) Jenn. The idea was to have some fun and have the students create a nutritious meal and work together. Also, it worked on gender roles issues because the boys had to help the girl students, or else they would lose points. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to be honest and our lunch was riding on the success of their dishes, so I was a bit worried. But as soon as I said ‘GO’ the students got together in their teams and quickly took the foods they wanted to cook and began quickly chopping, sautéing, boiling, fanning the coals and a buzz went over the area. Some students turned on music and the competition turned into one of my favorite days at camp. The students needed to make a nutritious meal, present it to the judges, all team members had to help and they had to obey the cleanliness rules. All the teams did all of this, it was amazing. In the end, the food they produced was beautiful, nutritious and delicious. Needless to say, we ate well that lunch.
These two stories are just a couple of the highlights of the amazing Camp Anbessa. Every time we looked around the students were smiling, constantly, all of the time. Ethiopian students work hard, they have many duties for their families, working on the farm, working in the house, fetching water, watching animals and studying. This camp was a unique experience in that they got to forget about those responsibilities for a week and just focus of themselves. I am so grateful for the teachers and parents that allowed the students to come and the great volunteers that we planned and made this camp a reality with.
The camp was probably the most fun I have had as a volunteer and one of the more rewarding activities we have been a part of. The students were so amazing, engaged and enthusiastic. Below are a couple of pictures of our amazing students, they requested that we post pictures to show our friends and family how great it was. Thank you for your donations, if you helped out, and if you did not, there is always next summer!
Peace and Love,
Jimi and Sylvia