As the campers filed off the bus the first evening, we wondered
what the week would hold. Within 24 hours, we were pleasantly
surprised by the kids’ abilities to intermingle during all sorts of
activities. Together they played cards, went on star-gazing night
hikes, and of course, like all Balkan youth, played football at
every pauza. They even invented a whole set of rules for a new
game called “Text Book Tennis” (played indoors with textbooks
instead of rackets). Each day after lunch, the Kosovar teachers
put their new teaching techniques to practice through teaching
English.
To make sure the children were tired out, we organized nightly
activities including a talent show and a campfire, in which campers taught their friends to make s’mores through the “squish and
eat” method. This was followed by mass marshmallow chaos.
The last day came too fast for all participants. As the campers
loaded the bus, there were many hugs, two-cheeked kisses, and
tears. The children
insisted it was a
week they would
never forget, and I
knew the same was
true for me.
by Tara Trepanier
campers show off
their talents at the
Friendship Camp for
Kosovo kids
National Leadership Camp
H
i, our names are Jovan Bojadziev and Jordan Georgiev. We
are 13 and 14 years old. We are from Negotino, Macedonia.
We were at the National Leadership Camp in Krushevo in July.
We had a great time there. We met new kids from other nationalities and towns. We also learned about their cultures. We were organized into different teams, and we choose our own names, like
Red Dragons, Red Revolutioners, Mountain Kings, Ten Bucks
and Change, and others.
The classes that were provided by our counselors were super.
We learned many different skills. We learned how to be a leader
and to organize things in school, home, and other places. The
teamwork classes were the best. The first time when we had the
“Chinese Skis” activities, we couldn’t work together. But later
when we worked together we succeeded.
In the First Aid class we learned how to give first aid. In free
time, we played American sports: American Football, Ultimate
Frisbee, and Baseball. Also in free time, we went hiking to the
monument at Mechkin Kamen, which means Bear Rock. The
monument is for the people who died for the independence of
Macedonia in 1903. One time we went to the lake for fishing, and
we had competitions there on Friday afternoon. During electives,
- pauza
The 2nd Annual National Leadership Camp was held at the Shulamina Detsko Odmoralishte in
Krushevo from July 15-21. It was a Peace Corps Partnership project between volunteers and
Children’s Parliament of Negotino and Demir Kapija. Sixty-seven young men from 23 different
cities or villages participated, led by 15 American and 11 Macedonian staff members.
we could choose from Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Music, Drama, and others. The last night we received our diplomas and had
a candlelight ceremony. Also, we had a camp fire and we tried
marshmallows for the first time, and they were very delicious.
Everything was great; if we have a chance, we will go next year.
By Jovan Bojadziev and Jordan Georgiev
Camp Excel
F
rom August
6-10, EXCEL
was held in Veles
for girls entering
7th and 8th grade.
EXCEL was a day
camp and stood for
Enjoy, eXperience,
Community serhanging out at Camp Excel in Veles
vice, English, and
Leadership. Cindy Wasserman, Steph Vroman, Mandy Mikels,
Tory Tompkins, and Kelley Karnopp were each counselors to a
small group of about five girls (mixed from all of the local elementary schools). Interviews wer e held in the spring to gauge
the girls’ English abilities, level of desire and need, and then 25
girls were invited to participate. It was an amazingly talented
group of young girls! We used the space of a local high school
gym and did activities on a range of topics including community
service, body image, HIV/AIDS education, and famous women.
Sofia Harwell and Julie Gezon came as presenters for our environment day, where all the girls wore green and learned about
global warming, recycling, and then did a trash pick-up. We also
had lots of fun learning the lyrics to the Friends theme song, “I’ll
Be There for You,” playing lots of kickball, doing yoga, teaching
the electric slide, and learning a “slang of the day.” The girls now
approach Americans with “How’s it hangin’?” Camp must have
been a success!
by Stephanie Vorman