Cross-Border Youth Summer Camp
F
rom June 26-30, the EastWest Institute and the Ohrid Babylon Center held their third annual cross border youth summer
camp. This year’s camp hosted over 30 children from Greece,
Macedonia, and Albania at the Strezevo-Pelister Tourist Center
outside of Bitola. The theme and underlying goal of the camp
was creating friendships across borders.
During the week, we asked the campers to leave comments that
would be turned into a memory book after the camp. Klea from
Albania wrote, “We are all good people and we are all equal. We
are going to take our relationships we made here forever.” Kiki
from Greece stated, “Greeks, Macedonians and Albanians are
very, very good friends!!!” and Emira from Macedonia noted,
“I tried and learned a lot of new things here and they will stay
forever in my memory.”
campers on a hike at Eko Kamp
Peace Corps Volunteers Shawna Jones, Troy Tillis, Tara Trepainer, Laura Masters, Peter Scherer, Ben Long, and Aryn Bloodworth gave up their time to be counselors at the camp and really
made the week a success.
nate enough to take part in this project will always remember
the transformation in the girls that we witnessed. Personally, I
am thankful that we all made it out alive, and that sleep came so
easily for us in the days, weeks, even months that followed camp.
So, with that I say good luck to next year’s camp organizers! The
MAK 10’s have no doubt that Steph and Sofia will do an excellent job coordinating the event.
by Ben Long
by Cheryl Calhoun
Camp Glow
Eko Kamp
A
total of 58 high school-aged girls from all over Macedonia
met in Strezhevo from July 9-14 to take part in a week of
activities that ranged in subject matter from self-defense to creative writing to job search training – all while improving their
English language abilities and appreciation for diversity. Best of
all, the girls reported having dramatically boosted their self-esteem and optimism towards their futures as a result of taking part
in this camp. Naturally, none of this could have occurred without the hours of backbreaking labor provided by PCV and HCN
volunteers who helped organize this year’s camp. As a result of
their efforts, we were able to add numerous new activities to this
year’s schedule including first aid, introduction to Japanese, and
public speaking. Several campers also reported that they were
particularly inspired by the older presenters whose participation
in the camp demonstrated to them that they don’t have to give
up their dreams after
they reach their late40s. Obviously, I can
go on and on about all
the accomplishments
that were achieved
at this year’s camp
– from the bonds that
were made across ethnic lines to the fact
that the camp staff
members
weren’t
completely slaughtered at the camp’s
annual
dance-off
for the first time in
the history of Camp
GLOW. However, all
of us who were fortumaking tye-dye t-shirts
at camp GLOW
F
rom June 20–22, PCVs Sarah Porter, Laura Ebmeier, Josh
Del Pino, Troy Tillis, Andrew Green, and Simon Griffin held
a camp that focused on environmental issues such as recycling,
biodiversity, renewable energy, global warming, conservation,
and pollution (water and air). This year’s Eko Kamp was a huge
success. The project, organized by PCVs Sarah Porter and Laura
Ebmeier, brought youth from the Prilep and Strumica regions together in order to educate them on these important environmental
issues. The camp took place in Bansko, Macedonia, a village on
the outskirts of Strumica.
As there were only three days for the camp, every day was
jammed-packed with lots of educational information and activities. The first day saw various breakout sessions and games
aimed at introducing the environmental subject matter to the students. In the evenings, bracelet making seemed to be the “hip”
thing to do, and it seemed that each child walked away from the
camp with at least five bracelets on each hand. On the second day
of camp, the volunteers led the children on a hike to a local waterfall, where class and breakout sessions were held. The setting
was beautiful, and it really helped the children to become more
connected with the material that was being presented to them.
One of the breakout sessions included making a skit about ecoconservation based on various scenarios. Hands down, Simon
and Andrew’s performance was Oscar-worthy to say the least…
That evening, the children were invited to take part in a talent
competition. Many young students were eager to show off their
vocal and dance talents, providing much entertainment for the
night. On the last day, the final break-out sessions were given,
and each “Eko-group” created their own journal, a reminder of
their camp experience and what they had learned. In summary,
the camp was an amazing learning experience for all that attended, and many bonds between the children were created.
by Troy Tillis
fall 2007 -