Volunteers from the West Kent YMCA in England brought archery targets, sleeping bags and tents
so the boys could take turns setting up camp in a clearing in the woods. Each night after dinner, two
of the five teams marched up the hill to the “rough camp” for an evening of making s’mores, singing
about baby sharks, swinging poi lights around in the dark and general mischief-making with the
Brits.
Besides the classes and campfires, Peace Corps volunteers offered electives each afternoon to teach
American games like baseball, football, kickball and foursquare, and new skills such as tying knots,
writing poems, making crafts and giving first-aid. The boys interested in learning languages had all
sorts of options during electives, including Korean, Spanish, German and American slang.
Since July 4 fell during camp, Justin Boutwell
donned his finest Americana gear and led the
campers through a beautiful(?) rendition of
“The
Star-Spangled
Banner”
before
celebrating our Independence Day with
sparklers.
As a high school teacher in Negotino, I was
hesitant to participate in boys’ camp this year
since my high school students hardly act with
model behavior in the classroom. The last
thing I wanted to do was seclude myself in the
middle of nowhere with 40 of them, but I let
Justin Boutwell, stunning in his finest Americana (photo myself be talked into it. And I’m so glad I did.
by Austin Fast)
Three of my students from Negotino attended
camp and I’ll never forget what one of them told me: He had never met an ethnic Albanian before
camp. Negotino has practically no diversity and lots of stereotypes about Albanians. His interaction
with boys of other ethnicities at camp helped dispel some of those stereotypes, which is one of the
camp’s goals.
These boys were enthusiastic, intelligent, compassionate and dedicated to learning new skills and
practicing their English. I can hardly wait for next year’s National Leadership Camp!
Above: Christine Moore teaching a
PDM workshop; middle, campers
from Sveti Nikole; far right, bonfire
(photos by Austin Fast)
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