Pease On Earth: July 30th-Aug 10th: Tovuz Summer Camp

Towards the second half of the summer, my sitemates and I put on a summer camp. We each brought a small group of our own students from our respective villages, and combined them with 10 kids from the region center for an interdisciplinary 2-week summer camp. We had between 35 and 40 kids in attendance. We also had a group of university-aged students, one of whom was a recently returned FLEX kid, working as camp counterparts. The idea behind them being at camp is not only so that they can act as intermediators between PCVs and students, translators, activity leaders, and role models for the younger students, but also to familiarize them with the overall camp process in an effort to make summer camps for Tovuz more sustainable in the future. We organized a series a guest speakers for topics ranging from environment, health, gender issues, diversity and study abroad. The days were divided between classroom time and games and activities outside. In an attempt to have students branch out and meet new friends from other villages, we divided the campers into 5 teams: butterflies, grey wolves, doves, eagles and panthers (see pictures below). Throughout the camp, teams collected points of four types: leadership, teamwork, creativity and respect. Each type of point was worth the same, but denoted by a different color string. Teams collected points in jars, and prizes were awarded at both the half-way point as well as the end of camp for the team with the most points--with an emphasis on the teams' strengths and weaknesses in each of the four categories.

There were two boys who had attended ABLE camp this summer and three girls who had attended GLOW. ABLE and GLOW are both Peace Corps-led youth leadership camps. We appointed these five students as team captains, giving them an opportunity to exercise their new leadership skills. Many of the other students had never attended summer camp. While there have been summer camps in Tovuz region before, this was the first one that combined village and city students. It was made possible by the fundraising my sitemate Danny did with local businesses, AzETA and Baku's rotary club. We also did an online fundraiser that helped with the additional funds needed that local sources couldn't cover. Thanks to everyone at home who supported that cause! We also couldn't have made it happen without the dedication of our university student counterparts. They showed up everyday, volunteering their time, to help us pull off our big summer project. Having them there made the material we were discussing more relevant to the students. Their participation showed kids that volunteerism can be fun!