Camp Glow

Some of my best memories from my high school days are the summer leadership camps I did.  Camp Shelton, Navy Summer Seminar and all the JROTC camps.  Good times.

I participated in the camp G2LOW (girls and guys leading our world) last week and the kids (60 of them) loved it too.  6 solid days and 7 nights, 6am to 10pm, we were at it, teaching anything from future planning to sex education, even campfire songs.  

Me and 9 other volunteers were able to bring 6 kids from each of our villages, who were then split into 6 teams of 10 with team names and colors.

Sharks and Minnows but with Malaria

Every day we would all wake up at 6am so that the kids could get washed up, something that is very important here culturally.  I prefer night showers.  Then we would do some warm-up exercises and breakfast.

We had classes 3 times a day and outdoor activities also.  The kids got to learn about making goals, dealing with violence and even had a career panel.  I taught the sex ed session for the 30 boys.

Teehee, he drew a penis

 It's amazing (and a little scary) to me how little the kids knew, despite their being around 13-14 years old.  I don't think its very common for parents here, especially in the villages, to talk to their kids about sex.  Getting to learn all of the anatomy of men's and women's bodies and how babies are made (not by genies or god) is something that these kids don't get very often and I had a lot of fun teaching it.  The kids never make wow noises or gasp when I'm teaching math.

 Those are condoms filled with water

Burkinabe rarely smile in pics unless you make them                                                                                                        Like here

This is something the kids never really get to experience.  The culture in Burkina can be strict and repressive, and kids are not encouraged to express themselves.  If they speak their maternal language or joke around, they are punished harshly and public embarrassment is a common strategy.  If they speak Jula at school at all, they have to wear a special necklace with animal bones on it, I'm not really sure on the cultural history on that one.  It reminds me of a dunce cap though.

So, in a new and strange camp environment, where kids know they won't be hit or humiliated, it can be very difficult to keep them focused.  Some of them don't know self discipline and in group they rarely stay on task unless it is a soccer game.

At night we would do electives.  Things like astronomy, card games, arts and crafts and even salsa dancing.  Naturally, I taught the Salsa/Bachata class at nights.

I was lucky enough to have THE Marlow from the village down the road to help me teach.  She is leaving the country in 2 weeks as her 2 years is finished.  I'm sad that she's leaving, or am I just jealous that she gets to eat Taco Bell within the month?

It was so great seeing the kids have so much fun and so heartbreaking when they were all crying on the last day.  Burkinabe don't cry, they're like spartans, so I would use that as one indicator that we did something that will impact their lives.