Camps, camps, and more camps!

As stated in a previous post, this summer has been jam-packed for us, with most of our time spent working various camps. To begin, our good friend Alek has dreamed for many years of organizing an American-style summer camp here in Macedonia and last year he asked Conor for help in making it a reality. After much planning and hard work, his dream came true! At the end of June seven teachers from Wisconsin (where Alek attended one year of university) arrived to implement a three week long English day-camp for students ages 9 to 16. WIESCO, the Wisconsin International Educational Scientific Cultural Organization, was formed in 1994 and holds summer camps like this in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. This year was their first time in Macedonia however, so we were honored to have them! The seven teachers that taught here are amazing people with such interesting backgrounds. A huge thank you goes out to Don, Martha, Barb, Marian, Marilyn, Fred and Becky on behalf of Tetovo for volunteering their and money to give the students here an experience they won't forget!

We even went wine tasting together!

In the middle of the WIESCO camp, I departed for Mavrovo National Park for Camp GLOW, Girls Leading Our World. As I'm sure you can tell from previous posts and emails, GLOW is one of my favorite activities here and one I find extremely important. It's a life-changing experience for many of the girls that attend Camp, as well as for counselors like myself. After working Camp GLOW last year I helped eight high school girls from the Tetovo area form Club GLOW, which meets every second week. This year three of 'my' girls were asked back to Camp to work as counselors, which is a great honor for them. So, with suitcases full of clothes and snacks, the girls and I headed to Camp. We attended a three-day-long counselor training prior to the arrival of the campers, after which we had hardly a minute of alone time, going non-stop from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm. Eighty girls from across Macedonia attend Camp each year, with the make-up ethnically the same percentage-wise as Macedonia. This year I was assigned to teach four lessons (four times in a row each) to the campers, which were: Team-Building - Corral, Diversity Appreciation, Singing and Forming a Club GLOW in Your Own Community. Two people are assigned to teach each class, one being a Peace Corps Volunteer and the other a Macedonian national. These girls are all counselors and have attended Camp GLOW previous years. As Peace Corps Volunteers, our goal is to provide support by playing a secondary role to the host-country national as she teaches. This is the same for the counselor groups. Each group of girls is assigned two counselors -- one PCV and the other a Macedonian. This year I worked with Jasna, a truly amazing young woman who attended Camp two years ago. I was so impressed with her leadership ability. She is a natural teacher and incredibly responsible; as her co-counselor I rarely played the role of instructor!

Waiting for the campers to arrive


Teaching "Diversity Appreciation"

This year Camp GLOW was especially memorable as we were honored by the visit of the Peace Corps worldwide director, Mr. Aaron Williams, along with the deputy director, Carrie Hessler-Radelet, and other Peace Corps Washington staff. They were attending a directors conference for the Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia region that was held in Macedonia, and asked specifically to see Camp GLOW. As you can see from a previous posting, GLOW made such an impression on Mr. Williams that he wrote about it on the White House website! If you haven't seen it yet, click here. You can also click on a link at the bottom of the article to see a video of Camp GLOW, however I'll also give you a link here.

Director Aaron Williams

I left Camp GLOW this year feeling as empowered as ever to make change and have an impact on the world around me. The goal of Camp GLOW is, "to develop the inherent potential found in the young women of Macedonia by providing them with the skills and knowledge necessary to become active leaders in their communities" and I know it did just that for so many girls, as well as for PCVs like myself.

First day of Camp


Tetovo girls


Group with Director Aaron Williams

Finally, our summer camps concluded with a boys leadership camp at the same site in Mavrovo, beginning only a week after Camp GLOW. This year both Conor and I had the opportunity to work, Conor as a counselor and myself as an instructor for the 'leadership' classes. Roughly 70 boys from around Macedonia attended camp and received instruction in civil society, leadership, teamwork, outdoors, personal development, sports and creative expression. Again, the camp was mixed ethnically, however this camp had an even greater focus on minority groups in the country such as Albanians and Roma. A unique aspect to boys camp was that each night one camper group had the opportunity to camp outdoors with a group from the YMCA from Kent, England. Three employees and four 18 to 24 year-olds that live at the YMCA due to various reasons (homelessness, broken backgrounds, etc.) made the trip to Macedonia to work at boys camp and provide training on camping and the outdoors. They even brought archery equipment with them and trained the boys -- and PCVs! I even hit two bull's-eyes!

Conor and his camper group


I represented my team in the duck race

We had some great boys from the Tetovo area come to camp this year, and one is particularly special to us. Florijan was my student in Tearce our first year here, and he showed great leadership potential even in primary school as he was involved in the student council and other after-school activities. This was an opportunity of a lifetime for him and he constantly expressed his gratitude throughout the camp to both Conor and me. I was especially touched when he thanked me and said that without us coming here and working in his village he'd never have this chance to attend camp and grow as a leader. My eyes teared up as he told us he's never had anyone care about him so much. This comment in itself demonstrates to me the value of Peace Corps and our role here. Although we may not be building hospitals or digging wells, we are impacting the lives of others and helping to develop capable, knowledgeable future leaders of Macedonia.

Us with Florijan

Tetovo boys

Candle lighting ceremony