Awesome days at camp!

Day 53

I arrived at a camp a few days late as I had to make sure the giardia had cleared up.  Once I saw everyone familiar and everything campy, I ran.  Being at camp feels like being home.  Shelly, Michele and Mary were rocking it as camp counselors.  Cassie was a phenomenal Grassroot Soccer coach – she stepped up and kicked butt.  Joan was doing what Joanie does best – staying awesome, per usual.  And Ilana took it away at camp director, I was so impressed.  We fit into these campy roles like your favorite old t-shirt.  We just made it work.  I stepped into camp and there I was surrounded by complete comfort and pure joy: camp songs, girls playing soccer with intense enthusiasm, teamwork like you wouldn’t believe – was this really the first full day of camp?  I was happy.  I was home.

Day 54

The camp energy never let up.  This was my 5^th camp with Peace Corps and I was blown away at how much participation was going on!  The Grassroot Soccer program brought the girls on a whole new comfort level with each other – they were teammates and sisters.  They gave their opinions and told personal stories and I was impressed. 

Day 55

One of the girls lost a family member early this morning.  What struck me was how the girls gathered around their friend to comfort her as she cried waiting for her ride to go home for the funeral.  They held her hand, they cried with her, they hugged her so tightly I could feel the love as I helplessly watched in sadness.  In a country so stricken with heartache and death, it’s amazing how quickly these girls grow up and learn how to deal with grief. 

Day 56

My favorite day at camp – condom day!  Camp Director Ilana took this very important lesson and turned it into one of my most favorite experiences of all camp experiences... A guest speaker came and talked about condoms and asked one girl to demonstrate putting on a male condom (using a wooden penis) and another girl to put on a female condom (using a toilet paper roll).  The girls cheered as the demonstration finished – but wait!  Every girl was given two male condoms and two female condoms and they were encouraged to practice with the wooden penis and the toilet paper roll.  Each girl took a turn, following each step precisely.  Meanwhile, our guest speaker was in a private room where each girl would get the chance to see what HIV Testing and Counseling was all about.  Being tested was voluntary, but every girl needed to know what was involved – a practice run, in case some day they would like to be tested.  Of course it was anonymous, but out of 36 girls, 29 were tested!  Amazing.  I’m so proud of these girls.

Day 57

My favorite night of camp! After awards, fantas and biscuits, the evening became more somber for the candle-lighting ceremony.  Shelly started the evening off by lighting a candle for Katy Puzey, a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer who died but she had a vision for young girls in her community.  We then went around a circle lighting our candles and saying things that moved us.  It was beautiful.  After the ceremony, I took Mary’s group for reflection where we talked about the week and I made each girl pinky promise to never forget what they learned at camp and to always strive to be role models.  Explaining a pinky promise to Malawian girls is quite fun and they took the oath seriously.