I know it has been awhile therefore I was determined to get this post out tonight, while everything is still fresh in my mind. Since my last post I have been quite busy to my own surprise. In May I finished up my MST (Mid-Service Training) for Peace Corps and left feeling motivated and full of ideas. MST is just a training where you get together with fellow volunteers from your training group to share ideas & projects that you have been working on. Seeing projects that other volunteers are working on in their communities gave me lots of ideas of possible projects I could do within my community. So since May I have added a couple of projects to my work plan which includes 2 camps, 1 which I just finished up this past week, and starting a recycling program within the elementary school.
This past Friday was the last day of a week long Art, Sports, & Recreation day camp that I planned and coordinated. The camp was for children between the ages of 6-13, and consisted of 2 days of Art & Crafts activities and 3 days of Sports & Recreation. For the the arts portion of the camp we did animal bean bags, pipe cleaners rings & flowers, god's eye lanyard, rock painting, coloring, drawing & origami. The sports activities included ultimate Frisbee, volleyball & soccer along which recreational games such as amoeba tag, water balloon fights, dragon race, & other games. In retrospect it was a great experience and I am proud of myself for doing it but I will NEVER do it again lol. I personally put a lot of work into planning this camp from choosing the art activities, soliciting volunteers from the local high school, putting together fliers, buying materials, to going around to every single class at both elementary schools to announce to the camp. Initially I gave out permission slips and asked they be signed & returned before the start of the camp but I knew that getting them back was going to be like pulling teeth. This made it difficult to plan how many students would be participating but I decided not to stress and see how many came. I had 8 volunteers from the local high school helping me out as camp counselors for their required community service. Although they were supposed to be my support sometimes they drove me more crazy than the little kids. The first day of camp I arrived at the local library expecting 50 kids to show up! I was a bit ambitious and found myself disappointed when only 11 came. This sentiment quickly faded though when I saw the kids doing there art projects and having fun. In the end I had an average of 20 kids for the week and in my eyes the camp was a success. The kids that came enjoyed themselves and had something fun to do during their school break .
Now that I have 1 camp done I am in the process of applying for a grant to fund materials for another camp in October. This camp will be for older youth between 15-22 yrs old and will focus on environmental education. The program is called ALA and consist of 5 workshops with a concentration on environmental themes such as water, soil & climate. The youth participating in the camp will have to create a multimedia project that centers on at least 1 of themes from the workshops. Afterwards they will participate in camping trip to the shores of Matina where they will take part in another series of workshops and activities that focus on reforestation & cleaning the beach. I will be coordinating and facilitating the activities of this program with local eco-tourism group. I am still in the early planning stages and hopefully the project will be a success. If I am able to obtain the funds it will be used to buy materials such as tents and food since the area will the camp will be is not equipped with electricity or lodging.
So these are a couple a new projects that I am working on as well as my current projects (English class, volleyball teams, building 2 courts). I wanted to make a point of focusing on my work in this blog entry because sometimes its hard for me to explain what I do. I have been at my site for over a year now and there are some people who I see everyday and they still don't understand what my job is or what is my purpose in the community. One thing I can appreciate about being a volunteer is that I don't have a conventional "job". My time here and the work I do is whatever I make of it. It is not often you have the opportunity to have the freedom to design and implement your own projects, your own ideas & concepts. And for me it is so rewarding seeing them become a reality. Obviously I cant do everything alone and my community has been very supportive as well as friends & family back home, and for that I am grateful. As I begin my countdown, (10 months left!) I hope that when my time is up I have achieved the goals that I set and in the process build lasting impactful relationships that will create memories well beyond my years.
A hundred hearts would be too few. To carry all my love for you.A hundred hearts would be too few. To carry all my love for you. Solicitation Letters
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