Summer Camp

As you know Paraguay is in full summer mode, hot as ever! So what better time to put on a summer camp! It is pretty normal for a group of volunteers to get together and plan out a traveling summer camp. I am so happy that some of my friends got together and we were able to organize this and see it actually happen!

Last Monday 3 volunteers came to my house and we put on a 3 day environment themed camp in my community. The Saturday before the camp I went around with some kids in the community to put up signs and invite people but wasn't sure how many people would show up or if any would even show up... Paraguayans are notorious for saying yes to attending something then completely acting like they know nothing of the event with the day comes. .. kids are a different story. I got a couple of weird looks from kids but the general response was excitement! Its still hard putting on events because my community is so big and I still and will probably never know everyone.

So Monday came and we started with about 8 kids and within the first hour there were about 70. I had a feeling this would happen. Word of month spreads quickly and they just kept coming. My friends and I were a bit overwhelmed...as anyone would be with 70 kids and 4 "adults/ tall and very pale girls from a different country." I think over all it was a success. I got to meet a lot of new kids and they all seemed to enjoy it and kept asking when we were coming back. We had planned to have camp last for 3 hours each day but we quickly learned 2 hours was best and the kids could hardly hold their attention span past the 2 hour mark. We wanted to try and buy as little supplies as possible and focus on recycling and teaching the kids about the environment. So each day there was a little craft / a drawing activity. Here is a quick overview of how each day went.

Monday Day 1- First we started with an ice breaker and a little introduction. Then we made name tags our of recycled cardboard. Next we split up into 2 groups. One group went and played field games. We had different relays and activities with the frisbees, jump ropes and balls. The other group made paper beads out of recycled paper from magazines. In between each group we had a snack break with watermelon and free time. We also gave each kid a little paper booklet where they could color and draw freely. It was so nice watching these kids get so excited to color and draw. They don't often get that opportunity and the fact that the book was theirs to keep! We ran out of drinking water in the first 15 minutes, and I would have to say that is the only thing that really went wrong day 1.

Tuesday Day 2- We started with another ice breaker and played a few group games then split up into 2 groups. The first group had a trash gathering competition and then we taught them about the difference of organic and inorganic trash. After they had time to draw in their books pictures of organic and inorganic trash. The other group did a 3 legged race and the human knot. Oh and we had more watermelon! This day went a little smoother and most all of the kids came back!

Wednesday Day 3- This day we had the kids bring an old plastic soda bottle. We cut off the tops and made planters to plant seeds in them. Each kid got to finger paint their bottle, which they absolutely loved! I'm pretty sure this was a new concept to them because they were so confused when I said to use your fingers..but afterwards loved it! Then we played some ball games, ate watermelon then had a water balloon toss...which they also LOVED. It was a bit of a mess trying to organize them in two lines with a partner, they were all just so excited to get the balloon. This concluded the week and the kids got to take home their name tags and booklets.


It was a good experience, I few details to change for next year but this will defiantly be happening again. It was a bit of a struggle getting the kids to listen. They are not taught the best manners at home and that was reflected at the camp. Kids will be kids where ever you go and that is the same down here in Paraguay. I think they had a good time and were given a chance to do crafts and participate in something they normally don't have. After Wednesday we traveled to my friends house to repeat the camp again with her community. Once Saturday came around I was exhausted. Now we have 1 week off and will be traveling to 2 other communities to do it again next week!

The last day, after the water balloon fight!