But that doesn't mean my job is done yet, oh no, there is still so much to do. Like this weekend we are having our annual ALMA all-girl leadership camp. It's an awesome three-day camp with a focus on integral health (mind, body, spirit) and caring for the environment. It's going to be awesome, because Lambayeque volunteers are awesome and all of the girls being brought are some of the best and brightest from volunteer communities.
However, we still have one issue-- the all-boys camp, VALOR, which is scheduled for the end of June is still not fully funded!
(Want to check out the donation page? CLICK HERE!!)
I am really lucky to have awesome friends and family who have donated to all of the camps I have done over the past two years, and I already know of so many who have donated to this camp and have promoted it to other family members and friends. To all of you beautiful people (you know who you are), you have made such a huge difference by helping make this camp happen, and I am eternally grateful for the support you have given.
So this isn't a call to all of my same friends and family who are always donating to my things. No, this is a call out to the depths of the internet, the end of the universe and back. We are so close to being funded, just $370 away, but if we don't get all the funds by next week we will have to re-budget the camp and make cuts. That could mean less participants, less resources for workshops, etc. That amount of money can make a huge difference in these camps!
For a refresher on what Camp VALOR is, here is a little summary of camp from last year:
Our theme last year (and this year) is "Iron Man" and the boys participated in different activities to promote the lifestyle of a true Iron Man, which we described as being physically and spiritually healthy, studious, intelligent, respectful, tolerant, caring for the environment, honest, a good listener, hard working, loyal, respectful of women, and responsive to the needs of their community. In other words, a well-rounded, successful individual who doesn't subscribe to machismo or bigotry.
Some activities from last year that will be repeated (and even made better) were:
- Career assessment exams/Career fair with Peruvian men invited from different volunteers’ sites.
- How to make a solar oven and how it works
- The nutritious power of sweet potatoes and yams (grown at the farm) and different ways to utilize them in cooking and baking.
- Arts and crafts/painting small figurines.
- Two-day futbol (soccer) tournament amongst all the teams.
- Presentation on Sex and Gender/Gender equality
- Round Robin sessions on goal setting, pro-active lifestyles, team building, empathy, and finding your ideal partner.
- Organic farming/ composting/ recycling
- In-depth session run by a health professional on Sex, STD’s, Abstinence, Fidelity, and the infamous Condom Race.
- Campfire with s’mores and scary stories (a very U.S. American tradition we introduced to them), one of my personal favorites.
- Even more stuff than I can even begin to talk about!
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| Iron Man camp t-shirt design (by yours truly!) |
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| Solar oven session and learning about renewable energy |
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| Composting session |
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| Harvesting sweet potatoes for session on nutrition |
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| Sex and Gender workshop |
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| Love and relationships talk |
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| Scary camp stories and s'mores |
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| All the awesome atributes of an Iron Man! |
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| Futbol tournament |
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| Team Morado! |
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| "Cuerpo de Pasión" telanovela style skit |
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| Everyone together! |
This upcoming Camp VALOR will be my absolute last camp as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Last year this camp was so great and the boys I brought had an absolute blast! They ended up being some of my best students in my teen health promoters club, and they have continued on in their studies to be some of the best in the class with dreams and goals for the future. They are very bright students with bright futures, and I know part of the reason they feel empowered and capable to do these things is this camp and support shown by all the volunteers and guest speakers.
Please forward this on to friends, copy it on to your facebook and twitter and whatever other fandangled social networks have been created in my absence, and help us fully fund our all-boys camp!
Every bit makes the difference, I promise! It's tax deductible, and every penny you donate goes directly to the camp.
Much love!
