I was invited to participate in Baylor Clinics’ Camp Hope for children 10-12 years old but hesitated thinking that as a Peace Corps Volunteer with a large senior secondary school in Botswana, I might not be able to attend to the needs of younger children. However, I reconsidered when I saw the excellent camp schedule which included hours of work by doctors, nurses, social workers, a nutritionist, and the great program they put together with care. Activities included scheduled times for learning performance art, nutrition and cooking, arts and crafts, sports, and life skill topics such as feelings and emotions. Even before going to Botswana, I was of the belief that camp, like college, was often wasted on the young and felt that older people were able to appreciate the experience more. So I got very enthusiastic and much to my surprise filled out an application to be a counselor.
When I arrive the day before the campers, I was briefed by the Baylor organizers. We learned from the doctors what we should expect medically and that medicines to be distributed to the campers at breakfast and dinner. Doctors would be present all day and night as well as a Baylor social worker. This was a camp where many needs were anticipated. My briefing book was 20 pages long! It included information on medication as well as a detailed counselor orientation that included how to build relationships to the campers. We also received some background information about our campers and their special needs.
The first day of camp was filled with anticipation. Campers drifted in all day, beginning at 8 am to 7pm, when the last one drifted in. Our yellow team consisted of eight youngsters. Upon arrival they registered, checked in with the doctors and then had extensive interviews before finally going to their dorms and beginning activities. Each team was a different color, as indicated by our bright bandanas. My group was the youngest ranging from 9-12 and consisted of young girls from all over Botswana. In total we had about 50 campers with 7 or 8 on each team, headed by one or two adult counselors or an adult and a teen club leader in the their upper teens who had experience leading activities and building up the capacity among young, shy campers. Most importantly in my case was the fact that my teen leader spoke Setswana. These young teen leaders trained by Baylor had lots of energy and enthusiasm and could teach us all energizers to warm us up on the chilly mornings.
My Favorite Class
For our very first activity, we had a performance arts class taught by a trained hip hop and break dance teacher. Having taken many dance classes including several months of hip hop in the US, this class was one of the best dance classes I have every taken. It was interactive and involved the students every step of the way. It taught more steps than I learned in several months back home and included some very difficult break dance moves on the floor. We learned to balance all our weight on one hand and to spin one leg around on the floor while in a sitting position. Other easier steps included step ball change, the gangster walk and jazz box, all of which the students could execute well with wonderful music. Best of all they could do it and watch themselves in the mirror. They were all stars!!
That evening we had a bon fire Botswana style, Setswana stories, jokes, songs and cheers that each group had created. The participation was 100% plus based on the sound level. This was amazing since earlier the students had been very shy and soft spoken. Each group’s cheer was reward by samores, with different flavors of marsh mellows roasted over the fire by enthusiastic volunteers and then placed on cookies with parts of a chocolate bar. Delicious! That night we had tired campers who fell asleep easily in their dorms, much to the relief of the counselors.
The next day we had a cooking and nutrition class, which involved cooking and decorating cupcakes which could be eaten after class. But while the cup cakes baked we learned from a nutritionist about the various food groups and which ones helped build our bodies, protect them or give them energy. The campers then proceeded to use plastic reproductions of many foods to create plate representing a balanced diet. It was here I learned that the HIV virus was very active in the body making it wise for campers to have snacks in mid mornings and mid afternoons in addition to three regular meals. By the end of camp we wished had students weighed in on the first day and weighed out again on the last day since they devoured all meals and snacks in great quantities. Furthermore at meal time, they identified food groups on their plates.
From this activity we lined up to board a bus to take us to on a safari at the Mokolodi Game Reserve. There the campers boarded game viewing vehicles with guides to answer all the campers questions as they viewed wild animals. Not to be disappointed, we viewed African elephants, whose ears look like a map of Africa, grazing impalas, waddling warthogs, leaf nibbling giraffes, a tired cheetah, highly plumed ostriches, and an assortment of birds.
Later in the day we moved on to arts and crafts where we were all given a stuffed doll to decorate. We had yarn, fabric, buttons, glue, sparkles, beads, and paint. We were all busy cutting, pasting, drawing and decorating our own beautiful dolls. Girls and boys both enjoyed this activity. The products of their creative efforts were magical and something that campers could take home.
That afternoon was filled with sports. We played netball, (a version of basketball without a backboard), soccer and tennis. We played till we dropped. The fields and courts were immense, green and well maintained. What a pleasure! My huge secondary school in Botswana would have loved to practice on any one of these courts.
In the evening we filed into an AV room clutching a cup of marsh mellows and potato chips to see Chicken Run, a delightful clay animation film consisting of talking chickens and other creative characters. The bad guys tried to kill the chickens and the good ones helped them escape in no less than a flying machine! Although one camper fell asleep on my lap, we all cheered as the chickens literally flew the coup to safety away from the chicken pie factory.
Other events on the following days included feelings and emotions with an excellent social worker helping us draw, talk and discuss our feelings in a very safe environment. We learned about character development in terms of trust, caring, respect and responsibility with everyone participating in the discussion. And finally we had a choice of board games, twister (using two legs and two arms in amazingly different locations simultaneously), block building and my favorite a huge puzzle of dinosaurs which a group of us worked on together.
My favorite event!
One evening we had a talent show. My expectations were low. The group was young, shy and seemed rather passive. But there was a DJ playing music and teen leaders cheering us on as each group performed either individually or together. My group did a short hip hop routine complete with a gangster walk and waving yellow scarves in a line. But after that we had karaoke by both young boys and girls singing their hearts out to a cheering crowd. Their gestures were appropriate and sophisticated. Groups did amazing hip hop routines together and individually. Each of them knew some special move that brought the crowded to their feet time and time again. We shouted, clapped and made long rows of waves over and over again. By the end of the evening we were all dancing and moving to the rhythms. It was awesome!
Other memorable events were a Camp Hope Olympics complete with face painting, burlap bag races and relays with eggs on a spoon, basket ball shooting, and a hula-hoop toss. Teams cheered and the counselors enjoyed it so much they had their own version of the various races!
All these events were capture on video or in still shots that were made into a power point photo collage for the parents and campers. They loved seeing themselves and others on the big screen, often for the first time. It was a wonderful, colorful conclusion to a fun filled week and it made the parting all the harder. We all laughed, learned about ourselves both physically and psychologically, played, danced, sang, ran and ate. Leaving was a drastic separation often leading to tears but filled with the prospect of returning to Camp Hope next year.
Postscript
In closing I would like to commend Baylor on putting together this very successful event which not only helped build the campers self esteem but developed their life skills while having fun. This is said out of admiration. I have been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana for over a year. In this country as well as at home in the US, I have put together smaller kinds of events and realize the challenges involved in coordinating such activities. While serving in Botswana I have been to many teen club events as a volunteer. I have enjoyed the well crafted activities both as a participant and leader. But more important I have always learned strategies for my work here both inside and outside of the public schools. Baylor is having an impact on not only its patients, but is also building capacity within the country by providing teaching life skills indirectly to families, friends and all the local and international volunteers. Ed Pettitt and his team of Baylor doctors, nurses, social workers, and staff deserve credit for having gone above and beyond their normal duties to devote time and expertise to this very demanding project. Bravo! A job well done!
I hope to post camp photos in the future, but only certain children have allowed their photos to be taken, so no cameras were allow. This is important to protect the children from the stigma of public disclosure. The photos shown at camp were only for the campers and their families to see. Maybe some day public disclosure for those with HIV/AIDS will be acceptable in Botswana and elsewhere.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Blessings of Children and a Good Friend
August, 2009
The Gift of Food
The weekend started off with my cutting and chopping spinach and greens for my Sikh friends’ preparation of a meal they were donating to their temple on the first Sunday in August as a blessing to honor the birth of two of their three sons. We started preparations Saturday afternoon cutting all the various kinds of spinach that they grew in the garden at their how. The cooking lesson also included cutting up some rather unusaul cauliflower heads and giant white radishes. We continued cooking Sunday morning at the temple. After arriving just in time for a delicious breakfast of dipped fried cauliflower with onions and potatoes, fresh chutney, a fried French toast like bread and a sweet cookie ball, I was honored to be part of a team of fifteen men and women cooking in the very clean kitchen. We cooked for over a hundred people in huge pots about a foot high and yard in diameter. I stirred the yellow roti dough and then the spinach sag which boiled for a total about 5 hours. While stirring, I had a good vantage point for overseeing the frying of the cauliflower, the making of chai or tea with whole cardamom, as well as sweet dough given to everyone after the prayers in the temple.
I was retired from stirring the spinach sag when assembly line started making yellow roti . With trepidation, I began flattening yellow dough balls with my hands. The women I worked with were very fast and helped by giving me partially made roti. Despite my efforts, my “round” dough forms had rough edges and peculiar bulges. But everyone smiled and continued to give me hints. Simultaneously five people cooked them in large flat iron pans before putting them over an open flame and spreading them with butter. The team then switched to brown chapattis that were easier since we had little rolling pins to flatten out dough balls.
Afterwards, everyone in the kitchen went out to sit on the floors in the halls around the main temple, men in one area and women in another. Young men proceeded to serve us the spinach sag, fresh radishes, yellow roti, a sweet rice dessert, fresh bananas and oranges. After this we returned to the kitchen to make more yellow roti, since more were needed. The clean-up routine soon followed. Sweeping, mopping, and a constant stream of dish washing by men using several sinks continued for more than an hour until everything was clean and put back in its original place.
Besides learning how all the dishes were cooked, I was given containers of the delicious food for a week! Now I make my own chapattis, a filling snack at school.
PACT Gives Back
A few days later, over twenty members of our school PACT club (Peer Action Counseling Team) rolled out of school in a large flat back truck. We traveled by a good dirt road about 20 miles to Monwane, a rural primary school. We arrived expecting 30 students and ended up with 60 in total from fifth, six and seventh grades. They were very shy, but my students divided them into groups for icebreakers that involved lots of laughter and running. This helped them to relax and open up to the club members about their issues with parents and studies. Many of the pupils do not understand the teachers because they are taught in English rather than their native Setswana. Because many parents drink excessively and do not care about their children’s education and behavior, the students do poorly at school. The teachers are very strict. These students do not feel they can talk openly in class. The teachers are frustrated with the performance of the students. Students resist participating in class. They also lack sex education and many drop out of school before the seventh grade due to pregnancy and other issues. Now while we contemplate returning to the school during the coming term, we will have to help these students in confronting their challenges.
A Gifted Teacher and Friend
On a personal note, I recently found out a close friend mine and gifted teacher died back in the US. Barber Becker lost her four year war with breast cancer. During her last few years and months she dealt with cancer treatments, their side effects, and her struggle to accept her condition.
She and I met in a yoga class about 20 years ago. We shared a love for yoga, dance, Buddhism, travel, and lots more. Many years ago she took an early retirement after excelling in teaching special education in the Chicago public schools for many years. Only then did she move on to teach English as a second language which enabled her to make many close from Latin America and around the world.
Ultimately, she moved on to train as a yoga therapist. She began teaching classes of adults with and without MS and helped others privately with their physical and mental challenges. I eventually ended up taking her yoga classes all over the Chicago area. From time to time we travelled together. At one point we went to Guatemala to study Spanish and see the country. We also drove to the East Coast to attend sessions at the Kripalu Center in Massachusetts and on another occasion to Omega in New York to learn more about meditation and yoga.
When I departed for Peace Corps in Botswana she presented me with a packet of articles on yoga and meditation. While in Botswana we kept in touch by phone and e-mail. She also sent me care packages filled with more articles and homemade healthy treats, in addition to a magnificent appliquéd tree of life which is hanging on my wall.
I feel adrift here without one of my important anchors. I miss my yoga buddy who taught me so much about how to live. But like all good teachers, she has taught me with her art of living as we moved through life together and even now with her long lasting gifts of thoughtfully clipped articles on yoga and meditation. Barbara has passed but she is not forgotten and her teachings live on in many of us who encountered her as she strived to live life to its fullest.
The Gift of Food
The weekend started off with my cutting and chopping spinach and greens for my Sikh friends’ preparation of a meal they were donating to their temple on the first Sunday in August as a blessing to honor the birth of two of their three sons. We started preparations Saturday afternoon cutting all the various kinds of spinach that they grew in the garden at their how. The cooking lesson also included cutting up some rather unusaul cauliflower heads and giant white radishes. We continued cooking Sunday morning at the temple. After arriving just in time for a delicious breakfast of dipped fried cauliflower with onions and potatoes, fresh chutney, a fried French toast like bread and a sweet cookie ball, I was honored to be part of a team of fifteen men and women cooking in the very clean kitchen. We cooked for over a hundred people in huge pots about a foot high and yard in diameter. I stirred the yellow roti dough and then the spinach sag which boiled for a total about 5 hours. While stirring, I had a good vantage point for overseeing the frying of the cauliflower, the making of chai or tea with whole cardamom, as well as sweet dough given to everyone after the prayers in the temple.
I was retired from stirring the spinach sag when assembly line started making yellow roti . With trepidation, I began flattening yellow dough balls with my hands. The women I worked with were very fast and helped by giving me partially made roti. Despite my efforts, my “round” dough forms had rough edges and peculiar bulges. But everyone smiled and continued to give me hints. Simultaneously five people cooked them in large flat iron pans before putting them over an open flame and spreading them with butter. The team then switched to brown chapattis that were easier since we had little rolling pins to flatten out dough balls.
Afterwards, everyone in the kitchen went out to sit on the floors in the halls around the main temple, men in one area and women in another. Young men proceeded to serve us the spinach sag, fresh radishes, yellow roti, a sweet rice dessert, fresh bananas and oranges. After this we returned to the kitchen to make more yellow roti, since more were needed. The clean-up routine soon followed. Sweeping, mopping, and a constant stream of dish washing by men using several sinks continued for more than an hour until everything was clean and put back in its original place.
Besides learning how all the dishes were cooked, I was given containers of the delicious food for a week! Now I make my own chapattis, a filling snack at school.
PACT Gives Back
A few days later, over twenty members of our school PACT club (Peer Action Counseling Team) rolled out of school in a large flat back truck. We traveled by a good dirt road about 20 miles to Monwane, a rural primary school. We arrived expecting 30 students and ended up with 60 in total from fifth, six and seventh grades. They were very shy, but my students divided them into groups for icebreakers that involved lots of laughter and running. This helped them to relax and open up to the club members about their issues with parents and studies. Many of the pupils do not understand the teachers because they are taught in English rather than their native Setswana. Because many parents drink excessively and do not care about their children’s education and behavior, the students do poorly at school. The teachers are very strict. These students do not feel they can talk openly in class. The teachers are frustrated with the performance of the students. Students resist participating in class. They also lack sex education and many drop out of school before the seventh grade due to pregnancy and other issues. Now while we contemplate returning to the school during the coming term, we will have to help these students in confronting their challenges.
A Gifted Teacher and Friend
On a personal note, I recently found out a close friend mine and gifted teacher died back in the US. Barber Becker lost her four year war with breast cancer. During her last few years and months she dealt with cancer treatments, their side effects, and her struggle to accept her condition.
She and I met in a yoga class about 20 years ago. We shared a love for yoga, dance, Buddhism, travel, and lots more. Many years ago she took an early retirement after excelling in teaching special education in the Chicago public schools for many years. Only then did she move on to teach English as a second language which enabled her to make many close from Latin America and around the world.
Ultimately, she moved on to train as a yoga therapist. She began teaching classes of adults with and without MS and helped others privately with their physical and mental challenges. I eventually ended up taking her yoga classes all over the Chicago area. From time to time we travelled together. At one point we went to Guatemala to study Spanish and see the country. We also drove to the East Coast to attend sessions at the Kripalu Center in Massachusetts and on another occasion to Omega in New York to learn more about meditation and yoga.
When I departed for Peace Corps in Botswana she presented me with a packet of articles on yoga and meditation. While in Botswana we kept in touch by phone and e-mail. She also sent me care packages filled with more articles and homemade healthy treats, in addition to a magnificent appliquéd tree of life which is hanging on my wall.
I feel adrift here without one of my important anchors. I miss my yoga buddy who taught me so much about how to live. But like all good teachers, she has taught me with her art of living as we moved through life together and even now with her long lasting gifts of thoughtfully clipped articles on yoga and meditation. Barbara has passed but she is not forgotten and her teachings live on in many of us who encountered her as she strived to live life to its fullest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
