Youth Camp

A couple of weeks ago Steve took part in a Peace Corps sponsored youth camp.  It was organized by GAD, the Gender And Development group of which he is the secretary.  The camp started on a Monday afternoon and finished on Friday morning.  There were 28 students ranging from ages 11 to 18 and 14 Peace Corps volunteers.  We met at the high school in the nearby town of Las Minas.

 Each morning the group was awakened at 6 am for a morning session of exercise starting at 6:30.  We did yoga, calisthenics, and dance on the three days.

Someone's not in sync!

The kids were surprisingly good at yoga

 We divided in to groups, each with their own color, banner and group name.

Steve's group chose the name "The Incredibles"

Each student had to decorate an egg, which was to be their "baby" for two days.  The group with the most surviving at the end got points for their group.  If they left the egg unattended, the "duendes" would come and steal it.  Duendes (warlocks) are actually something that some people in the mountains still believe in.

Ernesto decorates his egg

This baby didn't make it to the second day :(

We had classes on reproductive health and how to avoid AIDS and STD's.  The students practiced putting condoms on each other's fingers.

On the last afternoon we had the Olympics, where the groups competed with various games.

Who can get there first?

Luis and Danny celebrate the victory

At the end, we were all tired but sad to see the camp end.  It was a great four days.

Joan with the three kids from her town

To see a 3-minute video of the camp, click here.