this last weekend we had our second camp of the year for our the adolescent boys in our department: camp VALOR!!! just like for ALMA, all 25 volunteers worked together to plan a 3-day, 2-night camp for boys ages 13-18 years old. each volunteer brought 2-3 kids from their site, and for 3 days, all participated in a number of charlas that went along with our “Iron Man” theme, including:
- beekeeping
- financial planning
equipo verrrrrrrrde!!!
- gender equality
- addressing “machismo”
- team-building exercises
- hearing from a local success story from a chiclayo business owner…a volunteer favorite…kango cafe
- soccer tournament
- self-esteem
- future planning/vocational testing
- job fair
with our first mvp of the camp!
- cuy/duck farming
- campfire with s’mores and singing until 1am
- sex-ed charla with our pc doctor from lima, where they had the opportunity to ask extremely candid questions with a highly-qualified professional
- trust falls
team leaders enjoying our kids’ soccer tournament.
- a socio-drama about applying the knowledge they learned
- human pryamids galore!
- and of course….a condom race!!!
my team was the smallest of the groups, but what we lacked in number, we certainly made up for team spirit. one thing i really liked about my team, was the diversity in the personalities. half were extremely outgoing, and it was easy to see that they are given regular opportunities to lead and serve and their communities, and there are others who this was their first chance to gain these skills and were more reserved. there were a couple that no longer live with their families for a number of reasons, and had to overcome a number of obstacles in their lifetime that many of us never even have to worry about, yet they still came forward as strong independent leaders, and were given the opportunity to get know other boys like them, and others who have similar goals as them. that is the beauty of this camp. empowering these young men to rise to the opportunity ahead of them, and provide them with the skills to do so!
after a tough tie-breaker, verde won third overall in the camp!!!! wooo!!!
los tucumanos.
thank you again to all that donated and made this camp possible!
the lovely lambayeque ladies.
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