40 Before 30 : Believe in Me Summer Camp

When you work with children, you gain experience each and every time. You know what exercises and activities are a hit and when students can handle a challenge. It was my mission to make sure everyone was participating and at least putting in some effort. Kids were often seeking my praise, which increased their motivation and interest in learning.

Overall, the camp was quite successful with the kids and the community. Local parents, teachers, the pastor, and others responded very well to my work and dedication to the community. Each day things were hectic and some days were better than others, but with teamwork we achieved our goal.

With the help of a few parents and And it was the amazing commitment from Mrs. Ravel, which made things come together with short notice.

There was plenty to do in the daytime between the 50 to 100 students in attendance, meetings with parents, and community outreach. It was my responsibility to plan all the activities and it was Mrs. Ravel's responsibility to get the kids to show up. This required going around the community and reminding everyone of the camp. Each morning we started with a song followed by aerobics. The activities following involved therapeutic and psycho-educational verbal exercises and games. It required some serious creativity tailoring exercises for the age 4 to 13 age group.

We planned to split them up, but the volunteers partially showed up. And with our limited resources, we had to limit the materials we used. I did go to the store with Mrs. Ravel to purchase a few things, but supplies in Belize are limited and super expensive. There are only a couple stores that sell arts and crafts and they sell $7 crayons-it's ridiculous. How do these poor people afford anything.

When we walked in, I was like, "Um this is it?"

She said, "Yes, welcome to Belize."

"Um, isn't there just a dollar store or some discount store?"

"This is it."

With that said, I bought a beach ball and some other fun and easy activities with balloons. I was advised to not purchase anything, but I went against the hierarchy. I had been advised to not purchase anything for the program-not one thing.

With this community, the kids were very respectful saying, "No Maam" and "Yes Maam." When it came to me assigning leaders to tasks or asking for helpers, they could not have been more eager. When activities were starting and ending, there were always kids cleaning up-sweeping the floor, pushing in chairs, and picking up papers. From their upbringing, they help out at home and are taught to respect their teachers and adults.

As far as the older kids, ages 8 to 12, they were open to discuss their feelings and share their experiences. I always have this close connection with boys and these group of 6 to 8 boys were fantastic. They were so kind, polite, we worked and we had fun together. We had a mutual respect and with this we met our goals while having fun and enjoying activities. Their biggest challenge was working together as a team and making compromises. They were encouraged to push through activities they did not want to complete together and they learned a dose of patience.

Mrs. Ravel would say, "Priscilla they don't know anything about teamwork."

I would say, "Well now is the time to learn."

That is the whole point of my presence to challenge them and help them learn better social skills, listening, teamwork, and coping.
With Priscilla's therapy, there is always some skill being practiced even when they don't believe it.
Jump!