Northern Camp GLOW

When I signed up to be a camp counselor, I didn’t really know what to expect.  I talked to PCVs who were at previous camps and they told me the work is strenuous, exhausting, and the highlight of their Peace Corps experience.  So true.

The first two days in Gulu were for counselor and staff training.  The three camp directors gave us an overview of the schedule & classes and they also taught us some games to play with the girls.  I never went to summer camp in the US, so this training was extremely valuable to me.  Each PCV counselor worked with a Ugandan co-counselor and they were responsible for 10 girls.  The groups were given animal names – my group was the Giraffes. :)

The Giraffes

My co-counselor’s name was Nancy – she’s an HIV counselor in Kitgum.  We ended up having nine girls in our group, because one was a no-show.

(Back row: me, Teddy, Anne, Jillian, Winnie, Nancy.  Middle: Lorna.  Front row: Molly, Christine, Beatrice, Proscovia.)

The Schedule

Tuesday:

• Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) and Camp BUILD (Boys of Uganda In Leadership and Development) set up a Field Day for the campers as they arrived throughout the afternoon.  It was at the school for Camp BUILD, so at the end of the day, the girls traveled back to our school and settled into the dorms.
  

Wednesday:

• “Get to know each other” session/games
• Introduction to income-generating activities (IGAs) class
• Communication class
• Self-esteem class
• Sports/games
• Reflection time – Each night we spent an hour thinking about the lessons we learned and how to apply them to our lives/communities.  This was also a free space for girls to ask questions or talk about anything they wanted.

Thursday:

• We traveled to The Recreation Project in Gulu, which had obstacle courses, a zip line, a rock climbing wall, and other physical challenges.  The point was to emphasize teamwork and critical thinking and have a ton of fun in the process!  The girls absolutely LOVED it!  Some of them had never left their village before, so to come to a place like the ropes course was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
• Reflection time

Friday:

• HIV/AIDS lesson and guest speaker – The camp directors also coordinated with a local organization to provide free HIV testing at the camp.  It’s important for the girls to know their HIV status and getting tested at camp removed the stigma (and cost) of going to a health center.
• Reproductive health class
  
• Money management class
• Reflection time

Saturday:

• Camp BUILD came to our school for a joint session about domestic violence.  It was a heavy topic with a lecture followed by an hour of group discussion. 
• To balance out the day, we also played co-ed soccer games and had a group of campers perform some break-dancing.  These kids have got some moves!
• Reflection time

Sunday:

(Last day of camp – The directors made it an easy day.)

• Reflection class – Where do you want to be in 5 years?  Set goals.  Start your own GLOW Club in your community.
• Tae Kwon Do– self defense
• Cleaning the dorms/packing
• Closing ceremony
• Dance party!

Monday:

Traveled home

The Highs and The Lows

Let’s start with the lows:

• Food – it wasn’t terrible; it was just the same thing every day.
• Breakfast – millet porridge and a piece of bread
• Lunch – beans, rice, cabbage
• Dinner – beans, rice, cabbage
• Occasionally we’d get beans, rice, and greens for a meal.  And a couple of times they served meat, but that didn’t change anything for me.
• Pit latrines – I don’t mind using pit latrines, but these were horrible.  Maggots and cockroaches like I’ve never seen.  Plus the latrines were 100 yards away from the dorm, which was kind of a pain in the rain/mud.
• Showers – There were none.  We had to pump water from the borehole and go to a concrete shower area behind the dorms.  There were no doors and no ceiling.  You might think it would be cool to bathe under the stars . . . except it rained almost every evening.  Not fun.
  
  
  
   
• Teenagers – Trying to keep track of nine teenage girls 24/7 is exhausting.  Especially since Ugandans don’t follow schedules or ‘keep time.’  Also, they’ve never really had this kind of supervision before.  The kids here never tell their parents where they’re going – even in the villages, you’ll see toddlers running around on the streets with no parent in sight.  For the most part, my girls were pretty good – but I had a few troublemakers which caused a great deal of stress.
• No breaks – 24/7 is not an exaggeration.  I slept in the same dorms as the girls; we ate together; moved to classes together; etc.  One of the main rules of camp was to stay in your group at all times.  This was also the rule that was broken the most.  So while I was trying to work with six of my girls, I was also frantically running around trying to find the other three.  Ugh.
• Illness – The day I left Kuluva I had a sore throat.  I grabbed a handful of Emergen-C packets as I walked out the door and went to Gulu.  The sore throat turned into a sinus infection/cold and then to a really bad chest cough.  The Emergen-C helped a ton, but being sick drained a lot of my energy. 
• Injuries – On Wednesday, I tripped and fell and bruised my knee.  On Friday, I tripped and fell and skinned the other knee.  At the recreation center, I got a pretty bad rope burn on my legs and a nice bruise to go with it.  I have numerous mosquito and spider bites.  On Saturday, a mysterious rash appeared on my abdomen.  I’m pretty sure it’s from wearing the same stinky, dirty camp shirt every day without washing it.  And I didn’t really bathe for nine days (I just used the shower wipes from my care packages).  Lesson learned: it’s important to wash my clothes and bathe regularly.
• And finally, the lowest point – At 12:30am one night, there was a massive thunderstorm and I woke up with really bad stomach cramps . . . diarrhea.  I laid in bed debating whether or not I should take a chance and run through the field during a lightning storm to go to the latrine.  My mind started thinking of any possible container I could use in the dorm – there was nothing.  After 20 long minutes, the rain started to ease up and the thunder faded to the distance.  I grabbed my raincoat and sprinted to the latrines.  (It wasn't a serious illness – just too much beans & cabbage.)

The Highs

• I appreciate my site so much more now – Having a toilet inside! Buying my own fruits & veggies!  Not sleeping in a dorm with 25 girls!  Hot water for a bucket bath!  Life is good!
• The recreation center was definitely one of the highlights of the week.  The Giraffes worked well together (for the most part) and had so much fun!  Of course I went on the zip line and rock climbing wall too.  :)
• Reflection time after HIV/AIDS sessions – We had a really in-depth talk about HIV and Nancy was huge help answering all of the girls’ questions.  Even the girls who were quiet and shy spoke up during this reflection.  It was awesome.
• There were only two girls (in my group) from the West Nile region – the rest were from Gulu, Kitgum, Oyam, and Lira.  Of course I became very close with my West Nilers.  I plan to keep in touch with them and I’m going to try and visit them again in their villages.
• I feel that most of the girls at camp really learned a lot and they will carry on with the lessons in their communities.  During the classes, I noticed which girls participated and asked questions – it was easy to see the ones who wanted to focus on business or who was more interested in reproductive health.  I feel that the camp offered a well-rounded curriculum on topics that aren’t really taught in Ugandan schools.
• Because this was my first camp experience, I look back and see the areas that I could improve on.  There will be more Peace Corps camps and I intend to apply for those too.  Now I am better prepared!

P.S. Internet is very slow right at my house and I have over 300 pictures to sort through – I’ll let you know when they’re uploaded on my Shutterfly website.