Nicaragua: See you be brave

One fine day last September/October, my sitemate and I were sitting together when one proposed to the other the idea of having a summer camp in our town during the break from school in December/January. Given that both of us had previous work experience in summer camps, we felt confident going into this project. After chatting about the details, we decided upon the following criteria:

-Host a leadership camp for 40 students who just completed 6th grade and will be entering 7th grade in the new school year.

-The students will come from two public high schools in the municipality, as well as from two neighboring rural communities.
-Duration of the camp will be 3 days, beginning at 9am and ending at 3pm each day.
-There will be a focus on HIV education, leadership, teamwork, self-esteem, and assertive communication.
-We will involve the Ministry of Education and other community counterparts in the planning and facilitation of all the camp activities.

We wrote the grant, the grant was approved, and away we went planning the details. The original goal was to have the camp in December or January, but due to a few organizational complications we were unable to have it until the third weekend of February. Better late than never, especially in Nicaragua. Among coordination conflicts and other difficulties which arose when trying to plan such an event in a place such as ours, it's an understatement to say we learned some things along the way.

The students learned a few things during the camp as well, so we can say it's safe to call this one a success. Oh yeah, they had a bit of fun too. Here are a few photos from our first Leadership Camp: 

Students paying attention and taking notes...that's what we like to see!

Listening to Teresa's testimony of becoming HIV positive.

Taking turns sharing reflections.

Large group activities to develop teamwork skills

The Human Knot...everyone's favorite!

Another teamwork challenge: cross the Amazon River without getting eaten by crocodiles.

Strategically placing the rocks in order to cross the river.

How many students can fit on one rock without losing balance...?

Teamwork!

And this was obviously my favorite part of the camp.