OPC Students receive their Leadership Certifications
On October 1-2, 2010 the Onesua Presbyterian College in North Efate had the opportunity to experience G.A.D.’s Camp G.L.O.W/B.I.L.D with the help of Alexia Pool, Desiree Lopez, Jeff Kladder, myself and the majority of Group 23’s Peace Corps' Trainees. This was the very first time we brought the camps to my school and it was well worth it. I was a bit nervous at first because after 2 weeks of attempting to recruit male and female student participants I only managed to round up 15 by the time the camps were scheduled to begin. However, Alexia reassured me that the day we set up and paint our banner we would successfully recruite enough participants and sure enough she was right. We managed to recruit a total of 32 participants with a good balance of both boys and girls ranging from 14 to 18 years old.
It was a typical fun-filled weekend; full of laughter, relationship-building and inspiration. We split into female and male groups with Jeff leading the boys’ sessions and us women facilitating the girls. After creating our traditional camp banner with painted handprints, we established our rules for the weekend and opened with friendship bracelet making. It’s amazing how much teenagers love beads! As usual the kids were initially shy; however, by the time we began our public speaking session (Day 2) they came out of their shells and did a fantastic job speaking in front of each other with confidence. We covered an array of workshops from discussing the qualities of a great leader to the myths and facts of marijuana. In the end, our kids created a drama on a topic we had covered in our sessions and needless to say the boys’ skit on being a good leader by acting out the first encounter of the Ni-Van natives by the white man (costumes all all!) was hilarious.
I was so proud of my kids for taking the initiative to sign up to our camp and I was pleasantly surprised when my principal called me to tell me he was paying the 200 vatu for each of our 2011 Prefects (11 students), because he thought it was a great opportunity for them. We ended our second night with speeches, cake and the distribution of their certificates.
Next year, I expect our next camp will be bigger and better now that my students understand what the camp is all about. Our camps are not only a fantastic opportunity for kids to learn new skills, but they are also an opportunity for us volunteers to learn from our kids. By the end of the weekend what I took away from this experience was that my kids are a fantastic group of "leaders in the making" who are helping me live a life-long dream (I even got a little choked up when I gave my speech on dreaming big and being persistent) . I can’t express enough how proud I am of being a GAD member and Peace Corps Volunteer in Vanuatu!
It was a typical fun-filled weekend; full of laughter, relationship-building and inspiration. We split into female and male groups with Jeff leading the boys’ sessions and us women facilitating the girls. After creating our traditional camp banner with painted handprints, we established our rules for the weekend and opened with friendship bracelet making. It’s amazing how much teenagers love beads! As usual the kids were initially shy; however, by the time we began our public speaking session (Day 2) they came out of their shells and did a fantastic job speaking in front of each other with confidence. We covered an array of workshops from discussing the qualities of a great leader to the myths and facts of marijuana. In the end, our kids created a drama on a topic we had covered in our sessions and needless to say the boys’ skit on being a good leader by acting out the first encounter of the Ni-Van natives by the white man (costumes all all!) was hilarious.
I was so proud of my kids for taking the initiative to sign up to our camp and I was pleasantly surprised when my principal called me to tell me he was paying the 200 vatu for each of our 2011 Prefects (11 students), because he thought it was a great opportunity for them. We ended our second night with speeches, cake and the distribution of their certificates.
Next year, I expect our next camp will be bigger and better now that my students understand what the camp is all about. Our camps are not only a fantastic opportunity for kids to learn new skills, but they are also an opportunity for us volunteers to learn from our kids. By the end of the weekend what I took away from this experience was that my kids are a fantastic group of "leaders in the making" who are helping me live a life-long dream (I even got a little choked up when I gave my speech on dreaming big and being persistent) . I can’t express enough how proud I am of being a GAD member and Peace Corps Volunteer in Vanuatu!
1. Communication Activity --> the Human Knot
2. The Boys go all out with their skit on Leadership
3. Desi and Jeff resting before we begin our Welcome Toktok
4. Students share who they believe is a good community leaders
5. Female student participates in a communication activity
6. I run through our 2-day schedule with participants
7. Female participates making bracelets
8. Yet another communication activity with participants
7. 8. 9.
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