This summer has completely flown by, especially the month of July. After non stop travel with my brother for two weeks, I continued my way from south from Serbia to a small town called Krusevo (pronounced Crew-Sheh-Vo) in Macedonia. This town is the highest in Macedonia, elevation wise, and we were surrounded by mountains, greenery, and cool breezes.
I was never a summer camper as a child; I spoke with my mom about this and she said it just wasn’t common for people where we grew up to go to camp. None of my friends growing up attended camp that I can remember, so it just wasn’t part of my life. Soon would I find out what camp was like…
At one point during the week at camp, one of my good friends Dave who also lives in my town and held a leadership position at camp came up to me and exclaimed, “Rachel, I just received the best compliments ever! One of the Dutch guys just said this camp is exactly what he sees in American films!”
YMLP Camp (Young Men’s Leadership Project) is partnered with YMCA Bitola (another town in Macedonia) and Peace Corps. Boys ages 14-18 can apply to attend this one week, English spoken camp. I, along with my partner Maja, co-taught Civic Responsibility. We taught four days a week, four classes each day. The classes went in this order: day 1-Community; Day 2-Volunteerism; Day 3-Environmental Awareness; Day 4-Civil Discourse. The campers were broken up into eight teams, so every class we worked with two teams combined. We encouraged a democratic environment where discussion was the basis for every lesson. Other classes that were taught were democracy, leadership, personal development, environment, team building, and electives such as mediation, athletics, art, drama, talking to women (no, this wasn’t how to flirt with girls). I wanted to be a camper and attend all the classes because they all seemed very interesting. Also it was a very international group working and volunteering at the camp-mostly Macedonians and Americans but also Albanians, Dutch, and one girl from Belgium.
I was never a summer camper as a child; I spoke with my mom about this and she said it just wasn’t common for people where we grew up to go to camp. None of my friends growing up attended camp that I can remember, so it just wasn’t part of my life. Soon would I find out what camp was like…
At one point during the week at camp, one of my good friends Dave who also lives in my town and held a leadership position at camp came up to me and exclaimed, “Rachel, I just received the best compliments ever! One of the Dutch guys just said this camp is exactly what he sees in American films!”
YMLP Camp (Young Men’s Leadership Project) is partnered with YMCA Bitola (another town in Macedonia) and Peace Corps. Boys ages 14-18 can apply to attend this one week, English spoken camp. I, along with my partner Maja, co-taught Civic Responsibility. We taught four days a week, four classes each day. The classes went in this order: day 1-Community; Day 2-Volunteerism; Day 3-Environmental Awareness; Day 4-Civil Discourse. The campers were broken up into eight teams, so every class we worked with two teams combined. We encouraged a democratic environment where discussion was the basis for every lesson. Other classes that were taught were democracy, leadership, personal development, environment, team building, and electives such as mediation, athletics, art, drama, talking to women (no, this wasn’t how to flirt with girls). I wanted to be a camper and attend all the classes because they all seemed very interesting. Also it was a very international group working and volunteering at the camp-mostly Macedonians and Americans but also Albanians, Dutch, and one girl from Belgium.
Before every meal, the campers lined up in the parking lot and shouted their team chant-every group had a color, so their flag and chant revolved around this color. The camp revolved around Star Wars and Game of Thrones, so these shoes were incorporated in daily activities. It was great to see the campers; transition from when they first arrived at camp to the day the left. Many of the campers didn’t know each other, but some were returning from the year before, as campers again, or as junior counselors. The teams were divided specifically to ensure that campers weren’t placed with other guys in their same region where they live. Because it was an all English speaking camp, they were encouraged to speak all day in English, even when there were no native English speakers near them-it was a tough camp for them! Having classes all day in English with their breaks as their meals, I was highly impressed with them. Also, campfires were a nightly event-for the forth time, the campers would yell their chant and we would all march to the fire together. The campers would rotate who would sleep in tents, cabins, or “rough camp,” where they hiked to a more secluded area, set up their own tents and cooked their own food (including S’mores!). So, I guess it wasn’t so rough after all and rough camp turned out to be their favorite night.
This was definitely a highlight of my experience here in Macedonia. To see young men engaged in their learning and being so positive and motivating their teammates when just days before they were strangers, this was truly inspirational for me. There were even a few Albanian campers and counselors but this only encouraged them to speak English more so that everyone could understand one another. It was a very freeing and open minded environment; for me, it was just what I needed and something unlike I’ve every experienced.
Selfie time!
Selfie time!
There is a similar camp that young women attend every year and this summer it happened to be the same week as YMLP camp. This camp is called GLOW (Girls Leading Our World), which I may have mentioned before. My girl Beka held a leadership position at the camp this year and she wrote an awesome blog post about her experience. Check it out here.
My goal for this year is to start a “BRO Club” standing for “Boys Respecting Others.” There are quite a few boys who attended the camp that live in my town and they expressed interest in the club, so that is on my long list of things to begin this year!
XOXO
-R
(YMLP Camp 2015; Staff and counselors in yellow, junior counselors and campers in white. If you can't find me, I'm on the left, second row from the top, 3rd person in)
My goal for this year is to start a “BRO Club” standing for “Boys Respecting Others.” There are quite a few boys who attended the camp that live in my town and they expressed interest in the club, so that is on my long list of things to begin this year!
XOXO
-R
(YMLP Camp 2015; Staff and counselors in yellow, junior counselors and campers in white. If you can't find me, I'm on the left, second row from the top, 3rd person in)