Camp GROW 2015

Camp GROW is similar to Camp GLOW but the focus is more agriculture and environment oriented.  At the end of August, I helped with a Camp GROW in Fitche (located in Oromia Region).  I also brought two students with me to this camp.  I did not take students with me to the Camp GLOW in Debre Berhan, so it was a very different experience, but a good one too.

This camp included both male and female students.  We had about 40 students total.  Almost half of the students were from Fitche.  The rest came from different parts of Oromia and Amhara regions.  We had a handful of junior counselors from Fitche (primarily 11^th and 12^th grade) and university girls from Addis Ababa who helped a lot with sessions, translations, etc.   About 13 Peace Corps volunteers came to help and participate in camp.

The Peace Corps volunteers facilitated various sessions for the students that came, including the importance of and how to create a permagarden, the importance of recycling, a nature walk, a nutrition session, a few English sessions, the importance of goal setting, etc.  I facilitated the nutrition session (as I had during the camp GLOW in Debre Berhan).

A few sessions that stuck out to me in particular included the permagarden, the recycling session and the English session that focused on dramas.  I was extremely impressed with many of the students for being so interested in the permagarden session and getting very involved with the whole process of creating a permanent and sustainable garden.  During the session that focused on the importance of recycling, students were put into groups and as teams competed to fill up bags with trash.  I loved to see how competitive they could get, especially when it meant that they were also learning.  During the English drama session, students were put into groups again and within their groups were given different topics.  Each group was expected to create a drama (in English of course) that was based on their given topic.  It was so fun to see how creative they were able to be with their dramas and it was cool to see how much fun they had in presenting them.

It was a long, hard week that left me completely exhausted by the end.  But it was very worth it.  I was able to get to know many students and see their growth throughout the week.  I was so happy to get to know the two students whom I brought with me better and to see their growth throughout the week.  It was so cool to see the connections and friendships made between students from different towns who would not have ever met without having attending camp. 

I have actually been asked if I like camp GLOW or camp GROW better.  In all honesty, there is no way for me to choose one over the other.  There was really no fair comparison because both camps were so different in content, experience sharing, highs and lows, etc.   I was also able to work with two separate groups of people and as a whole the two groups functioned differently because of the difference in people.  In that sense, both camps were such great learning experiences because I learned so much about myself in how I work with people and how to work with different people around me.  Both camps were such great experiences for me.  Because of this, as I mentioned in my camp GLOW post, I would recommend every Peace Corps volunteer help in at least one camp during their 27 month service if possible.

Time for permagarden!