Camper's Delight

In early July, the Amhara region PCVs combined our awesomeness once again to plan a summer camp for Ethiopian students. We all got to recruit two kids from each of our towns, which totaled to 30 kids. I selected my little munchkins with an essay contest and an interview for the finalists. I disguised the camp as a “Gender Equality and Leadership Summer Program” namely because the word “camp” evokes images of internally displaced peoples and refugees. A stark contrast to all the fun we were going to have. I’ve never done a camp before. Sure I have been there in spirit with the likes of “Parent Trap,” “It Takes Two,” and Disney’s “Bug Juice.” My only personal kind-of-camp experience is soccer camp. And the only thing I can remember from that time in my life is waking up early to go running, running more, and getting into a fist/girl fight for eating half of a fellow camper’s chocolate. Thus, I was able to conclude that this experience was bound to be different.

The camp was hosted in Gonder which is a historical town in northern Ethiopia. Fit with castles and most importantly, a beer factory. This camp thing is what most PCVs from all around the world do. It often goes by the name ‘Camp GLOW,’ which is another lovely acronym for ‘Girls Leading Our World.’ Since we invited both genders, we switched it up a little and called it ‘Camp G-Glow,’ but to a select few we called it ‘Camp Gigilow.’ Inappropriate. Yeah, let’s keep that one to ourselves...

Camp is tiring. We played a lot of games. We talked a lot. It was like hosting a 5-day dinner party without the booze. You know the constant need to feel like you have to entertain and make sure your guests (the campers) are having fun? Me being still a little self-centered made this a little difficult. No, actually, we did have a good time. It was classified as a win in my book of life. Each day had a theme. The first day was "Independence Day" since it was July 4th. We began with dicussion of self-esteem, goal setting, and a weak attempt to teach the song 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' ("with the girls be handy"..?!...what were we thinking?!) and ended with a bonfire and s’mores (an aptly named treat if I do say so). A great way to start a great, albeit exhausting, week. Other themes included Gender Day, Health Day, Leadership Day, and Lifeskills Day. Sprinkle in a few catchy, but annoying chants and songs (see picture below), spirit awards, Kate's whistle, and meals. We ended the week by visiting the castles and the campers locking themselves in the lion cages (why didn't we think of this earlier?!).

"Ride the Pony"...or in African context "Ride the Donkey"

This would be a "firecracker"

The majority of Ethiopian kids don’t have the opportunity to leave their community. Imagine. Not ever leaving your town. From my little suburban neck of the woods in Georgia, the pure thought makes me want to cry in a bad way. These kids got to hang out with probably the coolest people in the country (Amhara PCVs, of course), practice their English, visit another town, see the historic castles, learn interesting stuff, and so much more that I haven’t realized. It was honor to be a part of this monumental moment in their lives. It obviously made an impact. I know this for sure because all the campers were ballin’ their pretty brown eyes out on the last day of camp. That my friends, is called success.

The whole gang

Oh, and this additional comment in one of the camper's evaluation, "I love you more than me the American Peace Court; I am sorry because you are leave me tomorrow; I am not forget until the end of my life." Can't wait until next year...

Digging in the Dirt

I have always liked the idea of gardening. It is one of those hobbies that I put off with excuses like I’m not old enough or I don’t have the space. I thought this is one of the more ideal times in my life to hone some skills and finally put these excuses aside. I was pleasantly surprised to discover some herbs growing in front of my house when I first moved to my town, which gave me some initial inspiration. I have lived here long enough that I like to think I had a part in it all, but really it is half landlord, half nature. Actually I think I managed to kill some mint plants by throwing my dish water on them. Whoops.

When Peace Corps asked for volunteers to nominate his or her town to host a permagardening training, I thought this was my chance to really learn how to make pretty and tasty things grow on my own. So far my track record includes a fruitful jalapeno plant and a wilted basil leaf pot in college. Not to mention an old paint bucket that I converted into a flower pot that is currently drowning and forgotten as well as two compost buckets that are more like glorified trash cans here in Ethiopia. Yeah, it is about time that I learned what I was doing. And so it begins…



My town, lovely Kosober/Injibara, ended up being selected. Volunteers from the Amhara region, about 13 of us, all came with their Ethiopian counterparts to dig in the dirt. We built a nice 20 x 20 meter garden next to a park and river that will go to benefit the local PLWHA (People Living with HIV/AIDS) Association. We planted apples, pears, carrots, onion, broccoli, and other foods that Ethiopians are more or less familiar with. There are no Amharic names for several of the fruits and vegetables we planted, so some of them will be interesting trying to get them to eat. It was suggested that I do a cooking demonstration to teach them how to use them. The first thing I thought about is when you go to a place like Sam’s Club or Costco on a Sunday afternoon with the almost explicit intention of getting free samples, but without the hygienic precautions. As long as I get a taste of what I’m cooking, it sounds like a great idea.

The training covered topics such as composting, double-digging, land contour, plant spacing, and building swales. I still have no idea what a swale is, which I continue to call a ‘squall’ because it sounds better even though I don’t really know what that is either. Half of the training was theory, the other half was practical. I enjoyed the practical component more, naturally. I gained an affinity for wielding hoes and rakes at the untouched ground unearthing fertile soil. Too bad you can only do that once a year, appropriately at least. The most common activity involved in tending to a garden, as I understand it, is weeding. Wonder why I have not started this earlier?!…As a close friend says, all too frequently, “Many hands make light work.” I have been working on building ownership among the PLWHA members and will conduct a training with them soon so it is hopefully not me doing the daily weeding. Just thinking about it makes me want to go use one of those garden tools aggressively.

I’ll let you know if we will be able to reap what we sowed after three months, or however long it takes to grow these things. Until then, I think I’ll try to revive that paint bucket full of flowers that never were.