Camp
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2003
1
22
41
Trip End
Jul 04, 2005
Truskavets,
Ukraine
Friday, July 30, 2004
I wasn’t sure what sort of camp I was interested in, but eventually I decided that I wanted to go somewhere that I could practice speaking Ukrainian, and most importantly was far away from Kyiv
01 On the Marshrutka
. So, my friend Tina’s camp seemed ideal. The camp was aimed at developing leadership in young Ukrainians between the ages of 12 and 17. It was to be in the spa/resort town of Truskavets located about and hour and a half south of L’viv. Truskavets is known for its natural springs who’s waters are said to help with all sorts of gastro-intestinal problems. Tina was looking for people to help with English lessons as well as to lead discussions and classes on subjects ranging from debate to ecology. I was to help with the ecology lessons. I convinced my friend Devon, who lives in Lutsk (western Ukraine), to sign-up for the camp as well – she would be helping with the business classes for the campers. On July 16th we took the overnight train from Kyiv to L’viv and set out on our week-long camp experience.
The train ride to L’viv ended up being one of the bumpiest I’ve ever had the pleasure of taking. In fact, Devon almost fell off her bunk several times! Once we arrived in L’viv we promptly made our way to Tina and Tom’s (Tom is Tina’s husband), showered and went out for breakfast at Veronica’s. I’d heard a lot about this restaurant from fellow volunteers, and their praises were definitely deserved
02 Name that Fruit or Veggie
. We feasted on omelets and for dessert had incredible raspberry tarts. Ah, the berries! That’s one thing that will be sorely missed when I return to the States. I’ve never in my life enjoyed fruit as much as here in Ukraine. The rest of the day we wandered around L’viv. The evening was spent drinking wine and hanging out with friends and on Sunday morning we set out for camp.
Tina’s organization rented a marshrutka (mini-bus) to drive us to the camp ground. Initially the campers were a bit apprehensive, as were the camp counselors. Eventually, people relaxed a bit, and the rest of the drive to Truskavets was spent singing (and in the Americans’ case listening) to Ukrainian folk songs. It never ceases to amaze me how many songs these people know. Every time us PCVs are challenged to a song contest we inevitably lose. Our song catalog usually consists of patriotic songs, some children’s songs (like Itsy Bitsy Spider), and the odd Beatles tune.
Arriving at the camp we were promptly escorted to the medical cabin where all the children were required to get a brief medical screening in order to be “suitable” campers. Little did we know that American camp counselors would also have to be screened. We were called into the medical office where a woman wearing a white lab coat (who we learned is NOT an actual doctor) started by interviewing Tina. Devon and I stood outside the little room and listened as the “doctor” interviewed Tina about Peace Corps and her job. The interview ended with Tina stepping on the scale and being weighed. Devon had a similar experience, she was second, however she had the pleasure of having two young men enter the room and scrutinize the scale as she stepped on it – and then announce her weight aloud
03 Tina teaching
. My interview was the shortest – I think they had learned enough from Tina and Devon to satisfy their curiosity. However, I had similar treatment with my weight. At least kilos seems less than pounds. :)We settled into our cabin that included one bathroom for all of us (about 25 people) and were called to the dining hall for lunch. Our lunch consisted of soup, mashed potatoes, and a “sosyka” or hot dog, and some compote (boiled fruit drink). This would be a pretty standard meal, sometimes the hot dog would be substituted with some sort of fried meat or fish. The morning meal also included a tasty gruel (the favorite part of the meal for us Americans). All the children complained about the food (one kid actually left a week later saying that he couldn’t eat and therefore was going home – we decided he just missed his mommy). For my part, although the food left a bit to be desired, I think most camps have mediocre dining halls, and I didn’t mind (especially once Devon bought ketchup to help with the meaty delights).
After lunch we took a walk around the grounds of the camp. It’s a pretty sprawling area with many cabins and buildings for all sorts of health related activities. The camp ground was home to several different groups of children and their adult chaperones
04 Dining Hall
. On the edge of its grounds was a little lake that we were told was clean, however it was down hill from the open-pit latrine (we had an indoor toilet in our cabin – thankfully!), so we chose not to go swimming. All around the camp ground was a large forest and you could almost see the Carpathians over the tops of some of the trees. Overall, the area was lovely, and I was so excited about being outside all the time, and more importantly far, far away from the big city.The rest of the day was spent getting comfortable in our surroundings and preparing for the week’s activities. That evening we settled down to sleep at 11p.m. which was lights-out for the camp and awaited a good night’s sleep… that never came. You see, soon after our arrival we found out that the front gates to the camp ground were locked with a chain. Unless you jumped over the fence, or walked around into the forest you couldn’t get out of the confines of the camp ground. Also, to our surprise, promptly at 11, the dogs were let out. Yes, the dogs! All night long we could hear them running around the camp barking and patrolling. Needless to say, a lot of the night was spent swearing at the dogs, and begging them to stop their racket. We also wondered how we (the American camp counselors) would be able to sneak out to get some beers after the kiddies went to bed – yes, I know, bad examples – but they would be sleeping
05 Body Parts
! This little issue was eventually resolved when we went into the city during the day and snuck in a couple bottles of wine. :)The camp’s activities were scheduled as follows:
7:15 a.m. wake-up
morning stretches and jog
8:30 breakfast
9:00 showers
10:00-1 morning leadership classes
1:15 lunch
2:00-3:00 free time
3:00-5:00 English classes
5:00-7:00 games
7:15 dinner
8:00-9:00 free time
9:15 snack
9:30-11:00 free time and disco
So, we were pretty busy most days
06 Twister!
. The mornings were spent sitting in and/or helping with the classes and activities. The Ukrainian students that led the leadership activities were great. They organized interesting games and did a phenomenal job keeping the kids’ attention. This is no easy task – especially in the summer, and at a camp where the other kids aren’t going to school during the day. One of the classes that we (Americans) attended was the Debate lesson. The kids’ topic was books versus the Internet. I was very impressed in how these kids prepared for the Debate, the information and arguments that they presented, and the professionalism that they exuded. Also the lecture on HIV/AIDS was, although not as engaging as other lessons, very interesting to watch and listen to. These young people are very concerned about what’s going on in their country, and were aware and ready to take on the responsibility to help inform people about healthy lifestyles and the danger of disease.Our English lessons started out very basic, and then we decided to sit down and interview the kids to establish a better idea of their individual levels. This helped us immensely because we then split up the kids into separate groups, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, and each of us took a group.
By the second day the rest of the camp ground kids were hovering around our camp’s lessons and activities
07 Little Capitalists
. Soon, they were given the go ahead to join. So, our lessons expanded in attendance. Kids from all over Ukraine from Crimea to Kharkiv, and L’viv took part in our activities. It was so great to see kids from different areas communicating together and sharing ideas. We played games like hangman, and “fruit salad”, and even drew our own Twister boards on the cement. One of the highlights was the water balloon game where you throw the water balloon to your partner and then you take two steps back. Unfortunately I was getting ready to leave the camp that day, so I didn’t participate, but I did get some great pictures of the action! The days went by very quickly. We had a few passing thunderstorms, but overall had great, warm weather and fabulous kids to work with. We played Monopoly, which the Ukrainians loved ( I think it was the internal capitalist emerging from them all), and Boggle and Scrabble, that the Americans really enjoyed. Tina kicked Devon’s and my butt at the word game… or perhaps we just let her win. :)
The 9 days that I was away from Kyiv went by so fast that I didn’t even realize when it was time to leave. The train ride back to Kyiv was hot and long, as most trains are in the summer. I came back to work on Monday sun-tanned and happy, ready to start work again. Well, I kept telling myself that I was ready to start work again. Tina’s summer camp was the highlight of this summer for me. I’m so glad that I had the chance to take part in this Peace Corps summer tradition of being a camp counselor. I think that the week I spent living and working with the kids on leadership and English activities made an impact – both on them and on me. I wish I could have taken more time off work and spent the entire 18 days with them, but I know I’ll see some of them again in the future.
