Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
American Corner Summer Camp
I came home from the American Corner summer camp today July 5th and dropped both my bags on the floor and collapsed onto my bed imediately. I was totally exhausted and at 10:30 am. My clothes and feet were dirty and teeth unbrushed. But this is camp was one of the top five things I've done in my life. It was unbelievably positive and totally worth all the energy it took. The students had an experience of a lifetime it was an extremely powerful experience for them; one they will never forget. The six days just flew by so fast it was amazing. Maybe sometime I'll have time to detail more about how we pulled it off but the whole thing from beginning to end went more or less as we planned. Except two couselors who had to leave one to help her mom and the other to look after his ailing father. All the couselors put all their heart and energy into making the camp great. No, one person could have pulled it off alone. We had six counselors and we were constanly busy. I was basically running from one thing to the next the whole time all 6 days.
In the weeks leading up to the camp I was just focused on this camp now it is nice to have it finished and finished right.
The kids were great they were like a big family. They said the American Corner is like their second home I feel like a father figure for some of these kids and some of the other couselors like Mahfuza or Masuda are like mothers. I don't really have the strength to detail everything right now. I got only 3 hours of sleep last night due to the late night disco and the 4:15 am wake-up by 22 students wanting to watch the sun rise. But if I die now I can at least say I've done a great thing with the help of others by organizing this camp. Words can not fully express what this camp meant to kids and how positive it was. There are so many beautiful stories that it was just incrediable. It feels so good to make so many happy. It was the exclmation point, the culminating project for this amazing year. Now I need to rest more. I've been going a mile a minute for as long as I can remember.
In the weeks leading up to the camp I was just focused on this camp now it is nice to have it finished and finished right.
The kids were great they were like a big family. They said the American Corner is like their second home I feel like a father figure for some of these kids and some of the other couselors like Mahfuza or Masuda are like mothers. I don't really have the strength to detail everything right now. I got only 3 hours of sleep last night due to the late night disco and the 4:15 am wake-up by 22 students wanting to watch the sun rise. But if I die now I can at least say I've done a great thing with the help of others by organizing this camp. Words can not fully express what this camp meant to kids and how positive it was. There are so many beautiful stories that it was just incrediable. It feels so good to make so many happy. It was the exclmation point, the culminating project for this amazing year. Now I need to rest more. I've been going a mile a minute for as long as I can remember.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
summer camp coming up
I spent a lot of time this week getting ready for summer camp which is next week. I also wrote and submitted my final report of my activities to all the interested parties such as Georgetown University etc. I've been stressed out lately. Thrirty six students coming to summer camp. wish me luck. 6 counselors including me! it has been hard to get out to the sanatorium because President Rahmon is in town and he has a big vacation house right on the reserviour right next to the sanatorium where we are going to have our camp. The security up here is very tight when he comes to town. Today is Reconciliation Day marking the end of their civil war which ended in 1997. This is when President Rahmon came to power and he has held the power since. The president leaves tonight so after that everything will be back to normal again.
I really think the camp will be outstanding. We have put countless hours into planning it. No one has ever done a camp like this before here. It is totally new and revolutionary. The focus is mutal understanding, tolerance and democracy. We just got the government permission to do the camp at the 11th hour on Friday. Madina the director of the American Corner suffered a bad fall and has to stay in bed for the last 5 days. Another counselor is sick. They changed when the last day of univeristy classes will be from the 27th to the 30th. So some still have exams. I told u about the president coming. It's just been crazy one thing after another. One of our original couselors had to go to Russia for major surgery and his replacement has to give university exams on the 29th and 30th. But we will have enough couselors etc. we will pull it off. I feel like I'm in an episode of the Apprentice. Half the time it is damage control half the time it is work and I am working with a great time of young women. It won't be easy but it will be worth it I predict. The t-shirts are already beautiful. No one in Seattle will have a t-shirt with a picture of Northern Tajikistan on it but now I do. I love it.
I really think the camp will be outstanding. We have put countless hours into planning it. No one has ever done a camp like this before here. It is totally new and revolutionary. The focus is mutal understanding, tolerance and democracy. We just got the government permission to do the camp at the 11th hour on Friday. Madina the director of the American Corner suffered a bad fall and has to stay in bed for the last 5 days. Another counselor is sick. They changed when the last day of univeristy classes will be from the 27th to the 30th. So some still have exams. I told u about the president coming. It's just been crazy one thing after another. One of our original couselors had to go to Russia for major surgery and his replacement has to give university exams on the 29th and 30th. But we will have enough couselors etc. we will pull it off. I feel like I'm in an episode of the Apprentice. Half the time it is damage control half the time it is work and I am working with a great time of young women. It won't be easy but it will be worth it I predict. The t-shirts are already beautiful. No one in Seattle will have a t-shirt with a picture of Northern Tajikistan on it but now I do. I love it.
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