What is Girls LEAD Camp, you say? Well, it’s an amazing four day camp that expands on the life skills groups taking place at two DSWD centers in Region 3 as well as teaches the participants how to facilitate their own workshop so they can return to their centers and echo the workshops to other residents. Sustainable? Siempre! There is even our cherished and sometimes elusive staff capacity building with having 5 Filipino counterparts involved with every step of the camp from fund raising, to facilitating workshops. Grand goals, but completely attainable. That is not to say we did not run into a few hiccups, like the DWSD Regional Director not approving the initial camp venue in Laguna because it was out of Region 3, three of my camp participants attempted to run away from the center two weeks prior to the camp and donated transportation fell through for both centers at the last minute amongst others.
Our first Girls LEAD Camp occurred on June1-4, 2007 held in San Fernando Pampanga at SACOP. The staff at SACOP were quite generous and gave us a substantial discount so we could afford to use their dorm rooms, conference room and cater 3 meals a day for us. We had 20 camp participants; ten from Haven Pampanga, which is Carrie’s center and ten girls from my center, Home for Girls in Palayan City. We had 9 facilitators, 4 of which were PCV’s ( Sherry Manning, Suzie Witmer, Carrie Spilecki and me) and 5 Filipino counterparts . The girls arrived just before noon for lunch and they were all so pleased with the accommodations as it had air con and “walang lamok”( no misquitos). We started a bit late, but got warmed up with a few ice breakers facilitated by Sherry. She knows a bunch and it helped loosen up the girls and the facilitators alike. Our first day went very smoothly with workshops where the girls had to voice their opinions on hot button topics like family planning availability and child limitation laws. We also had workshops about clear communication. Every night after dinner we would have a fun chunk of time for team building games and a dance party and on our second night we had a talent show. Also each night to wind down the evening and get everyone ready for bed, we scheduled time for the girls to journal on topics we had addressed earlier in the day and about the overall feelings for the camp.
After this first day we were feeling pretty good about the camp, but still not sure how the girls would be the second day which was a full day of activites starting at 6AM for yoga until 10PM which was lights out. Yoga was a great way to introduce a new activity as well as get them ready for the day. Everyone showed up on time and ready to begin. Our first full day started with workshops on cause and effects, a future visualization exercise which lead into a workshop on goal planning and ended with a workshop asking the girls to think about past achievements or memorable things that have happened in their life and then to think about what they would like to happen in their future. All of the facilitators were so pleased with the pace of the camp, how the girls were behaving and how they were responding to the workshops. All through out the workshops there were 20 heads bent down taking notes and actively participating. Our Sector Manager Ambet, Yangco was able stopped by on his weekend to observe the camp and talk with the girls. This second night we had the talent show, which was slightly marred by the fact that Carrie had gotten a gash on her foot and had to go to the hospital. Luckily a there was one located near by and they gave her a quick stitch and she was ready to sing “ It takes Two ” by Rob Base for the talent show even with her stitch. Sherry sang “Ice Ice Baby” and it got everyone up on the dance floor. We even had a break dancing circle.
Some of us were feeling a little nervous about day 3 as this was the day the girls would learn how to facilitate a workshop and pick out the workshops they wanted to echo back at the center. The girls were divided by center and then paired off so that each center would have 5 workshops echoed back at their centers. Well, the girls surprised us yet again and although they were only required to sign up for one workshop, some wanted to sign up for two. We designed the third days schedule to give enough structured time to work on the workshops together as pairs with all the facilitators available to help. The pairs were then required to conduct a mini echo which consisted of the ice breaker they would do prior to their workshop and then the first 30 minutes of their actual workshop. This practice time was vital in their confidence level so we could set them up for success. That night we closed the evening with trust building activities.
All of the facilitators were on a camp “high” because we were seeing girls blossom right in front of our eyes in 3 days. The girls thrived in the structured and supportive environment. Our Filipino counterparts wowed us with their dedication to come work on a weekend and to also be as highly involved and participatory as the camp required of everyone. It was truly a cooperative effort. Our last day of camp, Sherry facilitated the spider web game where you have yarn and throw it to another person to make a web and say something about the camp. We asked that the girls say one goal they will work on for the next year. After everyone had said their personal goal the yarn was cut and everyone made something to wear from it like a bracelet or necklace so it can be a physical reminder of what their goal was. We handed out certificates to their girls and our counterparts. We also had a candle light ceremony where a candle was passed around a circle and we all stated something we learned while at camp. There were some tears and it was wonderful to see and hear positive effects.
So, the blue string of yarn on my wrist that I have been wearing since June4, 2007 is a physical reminder that I will implement another Girls LEAD Camp within the next year! As we all kept on saying "Ulit, Ulit" which means "repeat, repeat".
Our first Girls LEAD Camp occurred on June1-4, 2007 held in San Fernando Pampanga at SACOP. The staff at SACOP were quite generous and gave us a substantial discount so we could afford to use their dorm rooms, conference room and cater 3 meals a day for us. We had 20 camp participants; ten from Haven Pampanga, which is Carrie’s center and ten girls from my center, Home for Girls in Palayan City. We had 9 facilitators, 4 of which were PCV’s ( Sherry Manning, Suzie Witmer, Carrie Spilecki and me) and 5 Filipino counterparts . The girls arrived just before noon for lunch and they were all so pleased with the accommodations as it had air con and “walang lamok”( no misquitos). We started a bit late, but got warmed up with a few ice breakers facilitated by Sherry. She knows a bunch and it helped loosen up the girls and the facilitators alike. Our first day went very smoothly with workshops where the girls had to voice their opinions on hot button topics like family planning availability and child limitation laws. We also had workshops about clear communication. Every night after dinner we would have a fun chunk of time for team building games and a dance party and on our second night we had a talent show. Also each night to wind down the evening and get everyone ready for bed, we scheduled time for the girls to journal on topics we had addressed earlier in the day and about the overall feelings for the camp.
After this first day we were feeling pretty good about the camp, but still not sure how the girls would be the second day which was a full day of activites starting at 6AM for yoga until 10PM which was lights out. Yoga was a great way to introduce a new activity as well as get them ready for the day. Everyone showed up on time and ready to begin. Our first full day started with workshops on cause and effects, a future visualization exercise which lead into a workshop on goal planning and ended with a workshop asking the girls to think about past achievements or memorable things that have happened in their life and then to think about what they would like to happen in their future. All of the facilitators were so pleased with the pace of the camp, how the girls were behaving and how they were responding to the workshops. All through out the workshops there were 20 heads bent down taking notes and actively participating. Our Sector Manager Ambet, Yangco was able stopped by on his weekend to observe the camp and talk with the girls. This second night we had the talent show, which was slightly marred by the fact that Carrie had gotten a gash on her foot and had to go to the hospital. Luckily a there was one located near by and they gave her a quick stitch and she was ready to sing “ It takes Two ” by Rob Base for the talent show even with her stitch. Sherry sang “Ice Ice Baby” and it got everyone up on the dance floor. We even had a break dancing circle.
Some of us were feeling a little nervous about day 3 as this was the day the girls would learn how to facilitate a workshop and pick out the workshops they wanted to echo back at the center. The girls were divided by center and then paired off so that each center would have 5 workshops echoed back at their centers. Well, the girls surprised us yet again and although they were only required to sign up for one workshop, some wanted to sign up for two. We designed the third days schedule to give enough structured time to work on the workshops together as pairs with all the facilitators available to help. The pairs were then required to conduct a mini echo which consisted of the ice breaker they would do prior to their workshop and then the first 30 minutes of their actual workshop. This practice time was vital in their confidence level so we could set them up for success. That night we closed the evening with trust building activities.
All of the facilitators were on a camp “high” because we were seeing girls blossom right in front of our eyes in 3 days. The girls thrived in the structured and supportive environment. Our Filipino counterparts wowed us with their dedication to come work on a weekend and to also be as highly involved and participatory as the camp required of everyone. It was truly a cooperative effort. Our last day of camp, Sherry facilitated the spider web game where you have yarn and throw it to another person to make a web and say something about the camp. We asked that the girls say one goal they will work on for the next year. After everyone had said their personal goal the yarn was cut and everyone made something to wear from it like a bracelet or necklace so it can be a physical reminder of what their goal was. We handed out certificates to their girls and our counterparts. We also had a candle light ceremony where a candle was passed around a circle and we all stated something we learned while at camp. There were some tears and it was wonderful to see and hear positive effects.
So, the blue string of yarn on my wrist that I have been wearing since June4, 2007 is a physical reminder that I will implement another Girls LEAD Camp within the next year! As we all kept on saying "Ulit, Ulit" which means "repeat, repeat".
posted by Patrick at 8:51 AM
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