Bright and early in the morning an overcast sky for company, a congregation of a hundred young school girls gather around the terrace of their institution, the R.B.R.C High school in Khadia. A series of sing-along songs, yells and yodels and much jumping are in order as a bunch of World Camp volunteers try to energize the gathering to break down barriers and generally signal a beginning of a good, informative time. The bustle buzz of a Pol awakening surrounds us on this misty monsoon morning in Ahmedabad. Within this orderly chaotic melee, the World Camp volunteers stand out, wearing smartly embroidered kurtas with the Camp logo emblazoned behind, motivating the girls on while forming an intricate sculpture of warmth and mutual sharing.
As the mornings trust exercises and high energy games wound to a close, I think back to that fateful day, a couple of months back, when I first heard about World Camp and Price Massey. A series of net conversations later, Price and Bishakha were setting up the house, meeting various NGOs, traversing the city for essential purchases and generally building a comfortable base. Soon Nicolas Campbell and Katy Lackey joined in getting the whole shebang ready in time for the arrival of the volunteers.
World Camp for Kids is a group of young volunteers from the US wanting to teach, serve and motivate and in turn imbibe the culture, dynamics and flavor that is India. Through a three day module of camps ably assisted by local translators, World Camp hopes to bring about awareness regarding a host of subjects, from hygiene and nutrition to health and environment. Alternative teaching methods, visual aids and a variety of songs and games are intricately meshed to bring out a sense of fun and understanding to the program. As Steven Roller, one of the American volunteers (he has been seriously trying to make some sense of the game of cricket these past few days) puts it. ‘Even while imparting knowledge, we are soaking within a culture, foreign and equally learning from the experiences. So the zeal and positivity of these youngsters is enervatingly infective. There is a sense of adventure while spreading good cheer and holistic information coupled with an honest desire to share and exchange views.’
Price, the ‘head honcho’, herself began her journey as a World Camp volunteer in the Malawi program before joining full time. As she puts it World Camp for Kids was an endeavor by a group of American University Students to reach out and empower children and their communities all over the world. To this end the Malawi education outreach program was set up in the year 2000 followed by Honduras and in 2007 the pilot program in Ahmedabad was successfully launched.
One of the volunteers Catherine Meyer has been in Ahmedabad for the past month as a sort of one person vanguard research team. Her mission here was to evaluate specific regional needs and garner valuable information to enable a seamless setting for the camp curriculum. She says, “While education is a form of service and satisfaction, it is also a learning experience both ways.” Sylvia Mendez from New York hopes to understand her life better through service, while strengthening her belief in the future through humanitys children. Jodi Goodman, Tricia Mears and Jennifer Upchurch elucidate their previous experiences in Malawi and try to find parallels and differences with the Ahmedabad program. Natasha Adlakha is trying to reach out to a number of girls informing them of various issues while attempting to brush up on her Hindi.
The decibel level is high in the class taught by Jake and Jill (aka Jacob Stout and Jillian Haac), punctuated by a lot of bonhomie and high fives. The little girls of the school enthusiastically want to know and experience all the information that is being shared. Standing at the school corridor getting the morning snacks ready one is engulfed by a cacophonic babel of high voltage sounds, energetic kids rumbustingly enjoying themselves and having fun out of a learning experience.
The culmination of the three day camps result in the presentation of impromptu skits enacted by students of the schools. This is celebrated by the volunteers gifting a care bag of hygiene products and a sapling to each participant as a symbolic gesture of friendship and amity. The saplings are being donated by Kunal Vakil who runs a wonderful boutique called Exxalt and is an active supporter of World Camp.
This wonderful synthesis of the World Camp and the girls school was made possible by the NGO CHETNA, the NGO also helped with an unstructured camp in Sabarmati. Over there World Camp interacted with children of migrant laborers working for the railways and the power plant. In the ensuing weeks this group of volunteers will be conducting activities in diverse areas of the city, interacting with a cross strata of society. In this they will be assisted by local NGOs and schools such as Samvedana in Vadaj, Viswabharati High School in Thaltej, SAATH in Behrampura and Dudheshwar and Sahyog at Vatwa.
Published: Ahmedabad Mirror
World Camp for Kids is a group of young volunteers from the US wanting to teach, serve and motivate and in turn imbibe the culture, dynamics and flavor that is India. Through a three day module of camps ably assisted by local translators, World Camp hopes to bring about awareness regarding a host of subjects, from hygiene and nutrition to health and environment. Alternative teaching methods, visual aids and a variety of songs and games are intricately meshed to bring out a sense of fun and understanding to the program. As Steven Roller, one of the American volunteers (he has been seriously trying to make some sense of the game of cricket these past few days) puts it. ‘Even while imparting knowledge, we are soaking within a culture, foreign and equally learning from the experiences. So the zeal and positivity of these youngsters is enervatingly infective. There is a sense of adventure while spreading good cheer and holistic information coupled with an honest desire to share and exchange views.’
Price, the ‘head honcho’, herself began her journey as a World Camp volunteer in the Malawi program before joining full time. As she puts it World Camp for Kids was an endeavor by a group of American University Students to reach out and empower children and their communities all over the world. To this end the Malawi education outreach program was set up in the year 2000 followed by Honduras and in 2007 the pilot program in Ahmedabad was successfully launched.
One of the volunteers Catherine Meyer has been in Ahmedabad for the past month as a sort of one person vanguard research team. Her mission here was to evaluate specific regional needs and garner valuable information to enable a seamless setting for the camp curriculum. She says, “While education is a form of service and satisfaction, it is also a learning experience both ways.” Sylvia Mendez from New York hopes to understand her life better through service, while strengthening her belief in the future through humanitys children. Jodi Goodman, Tricia Mears and Jennifer Upchurch elucidate their previous experiences in Malawi and try to find parallels and differences with the Ahmedabad program. Natasha Adlakha is trying to reach out to a number of girls informing them of various issues while attempting to brush up on her Hindi.
The decibel level is high in the class taught by Jake and Jill (aka Jacob Stout and Jillian Haac), punctuated by a lot of bonhomie and high fives. The little girls of the school enthusiastically want to know and experience all the information that is being shared. Standing at the school corridor getting the morning snacks ready one is engulfed by a cacophonic babel of high voltage sounds, energetic kids rumbustingly enjoying themselves and having fun out of a learning experience.
The culmination of the three day camps result in the presentation of impromptu skits enacted by students of the schools. This is celebrated by the volunteers gifting a care bag of hygiene products and a sapling to each participant as a symbolic gesture of friendship and amity. The saplings are being donated by Kunal Vakil who runs a wonderful boutique called Exxalt and is an active supporter of World Camp.
This wonderful synthesis of the World Camp and the girls school was made possible by the NGO CHETNA, the NGO also helped with an unstructured camp in Sabarmati. Over there World Camp interacted with children of migrant laborers working for the railways and the power plant. In the ensuing weeks this group of volunteers will be conducting activities in diverse areas of the city, interacting with a cross strata of society. In this they will be assisted by local NGOs and schools such as Samvedana in Vadaj, Viswabharati High School in Thaltej, SAATH in Behrampura and Dudheshwar and Sahyog at Vatwa.
Published: Ahmedabad Mirror
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