As mentioned before, my summer has been crazy! I think I
have been in village maybe three weeks this summer. The rest of the time I have
been visiting people, volunteering, and helping with summer camps. I wouldn't
have it any other way! Now that it is Ramadan, the month of fasting here, I suddenly have a lot of free time as my center is half operational now (the hours are strange and somedays non-existent) and my neighbors sleep all day to minimize the hardship of going without any food or drink (water too!) from 4am-8pm.
Before I share a thousand pictures and talk about how
amazing the camps were, let's talk about painting my center walls and the shenanigans
currently occurring. After trying several times to take the posters/pictures
off the walls, I was halted because the Ministry of Social Development is
supposed to come tour our place and they wanted it to look pretty for them. I
thought that was fine since I still was penniless and was waiting for them to
tell me an estimate of the cost. After speaking with them, I felt maybe I
should talk to the Peace Corps to figure out the details of getting the money
into my account. Turns out it gets a bit complicated. I have to apply for a
grant through the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) and try to get funded
through donations from, hopefully, all you beautiful people who read this blog.
So the time I am at home, while roasting slowly in my house (it has been an
average of 110 degrees where I live) under my single ceiling fan, has been
spent working at my center and writing my proposal. Don't you worry; you will
be the FIRST people I tell that it has been approved :) Also, let it be known that the Ministry still hasn't visited.
Okay, on to happier, more productive news! The first thing I
did this summer was volunteer for the Operation Smile mission in Amman. I spoke
briefly about Operation Smile in an earlier post, but it is an organization
that focuses on dental surgery for children, typically, who have cleft palettes
and the like. I was unable to volunteer for the week long mission, but the time
I spent there was amazing. I got to work in the pre-operation play area. We
played with the children, tried to answer the questions of worried parents, and
offer a smile of reassurance when there was nothing else to give. A few volunteer
nurses and doctors approached us throughout the mission and asked where we were
from. When we said Peace Corps volunteers, we always got a positive reaction.
One woman said she loved having PC volunteers because we were able to
communicate with the families; we knew enough of the language and the
culturally appropriate responses. I had never felt so proud of all the
incredibly hard/ long hours I put into learning Arabic and trying to make sure
I knew what was offensive/appropriate. That one sentence made it all seem
worthwhile. I wish I had pictures to share with you, but I put my camera away
for this mission.
After Operation Smile, I helped with an English immersion
summer camp in Aqaba. This was as much a vacation as it was work.
During the day I helped teach drama sessions for about 60 girls, and we had the
days to ourselves after 3pm. The girls were amazing! The camp was set up so the
girls were in three different teams, and rotated between Drama, Environmental English,
and Arts/Crafts. In each of the stations
the girls learned a bit about environmental issues and got to do some great
activities. In drama the girls learned about voice projection, improv, scene
writing, acting, and environmental issues. The last day they performed a skit
about an environmental issue impacting Jordan (e.g. pollution, or water waste).
I have rarely met a group a girls so excited and enthusiastic about learning
about the environment and working incredibly hard to only speak English. They
were brilliant. Here are some of the pictures I took throughout the camp.
the sunset from my balcony at our dorm
the stage!
arts/crafts project using natural things/ trash
warm ups
teaching the electric slide during downtime. It is something EVERYONE should know
watching one of the environmental skits
shirt signing on the last day
volunteers getting our pictures taken by the girls. true moment of "fishbowl effect"
After the girls left, the volunteers would often nap for an
hour (or some days for 3 hours), then hit it beach! Our site was a 5-10 minute
walk from the beach, so I was in heaven. Swimming in the Red Sea was
spectacular..and salty. It is nowhere near as salty as the Dead Sea mind you,
but I didn't really have to try and stay afloat (so much for counting it as
exercise). After the beach, we would often go into the city of Aqaba and find
some delicious food, go dancing, watch the soccer games…this was prime EuroCup
time, or just walk around the city
The second camp I helped with was a Brain Camp put on by
another Peace Corps volunteer living in the Jordan Valley. I have also talked a
bit about Brain Camp, but I will say again, if you would like to know more
about this phenomenal critical thinking camp developed by two PC volunteers
please go to Think Unlimited Brain Camp
and read up on it!
Poor Kasumi, she was stuck with me invading her house for a
week, demanding obnoxious nostalgic music to pump us up in the morning, as well
as the new obnoxious songs. I hope she doesn't hate me! Throughout the week the
girls learn new critical thinking skills that build on the previous one, until
finally they work on problem solving by using all the skills. For Brain Camps,
the girls work on creating a solution to Jordan's water crisis. Each day the
girls showed up, were eager to learn, asked a million questions, were
respectful to each other, and didn't even complain the day the power went out
and the center ran out of water. A bit more about disaster day, the power went
out about half-way through the day, which meant there was no air conditioning
and no fans during the hottest week we have seen in Jordan. One of the women
said the temp hit 119 outside that day. This day also happened to be the day
that the drinking water ran out at the center. Instead of wanting to go home,
the girls sat patiently and listened without complaints. I gave them some of
the materials to use as a fan, and then there were group trips to the ducan
(convenience store) to buy ice cream and water.The girls were a blessing. I was
surprised because I wanted to quit and go home early haha. A similar situation
happened the next day, but at least this time there was water! Again, the girls
did not say anything; they listened to the task at hand and then got to work on
their projects.
I have NEVER been so inspired by girls wanting to learn and
participate as I was those two days. It truly spoke to the power of education
and the fact that the desire to learn is here in these girls, in these
villages. It is our job to find a way to get to them to spark that passion. On
days that I forget why I am here, I will think about this camp and find some
hope there.
Having said my piece, here are some pictures of the
camp! Next post will be about my lovely
vacation to Turkey and Tel Aviv!!!
making card houses
pick up sticks
tangrams
Spot the Difference
Memory
Blokus
photo shoot with some of the girls. Love them!
writing her perspective/opinion on this art piece. The girls went through the "gallery" to write their thoughts on the pieces and later walked through and read all the opinions.
girls showing off their Squiggle drawings. They were given paper with a squiggle and were told to make it into something using their creativity skills.
we made it!
