"HOPE CAMP 2011"

July has been nothing short of a blast. Candace, Paul, Michelle, Mary, Amy, Cody, Crystal and I worked together at Hope Summer Camp. There were two campsites. One was at Future School where I work during the school year. The other took place in conjunction with a local NGO at one of the local churches in town. The camps started on July 4^th and finished July 20^th right before the Nadaam Celebration in Murun. They were four hours a day, Monday through Friday.

Each day of the camp started out with a 30min “Harambee” session. This included the students and volunteers coming together for a time of motivation before we jumped into our day of fun filled English learning(30min), life skills(30min) and afternoon activities(30min+). Harambee, which happens to be my favorite part of the day, included cheers and chants, the theme song, recognitions and a read aloud. (This part of the day camp was modeled after Freedom School, which is very special to me)

Followed by Harambee the students had a 30min English lesson that focused on grammar, speaking, reading and listening. With each grade level the material covered varied. During the life skills portion we had a theme for each week. The first week was communication, second week relationships and third week decision-making. Our goal during this time was to motivate our students to think through various topics of discussion based around the life skill theme of the week.

The day would conclude with afternoon activities. During this time we would share with students through sports and conversation. We played volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and basketball. It was important for us to teach our students how to use the proper English for communication within these sports. I must say, this was not a challenge, but very “entertaining” for the students and volunteer teachers.

It has truly been an honor for me to serve and work with so many talented and wonderful humble Americans and Mongolians this summer. I am especially grateful to my two site mates whom jumped in during such notice in a time of need do to some unexpected circumstances. Moreover, Candace and Mary were awesome spirits and motivation for the summer team. Amy, was amazing with her help with the second camp and Mongolian language skills.

This summer I formed a job for a very special student from Murun named Dulguun. She was the winner of the English Olympics. She worked as my coordinating assistant for both camps and did a very awesome job. She went above and beyond her duties and even helped by teaching lessons. It was beautiful for me to see because this was the essence of capacity building. Her peers and the students younger than her respected her as a leader and all agreed that she was humble and very knowledgeable. I was pleased with “Hope Camp 2011”.