Kan Klodin Komanse

We finished out our first week of camp Friday, and let me start off by saying that it was a great one!  Because I have been in Gros Morne preparing for camp since May, I have taken on the role of Co-Director with Steve, a year-long volunteer.

When we walked in on Monday, the energy and excitement was at an all-time high.  Kids were lined up neatly for flag raising but the place was just buzzing!  I was quite nervous as I approached the front to address the campers in my broken Kreyol.  After flag raising, we conducted our preliminary role call.  Mèt Eli saved me from mispronouncing about 250 names by calling all the names for me.  Each child was assigned to one of 20 groups and asked to sit with their groups for morning meal. At first role call, our numbers were down due to the mud preventing children making it to Fon Ibo.  As the week drew on and more campers worked their way onto the roster, our numbers jumped to about 260.  We have a staff of 28 counselors – 8 Americans and 20 Haitians.  All the counselors have been immensely helpful in keeping the campers in line and sticking to the schedule. 

A typical day at camp looks like this:

8:00-8:30 AM:            Flag raising, prayer, and singing

8:30-9:00 AM:            Breakfast

9:00-10:00 AM:          Recreation

10:00-11:00 AM:        River

11:00-11:30 AM:        Mass Practice (M/W/F), Talent Show practice (T/R)

11:30-12:30 PM:        Lunch

12:30-1:15 PM:          Crafts

1:15-1:30 PM:             Singing, Dancing, and Dismissal

Our theme for this year is “men nan la men, ansanm nou va mache”, which essentially means, “hand in hand, together we will walk”.  The theme was decided upon by the Haitian counselors at one of our preliminary meetings.  Many of our crafts and activities for the summer correspond with the theme.  On Thursday, all the children helped to create a beautiful banner to display at camp by placing their own precious little handprints onto it in all the colors of the rainbow.  At the end of the day, we brought them all together for a group picture. 

Our first week was a bit challenging due to the fact that we couldn’t venture to the river until Friday due to the mud and high waters.  The trail out to the river is a small footpath that is easily turned into complete mush.  To fill the hour time slot, we suggested playing some large group games.  I was surprised to find that the Haitian counselors were not familiar with the idea of games such as these.  Mr. Morse and Mrs. Schoenwetter, my elementary school PE teachers, would have been so proud to hear that I taught them to play “Man from Mars”.

The kids are just having a ball.  It is so good for them to have a safe place to go during these hot days where they receive care, education, and a good meal.  There are, however, many children who live in the Fon Ibo area who are unable to attend camp due to age or lack of capacity.  My heart goes out to these children. At any given time, I look out to the edges of the school property line and see the faces of so many littles peering in to see what the commotion is about.  They long to be a part of it all.  Oftentimes, catch one of them trying to enter camp without a camp t-shirt or registration.  They may be the brother or sister of another camper, a student at Fon Ibo, or, worst of all, a child who lives in the area yet does not attend school.  These kids are the poorest of the poor and would benefit from the camp experience.  I wish I could just let them all in; unfortunately, we do not have enough craft supplies or food to allow them to join. 

As could be expected, I’ve found myself a few little buddies – campers who can be expected to find their way to my side at one time or another throughout a day.  One of these guys is my deaf pal Papouche.  Another is a young boy named Liberson.  Liberson has a fairly restrictive stuttering problem that tends to attract the ridicule of other campers.  He, like Papouche, is such a sweetheart.  He makes a point each day to say thank you to the counselors and he loves to help out.  I’ve made it a point to watch out for these two boys (go figure) throughout camp.  I am astounded by the response of not just the campers, but also of the counselors, to their conditions.  It has been very eye-opening.  I can see ever more clearly why behavior issues naturally stem from communication disorders.  The people the boys try to communicate with simply brush them off saying they can’t hear or give them a hard time for not being able to “spit it out”.  It has been a good practice in counseling to work with the counselors, explaining that the boys’ communication will only improve if we treat them with patience and do anything possible to aide in their communication.  Hopefully this little bit of education will generalize to the way they regard individuals with disabilities in general. 

My favorite part of the day is singing and dancing before final prayer and dismissal.  When all the kids begin chanting it’s as if I’ve traveled back in time to one of our high school pep rallies.  All the kids pack into the largest classroom in the school.  Their voices carry straight out the windows and penetrate all the houses in the area.  Children jump around and scream as if their lives depend on it.  Children and counselors keep the beat on traditional handmade tambou drums.  It’s as if the beat is ingrained into them.  The energy is spectacular.  I will be sure to catch it on tape, but a recording could never really do it justice. 

Next week we will be trying a few new things with the schedule and mealtime strategies, but I won’t bore you with the details of all that.  We have our talent show on the 22^nd and our soccer match against Jean XXIII’s summer camp on the 25^th, so watch for updates coming your way soon!