Camp LION and a Tidal Wave of Good News

Camp LION
(photos by Jim Tanton)

Well, my eye is still twitching from lack of sleep after directing Camp LION, if that's any indication of that week. I've now had two weeks to recover and catch up on sleep (and my blog), but my lower lashes are still twitching and I officially look like a crazy person.
Whew.
Camp LION (Leaders In Our Nation) is the first of its kind, directed by four PCVs and one Ugandan co-director. Eric, Matthew, Cindy, Immaculate and I wanted a leadership camp that emphasized and developed leadership skills for Ugandan youth. And that's exactly what we did.
Camp LION is a regional camp, meaning that our campers (both male and female, between the ages of 15-19) came from eastern Uganda, including Mbale, Soroti, Kumi, Tororo and Jinja district. A brief history of camps in Peace Corps Uganda: the typical model is to have a girls' camp (GLOW-Girls Leading Our World) and boys' camp (BUILD- Boys of Uganda In Leadership Development) operating simultaneously but separately during school break, and then coming together on the last day for Gender Equality Day. These camps usually focus on life skills, reproductive health, malaria, RUMPs (reusable menstrual pads) and HIV/AIDS awareness, but with relatively little emphasis on how to "take camp home" and affect others in their communities.
That's where our brainchild for Camp LION came in, to have sessions that focused on skills that make a leader, such as public speaking, goal setting, money management, as well as a big emphasis on community service. The highlight of our camp was an unprecedented activity: Volunteer Day. Matthew Raymond, my co-director, envisioned having our campers go out in the community and volunteer for the morning, such as planting trees, cleaning up rubbish and volunteering at a local hospital and an orphanage. Our first two days of camp were focused around sessions on leadership, IGAs (Income-Generating Activities) and reproductive health (from condom demonstrations to menstrual cycles to sexual health discussions). On Wednesday morning, we went out into the community and volunteered all morning.

Volunteer Day: tree-planting around Mbale

Volunteer Day: volunteering at Mbale Hospital Children's Ward

Our campers generated a lot of interest from the locals, who would stop and say, "What are you doing? What are you planting those trees for?" In some cases, some people decided to even join in. We were so excited by the notion that if this much interest in community service could be generated in one morning, imagine what these kids could do back home. That morning, I went with a group of campers to children's home for orphans and vulnerable children. We spent the morning playing games, reading books, doing arts and crafts and singing songs. I was so proud of our campers who really took initiative, bonded with the children and by the end were leading their own camp-style "Reflection" session with the kids.

Thursday was another block of sessions, and then Friday was our "Presentation Day." Campers were able to choose a topic from the week's sessions and come up with an "elevator speech" to pitch to their communities. We wanted campers to feel prepared to go back to their communities and present a topic to the community leadership, such as the Parent-Teacher Association, the LC1 or community elders. After spending a week honing their leadership skills and doing community service, they were able to practice how to "take camp home" and pitch an idea to the community. For example, some campers, including males, enjoyed the session on how to make RUMPs (reusable menstrual pads). Many girls in Uganda (and elsewhere) miss a significant amount of school when they have their menstrual periods. The boys knew that while they couldn't use RUMPs for themselves, they were useful for sisters, friends, mothers and aunts. It is also an Income-Generating Activity to sew a pad from old fabric and sell it to the community, so they got to practice how they would "pitch" this idea to people back home.

Another innovation to our camp was the creation of a Counselor-In-Training (CIT) program. I had been a CIT back during my summer camp days, but it had never crossed my mind to do at a Ugandan youth leadership camp. Another one of Matthew's million-dollar ideas. We had three CITs in our program, all former campers and who were on their way to be counselors. Theresa, Semu and Brian were stellar CITs, always willing to help and interact with campers. They helped with logistics and got to shadow each camper group. The CIT program was great for another reason-- we had one of Ugandan counselors drop out during camp, and Brian was able to step in as a counselor.

As a note, I'm feeling very proud of our Peace Corps post during these last round of camps- as Volunteers, we put together three innovative camps unique to Uganda. Camp LION, Camp Omwani (an Ag camp focused on coffee production and facilitated by Bukonzo Joint) and Girl Tech (a science camp for girls).

In between sessions, we had a lot of fun. There was cheering, chanting, dancing within our eight camper groups. We had relay races, team-building activities, Afrikan yoga sessions with Ife, drumming circles, bonfires, and night art. Night Art is a great activity led by our three InMovement facilitators, where they have campers doing interactive creative art. That night we were all the in the dining hall, the tables were covered in cloth and markers, crayons, and paintbrushes were strewn across all the tables. We had music and dancing, while the campers and counselors were given prompts for what to draw. For example, I got to pose with two other counselors and the campers had to draw us in one minute. Jim went up with two other bearded men and they had to draw their beards. Another was to draw the person in front of you in 5 years, without looking down.

The last activity of Night Art, little did I know that my life was about to change. For all those who wanted to know the background of that night, here it is. Jim got called up to the center, and then I got called up too. Bagonza, the night's MC, asked us both to strike a pose. I did my best yoga Dancer Pose while Jim goes down on one knee. Hmmm, I thought. What kind of weird pose is he doing? Are we doing some sort of couples' pose, Dirty Dancing style?

It took me a full five seconds to realize what was happening and that Jim was proposing. He told me that he had already called my parents to ask for their blessing and then said those four magic words. I really don't remember the rest, I don't think I even said yes or remembered that there was some sort of ring involved. I just remember feeling so much love that night, as I looked around at all my friends crying, hugging us both and saying congratulations. I happened to be the only dry eyes in the room that night, I was just too excited! And then we had the most epic, monster dance party as we jumped about the room, everybody cheering us on. It was an incredible night. Not many camps witness a proposal--some of the campers didn't even believe it was real, and asked their counselors the next morning if we were reenacting a scene from a movie. Ha! In a place where love and marriage is very different than our culture, it was nice to have a scene of true love, an engagement and a healthy, loving relationship.

Jim and I met in here in the Peace Corps, as many of you know, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to get engaged here. I can't imagine a more perfect way to begin our lives together.

And when it rains, it pours! One last piece of good news. Thanks to everyone's help, I am a winner for Peace Corps' Blog It Home contest and will be going to D.C. for a week of events in September. Thank you again to everyone for the votes and for passing it on. I will be sharing a bit about Uganda and life on this side of the world.

Ife leading a.m. warm-up Afrikan yoga session

Country Director Loucine visits Camp LION for the day and gets her groove on

Brainstorming: campers had 5 minutes to design and make
the tallest structure out of straws and masking tape

Eric "Fixer" Grayson jumping in on a session on HIV stigma

RELAY RACE! My favorite. 

Jenna helping to answer questions during a session on myths about HIV

Volunteer Day: reading to sick children at Mbale Hospital

Our Volunteer Day list of accomplishments

Sulai, a local businessman and community activist, talks to our campers about community service

Checking out the materials to make reusable menstrual pads (RUMPs)

Proper condom use demonstration

Bonfire and dancing. A lot of dancing.

Camp LION's ballin' team of directors.

Our Wall of Leaders for Camp LION's staff and counselors.
We each wrote our favorite leader who inspires us and why.

Immaculate and me, co-directors and co-goofballs.

Our t-shirts. Courtesy of yours truly.

Camp LION

Mandala-making.

Night Art

"Now draw with your neighbor's right hand" -- Night Art.

LIVE from Camp Lion!

Bagonza from InMovement warming up our staff

Reporting live from Camp LION! Things are buzzing right now from the Staff room at Grace Primary School where I am co-directing Camp LION (Leaders In Our Nation) in Mbale, in eastern Uganda.

Our camp is focused on developing leaders from neighboring communities in a week-long, jam-packed camp with sessions on community organizing, youth development, HIV/AIDS awareness, public speaking and the importance of volunteering. Peace Corps volunteers have been running youth leadership camp for girls (GLOW-Girls Leading Our World) and boys (BUILD- Boys of Uganda in Leadership Development) for years now, as a way of directing reaching out to youth and giving them a safe space to discuss issues like reproductive health, sex, condom demos and HIV, as well as developing their leadership, public speaking, and self-esteem skills. Our staff and camp counselors ranges from Peace Corps Volunteers to teachers at primary schools, youth and health workers and a few members from BPU. We are also working with InMovement, a youth organisation for social change through the arts. They're known for doing amazing youth work through dance, drama, circus, poetry and art.

Our InMovement facilitators (Ife, Bagonza, Mark and Tara) helped lead our staff training to prepare for a powerhouse week of camp. We discussed and practiced facilitation skills, how to engage youth in a meaningful way, gender-equitable practices and how to make camp FUN!
Tomorrow our campers arrive from Tororo, Mbale, Soroti, Kumi districts and our camp will officially kick off! The day I'm looking forward to most is our Volunteer Day on Wednesday, where our campers will go out and do community service work in Mbale, such as tree-planting, street sweeping, and volunteering at the local hospital and orphanage. I'll keep everyone posted!

As for Peace Corps' Blog It Home contest, tomorrow is the last day to vote on Facebook to help my blog win the contest! Send me to DC by going to this link, and Clicking "Like". Please share the photo as well and encourage your friends to vote. Thanks!

Ife, one of our InMovement facilitators, leading a session on Reflections

Teambuilding with our camp staff and counselors

Bagonza from InMovement!

Patrick, one of our staff members, here to teach conflict resolution

Practicing facilitation

Playing the game "Crazy Taxi"

Ensenine Everywhere

Rainy season in Kisoro

Rainy season has come early this year. The locals tell me each year that the short rains come on August 15th, on the dot. This held true for last year when we finally got some much-needed rain in mid-August after months of drought, but nowadays with climate change, the weather is hard to predict. The heavy rains started in mid-July, and along with the rain comes grasshoppers! Some days it feels like a plague of locusts has descended on us, with grasshoppers spinning in the air and covering every inch of the ground. The local word for grasshopper is ensenine [en-SEN-ni-nay], and the local delicacy is to fry 'em up and eat them like chips. They're delicious, so long as you remember to break off the antennae. They taste a bit like crunchy fried potato chips.
In order to catch as many ensenine as possible, all the locals will set up giant flood lamps to attract as many grasshoppers as possible, and then catch them with their hands.
Rainy season has also brought flowering crops, including beans, sorghum and potatoes. Kisoro is so unbelievable green this time of year that it feels like everything is in Technicolor. In my village, everyone is out digging in their fields, preparing them for planting season.

Virunga volcano range

In other news, I'm a proper farm girl now! Last week, Justice called me down to the cow pen to see a newborn that had just been born that morning. An hour later, another female went into labor and I got to help deliver the calf! Now Justice has three newborns, which I've named Samson, Chester and Lola, who I helped deliver. I brought Jim down the following morning so he could practice milking one of the cows, which was highly entertaining.

Jim and I also went for a visit with Peace and Golden, a lovely family who live in Bukinda. We spent the afternoon drinking tea, eating ensenine, and talking about local and American politics.
My blog has been nominated for Peace Corps' Blog It Home competition. Please vote for my blog by clicking "Like" here. Top winners of the contest get a trip to Washington, D.C. Thanks for the support everyone!

Plague of the locusts

Flood-lamps are used to catch the grasshoppers

Ensenine

The whole town was out tonight!

Ensenine

Lake Mutanda

Looking at Mt. Muhuvura and Mgahinga from Mt. Sabinyo

Yoga Fridays

Our teachers trying out triangle pose

 A few weeks ago, a teacher at my school asked me what I do normally for exercise. We had been talking about it because I've recently joined the men’s' pickup soccer games at the local pitch. Sport here is always according to gender: men play soccer, women play netball. I was certainly breaking the gender rules by playing soccer with the boys.

I replied that I practice yoga for an hour everyday to stay fit.

Yo-what?

He had never heard of yoga, nor had the other teachers when I asked them about it. I thought it would fun to teach a yoga class one day to introduce them to a practice that has become so popular in the U.S. Luckily, I have a friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer who lives nearby and is a certified yoga instructor. Amanda agreed to come and host a yoga class for our teachers.

I tried to talk up the class that week to make sure people would come, but found that yoga was a bit difficult to explain. "It's like stretching? But it's hard? And there are different poses? And they have weird names in some Indian language?" Not quite. They clearly had no idea what I was talking about. Stretching simply cannot be a form of exercise. I brought in a few cards I had from a yoga deck, showing different postures and types of breathing. This only seemed to cause more confusion. We'd just have to wait and find out what the heck I was talking about.

I urged any females who wanted to participate to bring trousers to wear, and boy, what a fuss this caused! Women here in the village are rarely seen wearing trousers; when they go out to field to dig, they are wearing skirts. Even netball can be played wearing a skirt. I've only ever seen one woman wear trousers in the village and that was my neighbor when she was harvesting beans (the big cities are, of course, an exception. Plenty of ladies wearing jeans there).

Lydia in Dancer Pose

Luckily, two of our teachers changed into trousers and it just made me so happy. They just couldn't experience the full potential of yoga by wearing a skirt.

Amanda brought a big tarp and a few mats for people to sit on, and we practiced outside on the grass. My school is up on a hill and overlooks the whole valley, so it was a gorgeous location for outdoor yoga. She began by explaining the meaning of yoga, which means "union" in Sanskrit. We both learned that in local language, it means "You bathe!" She also explained the origin of yoga, as a form of stretching for yogis before long periods of deep meditation, as well as the benefits of practicing yoga.

We started out with a rest pose, one of my favorites: Child's Pose. Turns out it wasn't a rest pose for any of the Ugandans, they could barely do it and were in stitches just trying. Amanda and I were looking at each other thinking, if they can't do Child's Pose, they're in trouble for the rest! 

Emily, one of our brave women to wear trousers!

She taught what a chataronga, or push-up, looks like, as well as upward and downward dog. We went through a few vinyasas, or flows, each time the teachers laughing more and more. They thought it was a riot and everyone was laughing. Amanda did a commendable job, trying to get everyone's attention over the raucous laughter to move on to the next posture. We moved on to a few balance postures, including Crane Pose, Mountain Pose, Dancer, Pigeon and Mermaid pose, their postures punctuated with loud "Ya, maawe!" which means more or less "Oh my!" . But I think the highlight of my day was seeing them do Happy Baby, where you lie on your back and grab your feet and roll back and forth like a giant baby. I've never seen my teachers laugh so hard, it was uproariously funny.

Frank was unable to participate, so he was our photographer and was called over by each teacher for each pose. "Teacher Frank! Teacher Frank! Photo me!" even for Shivasana, or corpse pose. We ended the class with namaste and a bow. We explained how popular yoga is in the U.S. as a form of exercise and staying healthy. Overall, it felt like a big success.

Amanda, our yoga instructor and fellow PCV

Mountain Pose (and getting out the giggles)

Constance couldn't keep a straight face

Pigeon pose proved to be one of the hardest...

Namaste, Patience!

A big thanks to all our participants!