G.L.O.W.!!! (mid-July)

Camp G.L.O.W. was one of the highlights of my Peace Corps service to date. I felt we really made a difference in the lives of the 17 girls who participated, pushing them to work hard each day and have fun too. I also enjoyed my first experience as a real camp counselor. I was constantly amazed at the discussions the girls led on the topics we presented: candid responses showed critical thinking and creativity, which are my greatest priorities as a teacher in Ukraine.

Our schedule left little time for sleep, but the B&B we stayed at was so nice, and the owners so accommodating, that we couldn’t have asked for better conditions for a “camp.” We had to remind the girls that they only needed one shower a day, they should eat all their delicious home-cooked food, and they shouldn’t take advantage of the free internet to check the Ukrainian version of Facebook every ten seconds, but we had no serious discipline issues, and whenever we asked more of the girls they gave it.

I taught yoga for the first time, which was quite empowering for myself, realizing I could teach other people something that I love, and it could be useful to them. Camille and I switched off running and doing yoga with the girls, so I got to lead a few girls on their first run ever! Apart from morning exercise, we had 2-3 lessons each morning, and a few more after lunch. A guest speaker from an counter-human-trafficking organization came, and a PEPFAR trainer had an HIV/AIDS session with the girls in which he kicked out the PCVs and Ukrainian counterparts so they wouldn’t be afraid to ask questions (bananas were involved in that lesson, and I think the message was well-received, judging from the animated voices emanating from behind the closed door).

Project Design and Management lessons throughout the week culminated in poster presentations of potential projects the girls could do at site. Themed lessons addressed Leadership, Counter-Trafficking, HIV/AIDS, Domestic Violence and Self-Defense (Camille taught the girls punches and kicks and they all got to throw her, which was a highlight for many!) We also had a field day with games including toilet paper mummy wrap, a water balloon toss (Natasha and I were masters, thanks to my skills developed with Brigid over many Yaworsky Campouts), and an anti-climactic tug-of-war, which end abruptly when the rope snapped.

Excursions included Kolomiya, to visit the Pysanky (Painted Easter Egg) Museum—which was shaped like a giant egg itself—and the Hutsul Culture Museum, and then to the Carpathians, to hike to Shepherd’s Valley through the woods and mountains and mud, to see where farmers live for several months at a time without electricity or running water, making brinza (cheese that tastes like feta) the same way it has been made for generations (the wheels of cheese age in the rafters, naturally smoked by the wood fire in the cabin). We had a delicious meal of cheese with tomatoes and cucumbers and a special local polenta dish at the mountaintop meadow, frolicked a bit, Sound of Music style, and then stripped down to essentials to cool off in a mountain stream.

On the last night, teams put on an imaginative variety show that featured an excellent extraterrestrial. We got the girls autograph books and they stayed up the entire last night, taking advantage of every moment with their new friends before the tearful goodbyes in the morning. For some, it was the first time they had ever been away from home without their families, and the first time they met girls from other parts of Ukraine.