So here is the deal- it’s about 1000 degrees in my apartment right now (not going to be able to buy a fan until Saturday) but I have so much to write so I will see how much I can get done before I absolutely have to move (specifically to the shower with some ice cold water). So, first, let me explain why you have not heard from me in over two weeks. I have been at camp on the other side of Ukraine. Yup, a 15+ hour train rides to the Sumy Oblast where I was a day’s walk from the Russian border! I had very limited internet access so even if I brought my computer there would have been no guarantees of posting anything that I might have written. But now I have time to write and so I shall, enjoy!
It all started about two and a half weeks ago when I was informed on Wed that I would indeed be going to camp and that I should buy my train tickets that day. A scramble then ensued to not only purchasing train tickets (which requires a certain amount of skill and language mastery) and packing but also getting last minute stuff done- such as getting PC forms turned in for security stuff and away from site info. Then trying to get registered for a conference in September and anyways, you get the gist. So packed and off on the road, I realize that I have no clue what I am actually getting myself into. But, meh, go with the flow right?
Well, what I got myself into was pretty awesome. It was two camps both regarding HIV/AIDS Education (which is why I went). The first was for English speaking university age students. And it focused not only on HIV information but Leadership (like project design and such), Human Trafficking, and Human Rights. It was super cool to observe the future leaders of Ukraine taking on these challenging topics and was interesting to see how other PCV’s teach these subjects, not to mention seeing how those lessons were interpreted.
The second camp was the more important camp for me, not only because my organization was the hosting/partner organization. It was a camp for HIV positive children, designed not only to start teaching leadership but to give these children a week where they can just be kids at camp. There is so much discrimination and stigma against HIV in Ukraine that the environment these kids grow up in is less than ideal. So for one week they could just be kids. And working with these kids was so inspirational and heartbreaking at the same time. It’s inspirational to see that despite the environment and circumstances these children are so determined to become somebody and be leaders of their world. And it’s heartbreaking to hear a thirteen year-old tell you that their plans for the rest of the summer are to not be in the hospital. Makes you appreciate the childhood you had, where maybe you had a summer class, or chicken pox, or were grounded for most of it. After all of that it was only one summer of your life, where these children sometimes don’t know one entire summer outside the hospital. But for at least one week I was able to help give these children a chance to play and have fun at a camp. And here is a special cheer out to the volunteer who designed the whole project and spent a year organizing it. Kudos, friend, kudos. I look forward to working with you for next year’s camp!
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