In a volunteer’s first year, these camps are often something you simply attend and bring youth to. In a volunteer’s second year, these camps are planned, organized and facilitated by us veterans. In April, I co-coordinated my first camp.
For the past 2 summers, Peace Corps has offered Camp Superman, a camp for boys aged 11-13, in which boys camp outdoors, play and learn to be a man. Delinquency and tigueraje are all too common options for young men in the DR and through Camp Superman and boys clubs in our communities, we volunteers attempt to educate young boys about being respectful, educated, mannerly young men.
As more and more volunteers begin boys groups in their sites, the Camp Superman model is starting to take off and this year, for the first time, we held a Regional Camp Superman in my very own beloved eastern region of the DR. Two fellow youth volunteers and I did the coordinating and logistical work to make the camp happen.
Thirteen Peace Corps Volunteers and 32 Dominican muchachos went to a beautiful mountain pueblo of Pedro Sánchez to spend three fun and educational days in the wilderness. We played games. We slept in tents. We ate s’mores by a campfire. We hiked to a waterfall. We made superhero masks and capes. We discussed gender and what it means to be a man. We gazed at the stars. We swam in the river. We taught about HIV/AIDS and how it can be prevented. We had a great weekend in which everyone, volunteers and boys alike, thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
The Regional Camp was a success and did much to prepare us for the upcoming 5-day National Camp in July. My life as a semi-professional camp counselor continues into the summer and my life as a camp planner and coordinator is about to kick into high gear in the months ahead.
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