GAD
Camp…I’ve been talking about GAD Camp non-stop since November 2012. GAD stands
for Gender and Development and is an organization, composed of and run by
current Peace Corps Volunteers. Its mission is to educate and promote women's
rights and the awareness of gender issues among the women, men, and youth of
Panama through training, conferences and workshops. The group also focuses on
educating Panamanians on health and social problems that touch men, women and
families. And, GAD Camp plays a major role in GAD’s work in Panama.
One
objective of the camp is to provide the students with the knowledge and tools
needed for the development of future leaders. Students will learn about
self-esteem, goal setting, decision-making, conflict resolution, and project
design and management, often using well-known Peace Corps Panama tools like
"EMART" and "POCA". The planning and development of a
project to be carried out in their communities will further enhance the
participants’ leadership skills. Another key objective is to teach sexual
education in a manner that highlights family planning, HIV/AIDS, and sexual
health. In the end, the hope is that the students will be able to utilize their
decision-making tools to make healthy decisions as it relates to their sexual
health and future.
Back
at the end of November I found out that my community’s youth applicants were
not accepted to the January conference in San Felix. In response, I immediately
began to plan a second GAD Camp West (two already existed in the country, but
this would be the second western regional GAD Camp for 2013). My determination
did not wane and I submitted a Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) proposal
with Jacy Woodruff, whose site would host the weeklong camp.
In
April we hosted a Training of Trainers (TOT) for the facilitators in Jacy’s
site, Quebrada el Bajo, during which we discussed all the material to be
covered during the camp. My mind also raced through all the possible scenarios
of disasters and accidents that could happen. My mind continued to race as I
thought of the appropriate and reasonably feasible responses to said mishaps,
considering we were hosting almost 35 students from other communities in Bocas
del Toro, the Comarca Ngabe-Bugle, Veraguas, and Chiriqui in a community
located 20 minutes up a river by boat from the nearest “town,” 45 minutes from
the nearest hospital, and over 3 hours from the nearest decent hospital. I should
say that, despite all my worries, I think my first-aid kit was only touched by
a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) who was not used to Bocas food or water.
Once
we discovered that the kids desperately wanted to shower (or rather bath in the
river) in both the morning and evening and that they needed to do so in order
to even begin thinking about enjoying the conference, everything in the
conference went well. Despite only having one urinal and one flush toilet, that
clogged one morning forcing Jacy to purchase a plunger in the nearest town,
Chiriqui Grande, the sanitation system went fairly smoothly. Meanwhile, the
PCVs happily used her composting latrine. Sleeping in the school on thin foam
mats posed no problem. And, no one complained about the food, as often these
participants would consider themselves lucky to be eating three whole meals
daily. I cannot speak highly enough about the PCVs that helped make the camp
the fun and energetic conference that it developed into. The student groups
enjoyed a photo scavenger hunt, water balloon fight, and relay races during the
Olympics. The final evening saw some brave participants share their gifts in
the talent show.
In
the end, 44 youth
participants, ranging in ages from 12 to 18, were educated in self-esteem,
self-image, values assessment, realistic goal-setting, personal development,
along with HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy awareness. Finally, the participants divided
into groups according to their communities and formulated a plan to execute a
community project. In Quebrada el Guabo, Sarah’s
community along the Changuinola River in Bocas del Toro, the participants have
decided to start a school garden. In time, they are hoping to sell the products
to fund various student activities. On Isla San Cristobal, the participants
from my community, Valle Escondido, and San Cristobal have already reenacted
the self-esteem and self-image presentations given at the camp. This weekend we
will be deciding on an August date to visit the San Cristobal middle school in
order to cover the remaining topics related to sexual health.
For
the many PCVs never hear “thank you” from community members, I want to share a
Facebook message (yes, a Facebook message). During the camp we not able to
cover the internet objective of visiting an internet cafe, so I taught one of
my youth participants how to open both Gmail and Facebook accounts afterwards.
The youth participant, Luis, had wanted to open a Facebook account for many
months, and upon returning to internet on his own he wrote this message to me:
“Quiero darte las grasias por dame la
oportunidad da participar en la conferencia. Te aseguro que voy a luchar por lograr
lo que quiera. Fue impresionante. Nunca lo olvidaré. Gracias por pensar en mi
futuro. Dios te bendiga.”
This Facebook post translates to:
“I want to give you thanks for giving me
the opportunity to participate in the conference. I assure you that I will
fight to achieve what I want. It was impressive. I will never forget it. Thank
you for thinking of my future. May God bless you.”
I
want to give one final shout-out to everyone that made this camp financially
possible. Thank you for contributing to the PCPP! The kids learned a lot and
had a lot of fun in the meantime. Finally, thank you to Hostel Heike in Bocas
del Toro for funding the t-shirts that we gave to the kids. It all meant a lot!
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