BUILDing Strong Futures

The exhaustion is real. I have finally spent my first night back in my own bed in almost a month. Following my whirlwind vacation through Europe I arrived back in Georgia at 5 am running on 2.5 hours of sleep. I immediately jumped back into speaking Georgian and found a decent driver to take me back to my place in Poti where I said hello to my host family, dropped off my dirty laundry, grabbed some new clothes, and caught the first van out of town headed to Ureki where I joined up with my summer camp. I mentioned previously how disappointed I was when we had to move the camp but luckily the logistics worked out so that I could join for the end of it all. Throughout my trip I was working in the evenings to make sure thing were going well back in Georgia. We had problem after problem arise. Everything from campers and counselors canceling to problems with logistics and curriculum. This camp has been one of the biggest projects I have worked on while in Georgia and now was the time to put it all on the table and watch how it played out.

Our 28 BUILD campers for week 2

From talking with my fellow volunteers who were present for the first week of camp I could tell that things had been a little rough but they all mentioned that it had been a very positive experience for everyone involved. However, now that week 2 was starting they were exhausted and spent. I got to take a short nap and then it was time to jump back into camp mode.

Making campers earn back their handbooks with some minor embarrassment 

The goal of our BUILD (boys united in leadership development) camp is to help teach the boys the lesson they aren’t getting at home or school. On the first day they are introduced to the concept of goal setting and the various types of leadership. They are also paired off into groups and assigned a counselor who is generally a few years older who acts as their mentor. Day 2 is focused on a basic training in project design and management (PDM) and campers are introduced to the idea that they can become change agents in their own communities. Through the PDM training they begin to develop their ideas for a club or project that they can implement in their own communities which helps to make the camp a more sustainable endeavor rather than a one-week getaway.

Project planning is well underway

Day 3 we begin to push the envelope a bit by teaching sessions on gender equality, positive masculinity, peer pressure, and men’s health. For the most part these are all new ideas for the boys. We challenge the idea that women are somehow inferior to men mentally and physically and they washing and cleaning are tasks that only they can do. We introduce the notion that the opposite of man isn’t woman but rather boy and that manhood is based on strength of character rather than machismo and physical strength. That smoking and alcohol use aren’t indicators of manhood nor rungs on the ladder of popularity. We also have an open and honest conversation about all issues related to men’s health including puberty and sex and allow the boys to ask questions anonymously. By the end of the day the boys are exhausted but they are also opening up and beginning to have great conversations with each other as well as their counselors.

Everyone want's to answer a question

The last two days are focused on employability and volunteerism trainings. For our employability trainings we first gathered a panel of male Georgian role models and conducted a Q&A session with the boys. Then we help hands on lessons on resume writing, public speaking, interviewing, and time management which focused on teaching and practicing these new skills that the boys need to learn and acquire in order to be successful later on. Through these sessions they begin to realize that aside from their formal studies they need to also develop themselves in other areas in order to be successful in life.

Counselor Papuna teaching boys about time management

Finally, we had our day dedicated to volunteerism and service. We talk a lot about the importance of being empowered to make change in their communities so we took the time to organize a service project that they could take part in to gain hands on experience with the joy of service and help spark an interest in giving back. This year we took them to a social house, like a foster care/orphanage hybrid, where they learned from Lado the caretaker who has devoted himself to taking care of 7 boys from diverse difficult backgrounds. They played with the boys and also provided some much needed labor to clean, paint, weed, and clean up the grounds around the house. For many boys it was their favorite part of camp.

PCVs with Lado prepping corn to dry to make popcorn 

Most of these sessions and activities were new to camp this year and requires a lot of time and planning during the “off-season” but it was worth it. There were plenty of bumps in the implementation process but I am confident that next year will be even better. This small camp that we started last year will be able to grown and become an important force for change in Georgia.

Friendly, wall-sit competition 

Now let’s get back to the week that was. Perfect plans can only go so far when they run into the realities of working with youth. We were confident that we had chosen some outstanding youth, but no one is perfect. On my second morning at camp I was leading the morning session and told the boys that if they couldn’t pull it together to keep the bathrooms clean they would start cleaning them themselves rather than the camp staff. Needless to say no one changes overnight and soon I was teaching boys how to clean a bathroom, something they had never done. My childhood was clearly something very different from theirs.

Cleaning toilets can be fun, right?

We also had to deal with rule breakers. Georgian youth aren’t subject to much discipline in general so while they might have rules they are required to follow the only consequence many of them have experienced is getting yelled at by an angry adult. Per Peace Corps rules youth are not allowed to smoke or drink at PC sponsored events with volunteers. Early on in the week aka from day 1, I was suspicious of a few kids who were attempting to be sneaky- something Georgians youth are terrible at. After repeated warnings we finally confronted the boy we knew had brought cigarettes to camp. He is 17 and already addicted. It was the last day of camp and sending him home would do more harm than good so we deducted points from his team and made him clean the bathroom. His false apology quickly turned into annoyance and anger when he had to submit to the consequences but it was still a good lesson. I’m assuming there are no hard feelings since he was still talking to me on the last day of camp.

Counselors Rezi and Lazare singing some good karaoke

Finally, a lot of problems came to a head on the last day of camp. We had introduced a team based point competition to the camp and had been arbitrarily awarding and taking points away all week. Kids were determined to help their team win and became very eager to earn points and point out reasons why others should not. The spirit of completion overtook the kids by the end of the week and during our final activity the project presentations devolved into an angry and bitter competition. We had to come up with some quick object lessons and cancel the points competition to restore order and friendship at the camp. We were up until 3 am on Friday night preparing for the final session Saturday which was our last chance to hopefully share a message that would create a lasting change with the boys. Everything ended up going well and their cooperation and friendships were restored by the end of the morning just in time to pack their belongings and head back home.

Having our come to Jesus  teamwork wrap up meeting

Overall I felt that camp was a success despite all the setbacks and difficulties. I haven’t invested so much into one project over such a long period of time and I can say that I am very pleased with the outcome so far. Now we will move onto phase two and focus on encouraging the boys to start sharing what they have learned and working to create some positive bottom-up change across the country. By the time camp comes around next year I will be long gone from Georgia, but I feel that we have set up a strong foundation for the camp to continue growing and establishing itself here. There were plenty of lessons learned and great memories made. 

Last BUILD camp photo of 2016

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