Touching the lives of counselors: what it means to experience diversity at camp

Camp touches the lives of campers in many ways, some life changing, some a bit more benign. Camp also touches the lives of counselors in equally profound ways The following series of excerpts are taken from essays written by college students to meet academic requirements of a program called Camp Adventure [TM]. Camp Adventure is an international youth serving organization that provides trained camp counselors to work at day and resident camps on military bases all over the world. Over the past ten years, students have been placed in countries such as Korea, Okinawa,Japan, Spain, Germany, England, Puerto Rico, Panama, Italy, Bermuda, and all over the United States.

Counselors are college students who are enrolled for credit in a variety of field experience courses. Graduate students and faculty members serve as supervisors to the many camp programs. For a period of eight to 12 weeks students provide day and resident camp programs to American youth.

As is evidenced by some of the diary excerpts, camp on an American military bas is very similar to being in the United States. For adaptation and morale purposes, most overseas military units attempt to make the base look and feel like a small town in the United States. To truly experience the native culture, then, one must leave base and immerse oneself in the environment, culture and peoples. Oftentimes, the children living on the bases must be convinced to do this type of exploring, as they are not particularly comfortable with the unfamiliar. Therefore, every Camp Adventure program has a field trip component where children and staff engage in camp programs in the country in which they are located.

The following group diary chronicles how four staff members (three who worked i Panama and one in the United States) personally adapted to diversity in people, locales and cultures. Only one student had ever traveled outside the United States prior to working for Camp Adventure. When staff who worked at a day camp completed their days, they were free to travel the country and learn about others and themselves. It is an experience that the counselors and their camper will not soon forget. Read on to learn about how camp can touch the lives of campers and staff alike.

I learned so many things this summer, it cannot possibly all be contained in on small paper. I changed as a person as well. For the better I think. I had some good experiences and some not so good. Our travels through another country were anything but boring. I was able to learn so much about my host country as well as about the military, Camp Adventure, children, and so on. I was also able to learn some things about politics as well.

Military life was nice for awhile, but the things that go around on the bases - everybody is always into everyone else's business. I guess I did not like that part, not because I am shy, but private. But I had so many wonderful experience to block out my not so great ones. I was able to meet so many native Panamanians, and they were all so kind and concerned. I think that most of them would have given the shirts off their backs if we would have needed them.

-- Jennifer Noel

Living on a military base, I don't feel like I really got to know Panama as I would have liked to. I think the only way to really do that is to live in the country with its people. I lived in a little United States with other U.S. citizens. What I did see of Panama was from a tourist point of view. Needless t say, this view was beautiful.

Panama is a glorious country. Its green mountainsides, rain forests and jungles are a very different environment from our home in Iowa. The Panamanian people I did meet were usually very friendly. Their culture is exciting and colorful and I would have loved to have learned more about it while in the country. Panama reminded me a lot of South Africa, where I lived last year for a semester. The economy is much the same, as well as the living style, climate and topography.

-- Carrie Close

During my two-and-one-half months in Panama this summer, I realized a lot about myself. For instance, I realized that I took a lot for granted in the states. I respected my home, my parents, and all of those kinds of things. But the thing didn't respect much was my sense of security. Here, each time you went to the city you had to worry about getting shot or stabbed. I guess I took my safety for granted, being from Iowa, where those kinds of things don't happen every day.

-- Kerri Cook

I learned to respect what I have more. I was becoming less materialistic in the past several years, but this experience only emphasized it more for me. We take so much for granted here, it makes me sick to see the waste and money blown on very unnecessary things. Of course I cannot cure the world, but it has to begin somewhere, and I am far from the first person to realize all of this.

I was very disappointed the other day to hear a girl say she did not care if sh called home every day, it is not her money, it is only her parents; so she migh as well be the one to waste it. I thought of the day we walked through the very poor area of Panama, where we saw houses that were made out of cardboard, trash bags, and pieces of metal. Cardboard, trash bags... can we even imagine? Each time it rains hard, we were told that these people have to rummage for more things to put on their houses because the materials are such that they usually wash away.

Some challenges I had to overcome, like not being able to give money to everyon or just anyone. I learned this very quickly, that once you give money, you will have tons of followers. Fortunately, it only took me one time doing this before I understood, so I did not end up giving away my whole stipend.

-- Jennifer Noel

Another aspect of my summer that was very educational to me was living on a military base. I come from a family that has had very little experience or contact with the military. My grandfathers both served during World War II, but my immediate family has remained uninvolved with the armed forces. My high school friends have also avoided the military, all of which has made me very ignorant about its inner workings. Throughout the summer I met a lot of people who served in the military as soldiers, officers, medics, etc. I also met peopl who were civilians who worked on the military installations as teachers, secretaries, etc. Before I came to Panama and to Fort Clayton, Fort Davis and Fort Espinar, I had no idea what a military base was like. It really is like a typical U.S. neighborhood, with all the facilities that one would find in the states, such as grocery stores, movie theaters, and bowling alleys.

-- Carrie Close

An important lesson for me was learning respect for children. When you show someone respect, they usually are able to respect you back. I never even though to apply that to children, well, because for gosh sakes, they are younger than you and they should respect you no matter what. No, it's just not the case. If you give children respect, though, and treat them with dignity and their opinions with importance, and let them know they are worth listening to, it is amazing how you are treated back. It is a wonderful feeling to break barriers with children, especially the challenging ones.

-- Jennifer Noel

It's amazing how much an adult can learn from a child. Tony Ramos is a nine-year-old third grader. He enjoys games, sports, and excitement like any typical child. But Tony is not a typical child. Involved in a car/bike accident when he was younger, he is forever in a wheelchair, unable to move his arms or his legs.

I never thought that I could get so attached to a child in just five days, but Tony had that effect on me. He would call me occasionally, just to chit-chat. I felt bad for him and felt that I was constantly going out of my way to help Ton just because he was in a wheelchair. I'm sure he caught me a few times because he would say, "Sara, you don't have to worry about me, I can do it."

Tony is so strong and mature for a nine-year-old; he never got aggravated or complained when he couldn't do the things the other campers were doing. He was very polite to the counselors, always saying "please" and "thank you," which is rare in any child.

Tony has helped me realize how fortunate I am to have the ability to run, jump, skip, hop, etc. I also feel that Tony has also touched the other campers. It wa such a good feeling to see the kids lend a helping hand to Tony and show deep concern for his well being. They were curious to know all they could about Tony and willing to help in any way. People talk about how terrible kids can be to each other, but in this case, I can clearly see that these children have learne a thing or two from these past eight weeks at Camp Adventure.

-- Sara Gilbertson

One child that I'll always remember is a seven-year-old boy named Jose Torres. His primary language is Spanish. When he first came to camp he didn't want to play the games because he didn't understand the rules. By the end of camp, he really improved his English.

He did do his share of fighting. He also did his share of back-talking to me. I really thought that he didn't like camp, but one day I taught the kids to sign "The Rose." He wouldn't do it for the longest time. Then one day, he did the whole thing for me and smiled so big while doing it. I was so proud!

Then, the night of our Parent's Night, after it was over he came up to me and thanked me for coming to Panama. He said that I made his summer fun and that he would never forget me. All I could do was cry!

On the last day of camp, we had given the kids about five Hershey's kisses apiece, Jose didn't eat his. He said that he wanted to save them for his brothers. I thought it was very sweet of him to do that. Well, he was the last kid to get dropped off from camp. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek told Carrie and me that he would miss us, and stepped out of the van. Then he steppe back in again, reached in his pocket, pulled out a Hershey's kiss and said, "Here, I forgot. I wanted to give this to you. I hope you like it." This really touched me. I know he didn't want to do this in front of his friends.

-- Kerri Cook

I also learned a lot about my own interests in pursuing a career involving children. As a result of my summer with Camp Adventure, I have now decided to take classes to get a teaching certificate in elementary education. I would lik to teach internationally for a while before possibly completing graduate school insociology. My summer in Panama with Camp Adventure had shown me my joy and enthusiasm in working with children and provided me with wonderful memories of the summer of 1993.

-- Carrie Close

Jennifer Noel graduated in May 1994 with a degree in social and behavioral sciences from the University of Northern Iowa. She spent the summer of 1993 working as a camp counselor for Camp Adventure [TM] at a U.S. military base on the Atlantic Ocean side of Panama.

Carrie Close is a political science student at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. She spent the summer of 1993 working as a camp counselor for Camp Adventure at a U.S. military base on the Pacific Ocean side of Panama.

Kerri Cook is a second year student in natural sciences at the University of Northern Iowa. She spent the summer of 1993 working as a camp counselor for Cam Adventure at a U.S. military base on the Pacific Ocean side of Panama.

Sara Gilbertson graduated in May 1994 from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in general studies. She spent the summer of 1993 working as a camp counselor for Camp Adventure at an elementary school in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

COPYRIGHT 1994 American Camping Association
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