Goal of Day 3: Passion Into Action
Day 3 was about skill-building and bringing our passions and visions into reality in the world. We talked about what made certain leaders effective and inspiring, and campers practiced communicating about their issues of importance. We had workshops about creating and running effective clubs, led by one of our phenomenal counselors Sharon, who has tremendous experience in working with young people to launch and run powerful groups. We also did a workshop where everyone got to practice leafletting -- figuring out what to say and practicing handing out flyers as a group of people are walking toward you. We practiced first just by saying hello, which can be hard enough walking down a school hallway or city street. Later we did an activity taken from Challenge Day that points to mainstream society's differing expectations of boys/men and girls/women. By recognizing these expectations, we can choose powerfully how we want to be in the world, giving boys permission to cry, girls freedom to be good at sports or math, and all of us the opportunity to recognize our own prejudices and fears.
After this somewhat serious activity, we broke out into another dance party, singing along to India.Arie ("I'm not the average girl in a video/ my worth is not determined by the price of my clothes...") and other inspiring music. For our CIA, we watched a clip from the movie FLOW: For the Love of Water about the world water crisis. We also had a solo hike ending at a very special place. (We want it to be a surprise for future campers who may be reading this!) After dinner we had an ice cream social that was totally wacky! (Another new YEA Camp tradition we're going to keep a bit of a secret.) Campers were shocked to hear that the ice cream was vegan -- it tastes just like regular ice cream! The night ended with an inspiring and powerful evening of Theater of the Oppressed that brought our community even more fully together. YEA!