Goal of Day 4: Confidence and Power
Day 4 was our last full day of camp, and boy we made it count! Superstar counselor Luke led an awesome activity where campers analyzed the "spectrum of allies" for and root causes of their IOI (issue of importance.) Then campers met one on one or in very small groups with their mentors and they created an action plan for a project they want to implement after camp. These projects are inspiring! Four campers took on raising $1000 each to pool together to build a well in a village in Africa -- an idea they got from the movie FLOW they saw the night before! Other campers created plans to publicize sustainable food choices, create a contest for youth to do conservation work in Costa Rica, and to raise awareness about homophobia! Our campers are AMAZING!!! We circled up and shared about the projects in front of the group in a way that was LOUD and PROUD, and brought tears of pride to staff eyes!
We also had an amazing guest speaker, long-time activist (since she was in high school), Lauren Ornelas, founder of the Food Empowerment Project, who was inspiring to and inspired by our campers!
Meanwhile, the fun was just getting started, as the campers created another new YEA Camp tradition and insisted on cooking dinner for the staff! Chocolate chip vegan pizza never tasted so good! They didn't just cook the staff dinner -- they surprised us by cleaning the whole dining hall, decorating the space, and serving us with the tables set up like at a state dinner, complete with origami cranes, massages, and singing to us! (Take note, future campers! :) As if the night couldn't get any better, we went on our night hike, which was beautiful on every level, and in our closing Appreciation Circle we shared in a vulnerable, courageous, and connected way that was the perfect ending to camp. We all brought our sleeping bags and celebrated our last night by sleeping on the floor of the dining hall together. FUN!