1st Blog -Summer Camp & Having Fun
Summer time flies by as a PCV. For you future Kaz volunteers, the summer is a much deserved gift after the drawn out limitations brought by the cold. After the school year ends, education volunteers often transition from educators to summer campers. Almost every volunteer travels by train around Kazakhstan to either lead or assist at summer camps.
My first summer camp took place at my site. It was the county’s first ever free summer language camp so the pressure was on. Many locals did not know what to expect from three Americans. I led the summer camp but two other PCV friends (Erica and Charlie), my counterpart, and three students provided essential support. Coordination was key and that was the main reason the camp was an overall success. The camp entertained 5th, 6th, and 7th graders from Lesnaya and Balkashino secondary schools. The camp theme was American Culture. Charlie led Art, Erica led Dance and Song, while I led sports. Throughout the weeklong camp, around 40 to 50 students came daily. Since the camp ended around 1pm each day it was in session, there was lots of ample time to hang out with the volunteers afterwards. Great Times!
2nd BLOG - Another Camp & more Fun
South Kazakhstan has some great cities and landscapes. For my second camp, I headed down to Taldykalgan (a city of about 200,000 people) to assist at a camp organized by PCV Ford’s organization. Taldy’s a small lively city with a modest sized Uighur and Korean population. You can buy ice-cold Shu-bat (Camel’s milk) on the streets and dine on dog meat at a few Korean restaurants if you go with a local. The second camp took place about an hour away from Taldy in the high hills. It was a chill two week language camp where we stayed with the kids the entire time at the campsite without TV or internet. Simple living: squat toilets and banyas (Russian saunas). It was all good. We assisted the language instructors a couple hours in the late morning and after that the camp was chill. There was plenty of time to go hiking in the neighboring hills, play ball with the campers, and just lounge. Over the two weeks, the campers participated in sport activities, treasure hunts, dance competitions, and dress-up skits (one where the gender roles were switched for a night).
