Take Action Camp 2013: My week living Me to We

I’m getting ready to go back to Take Action camp next week! It’s one of my yearly highlights, and feeling a bit nostalgic, so here’s the post I wrote about my experiences from last year. I’ll be continuing to post, and have a great weekend!

 

I just got back from Take Action Camp. I have always loved every camp I have been to. But this was different – it was part of Free The Children and for a week I was living me to we.

Here are seven highlights of my week at Take Action Camp:

1. Making Friends: All of the campers, counselors and staff felt passionate about one thing – making a difference. Everyone at camp was either already involved with Free The Children or they came to Take Action Camp to get involved. So from the beginning we all had so much in common. It was so awesome to spend an entire week with people that understand my experiences in the last year and what I care about. In most of my daily life I am the only one among my peers who cares and takes action with Free The Children. In Take Action Camp everyone shared this. We could talk and share about our experiences at We Day, the Youth Summit, We Create Change, We Are Silent and so much more. I felt so good to express my feelings with other youth who wanted to be the change. I spent the whole week in a community of changemakers. It felt good to belong.
2. A Week Of Learning: At camp I got to hear from Free The Children facilitators. I got to learn from them and some of them were my counselors. They were all so kind and inspiring. Our group explored local and global issues that we care about like Poverty, Human Rights, Bullying, the Environment, Child Labour, Homelessness, Education and Health. Through Take Action Camp I got a better understanding of all these big issues and how they are all connected to each other.
3. Safe Space: For our group we created a Safe Space. We wrote things down that would make us feel safe and included. We were committed to honouring and protecting it. We were not allowed to break it. Some of the things we wrote down were Trust, Positivity, Encouragement, Teamwork, Friendship, Belief and Respect.
4. Activities: We had lots of fun activities through the week that also had big lessons. One of them was called  The Lock Box –  we were all blindfolded and there was a large rope around us and we had to find a way out. We could not go over it or under it. After a while, we figured out that the key to getting out was to ask for help. This activity taught us that we can’t do everything on our own and that sometimes we need to ask for help. We also did a Hunger Lunch – campers were assigned to one of 3 different groups –  wealthy, middle class or poverty. What group we were in determined what we had for lunch. The poverty group got beans, the middle group (that I was in) got rice and beans and the wealthy got hamburgers, roast beef and a fancy dessert. It taught us the reality of how some peoples lives are like and how hard they are. In this activity the largest group was the poverty group – this showed us that there are far more people living in poverty and need.
5. Take Action Day: This is a really special day where all of us  go somewhere in the community and volunteer to help for the day. The options were Green Up, The Boys and Girls Club and the Me to We offices and store. I went to Green Up where we helped to take out weeds out of a maze, put seeds in a garden and we got to design our own garden too! I loved helping out and learning about different kinds of plants and nature.
6. Action Plan: At the end of the week we got to do what everyone waiting for – making our own plan of action for a project to make a difference! For my Action Plan I am going to be reaching out to others to join me in spreading awareness through the arts about the importance and need for clean water.
7. Future Letter: Near the end of the week we each wrote a letter to ourselves about camp, what we did, what we learned and what inspired us. In six months my counselors will send me this letter. I will read it and it will remind me of camp and the moments we had.
8. Warm Fuzzies: At camp there is a special tradition with a funny name: Warm fuzzies. Warm fuzzies are special notes that we write to people and we would give it to them. In the letter would be positive, nice things that would make people feel warm and appreciated. I loved writing them and receiving them. We all made envelopes to keep them in and it is a really special thing to have. I have read them a few times since I got home.
9. Special Guests: I was lucky to be there for an extra special week with guest speakers Craig Kielburger and Molly Burke. They each ran a workshop and spent some time inspiring us.

I had such a inspiring and fun time! All my friends and counselors were so nice and they are people I will never forget. I know that many of them are reading this – you know who you are. I am already looking forward to the reunion in September and keeping in touch with you during the year. And in case you’re wondering, YES! I am already so excited to go next year!