This year was my third year working for FESF. I was appointed one of the few group-leaders this year, and I realized the heavy responsibility on my shoulders. I was responsible for heading a group of volunteers, many of whom were my age and some older than me. This would require good leadership and communication skills. As we begun to critique last year's camp and brainstorm ideas for this year's camp, I realized the importance of staying positive and focused. Looking back at it now, I can say that it was all worth it and it really was an amazing experience!
WORKSHOPS
The workshops this year consisted of leadership, communication and team-building skills which went a long way in helping us interact during the camp. We also had a sign-language crash course for the deaf children who would be attending the course. Since this was my second time, I felt more confident. However, we also learnt American Sign Language this year along with Pakistani Sign Language which further challenged us. We also had workshops on working with children, and conflict resolution. We learned to define clear rules and to have clear awards and consequences for the children. During the workshops, I got to know many of the volunteers and made some good friends. I used this time to interact with my group as well to know them better in order to enable me to understand them and work with them better. Tea and biscuits were nice after a long intense workshop, and provided us with time to interact with other volunteers.
During the brainstorming, I began to realize the immense trust Mary (head of the organisation) started to put on me. She trusted me to get everything done, relied and believed in me throughout the whole process. This trust was detrimental for me to get all the work done and kept me motivated. I also realized the role of an organizer in organizing such large projects. It requires team-building and trust - everything cannot be done by the organizer, she cannot afford to micro-manage when heading such a large project.
So our group planned out each of the eight days of the camp, carefully keeping back-up activities, as well as carefully making a list of all the materials we would need for each of the activities. We added themes of focus on each day for example the first day was 'Underwater life.' Since we were working with young kids of ages 4-6 years old, we made sure the themes would grasp their attention and would be meaningful to them and allow them to learn about different aspects of life. Moreover, we planned our own excursions for the group, and the owners of the excursion venues had to be contacted and transport had to be sorted out. It was very important for me to coordinate effectively with the main leaders of the camp as well in order to get everything ready and sorted for the camp.
We planned extra games and activities for the Bar B Q night and the closing show. We had it all sorted out, and discussed possible factors that could affect our planning and made sure we put down solutions in case something occurred during the week for the camp. Looking back at the planning we did after the camp is over, I can safely say we had it all covered and the planning was indeed done effectively.
The camp went fairly smoothly. There were a few arguments between volunteers at times, and it was my job to try to encourage communication between the volunteers, and to sort out their arguments by encouraging them to talk it out. The conflict resolution workshops really helped me understand the nature of conflict and provide better solutions for them when they occurred. I felt a little awkward conversing with older volunteers about something they had done wrong on one of the days for example, left when the rest of the group had to pick up the trash, but I realized it was important and that I needed to do it in order to promote team-prosperity. Working with the kids, as always, was amazing. I let out all my artistic skills during the camp and had a lot of fun on the excursions. It was intense, and it was tiring, and I felt I would collapse at 8 pm when the camp ended. However, it was all worth it, and I would be ready to go again at 7 am the next day. The children gave meaning to my life and I realized the importance of being with them in order to make me appreciate little things in life.
Overall, it was a great experience of leadership and working with volunteers and kids. I cannot wait for next year's camp, and I miss the kids already.
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