FIN’s summer camp in May!
During the month of May, children are out of school all over India. In Kameswaram, for the last few years, we have been organizing camps for children which were big hits. Indeed, last year, the older girls requested a special session where they could learn to make useful handicrafts from waste.
So, this year also, we conducted a summer camp from the 8th to the 26th of May. The camp was held during the afternoon from 2:30 to 5:30 pm. This was because in Kameswaram, the morning sun is much more powerful than the afternoon sun. Each week a different set of students joined. In all about 35 students enjoyed the camp. The children had fun doing meditation, learning spoken English, singing, dancing, making handicrafts, and playing games. Every day, we provided them with refreshments which they gobbled up with zest! The kids astounded us by learning to dance the Naatu Nattu dance in a couple of sessions!
Our summer intern Jubin Thomas Kuriakose trained our lady staff in the rules of football and cricket and tested them out on other games like seven stones (pit too from North India) and ring ball. He was a great coach and some of the FIN ladies are now well versed in the intricacies of cricket and football! Kids were proud to take back their handicrafts home at the end of the session. Our objective through such a camp was to promote social capabilities – the ability to play together, work together, and resolve their conflicts in a nice manner and also sensitize children on the importance of waste management.
While the camp was overall a success, some challenges were noted. Many kids who had been registered by their parents never showed up, because this was the first year after COVID that many families were going on a proper vacation to see their relatives and visit temples. The older adolescent girls who had demanded to learn to make mats were either on vacation or required to do housework instead of having a break doing crafts with us. We ourselves had started publicizing the camp rather late as we were sure that it would be a huge success like in past years. At any rate, the kids who came had loads of fun and asked to be registered for our next camp – maybe before Diwali or Christmas! Again kudos to the FIN staff Nagalaxmi Madam, Ranjita Madam, Meena Madam, Amutha Madam, Raveena Madam along with Paranjothi Sir and Jubin Thomas Kuriakose – for making the May Camp a success!!
