CI Camp - Mina Clavero

I sort of feel bad for complaining in that last entry, but I suppose the blog is meant to be a safe place to show that I am human. Besides, at least my feet are firm to the ground knowing that I too have not always been a person of integrity; I have failed in my dealings at work such as cutting corners or failing to turn something in on time, etc. etc.

Any way..

We also have camp in a place called Mina Clavero (treasure mine). Well, actually it's in the pueblo next door called Cura Bruchero (priest Bruchero). To me, it's the place with the best views, although my iPod is not the best at capturing the beauty.

I had two weeks in a row in Mina Clavero. One, with a group of teenagers, and the other with kids.

In the teenage group, I found myself so busy I hardly had time to get to know the students. Sometimes I kick myself because of the opportunities right there in front of me. I did make a lot of observations though, especially when it comes to the relationships between the students and their teachers.

For example, we realized early on that two of the students (one 14, the other 16 years old) were smokers. We talked to the teacher only to realize that she too, smokes, and that she already knew about her students. I asked her to please take away the cigarettes during camp (she could give them back once we finished the program), but she instead begged to give them just a few breaks a day!

At that age, they are already so dependent? And their teacher encourages it?!?!

In the kids group, one that was notorious for being trouble with a capital T, we experienced so much of God's grace when it comes to controlling the kids.

I even had them begging for my attention. JOKING.

The teachers kept asking us how we did it; we kept looking up. We had some very challenging conversations with the kids. I even had 24 minutes of Me Time, as I called it, as the students from my group had spoken Spanish 24 times during our filming process (we make a video about some cowboys). So during Me Time, I asked them to write down 5 of their life goals, and then 5 ways in which they would accomplish those goals.

To my utter dismay, two of the girls had written, as their life goals:

I WANT TO BE ABLE TO EAT AND NOT GET FAT.

Another wrote as a life goal that she wants to be a model. How will she accomplish this? By taking lots of pictures of herself.

Many of the boys want to be professional soccer players of course, and want to be millionaires as a result. (And to continue with the hypothesis, yes dad, the one who said he wants to meet Cristiano Ronaldo was the jerk while the one who wants to meet Messi was such a great kid!)

I challenged them to stop thinking so much about money and "MY" career, and to start thinking about others. "If you want a life that's truly satisfying, you need to put others first," I said.

Later, I shared with the teachers what the students had written down. They have decided to show the lists to the school psychologist and act accordingly. That is comforting.

After this last camp, with the whirlwind of life, it was time for me to rest. I was so tense, I even had a nauseating headache when I got home. Thankfully, I have two weeks off and I have already had some good siesta times. Plural. Nevertheless, I can always find work to do, which I suppose isn't that bad of a thing. I praise God I still get to exercise (lots of walking) and eat healthy (lots of fruits and veggies!).

Ok. That's it for now! love and chau.