Week 2 has come to an end, which marks the half way point of our first Summer Camp Program. The kids are understanding that a big part of summer camp is acting ridiculous. The first week of camp could have been titled “The Blair, Matt, & Rachel Show” because the kids did a lot of watching, and not a whole lot of participating. Week 2 was a bit different. The singing and yelling and cheering of the kids easily overpowered our own, which at summer camp, is a very good thing.
Thoughts from Rachel…
Art class this week tackled play dough. The first day we created the play dough, and the next class we sculpted it. Good, sticky, messy fun. Much of the class was spent convincing the kids NOT to eat the play dough, and instead think of something creative to make. Despite all the ideas I gave the kids, volcanoes and soccer balls won the popular choice. Amazingly, we avoided any type of play dough fight, and all the kids were able to take home a mushy, sticky, indistinguishable sculpture.
Thoughts from Matt…
“The caterpillar bit me!” were the words that I heard a child scream this week during one of our rec times. We were playing basketball on the court, and I had just turned my back for one second. But apparently that was plenty of time for little Luis Gustavo to be attacked by one of the slowest animals known to mankind.
He started screaming something about a caterpillar biting him. I laughed, but I was also concerned that possibly Luis Gustavo was losing it. So I hurried over to him.
Luis Gustavo having survived the Caterpillar Attack.
Sure enough there was a cute green spiny caterpillar sitting there on his shorts. I knew I had to act swiftly. With all the
quickness and agility of a childcare worker, I grabbed a stick that was on the ground, and with one swing the beast was on the ground. I swept up Luis Gustavo, wrapped and band aid around his finger and sent him to Miss Rachel. Disaster avoided. Caterpillar vanquished.
In all fairness to Luis Gustavo, the caterpillar was a little scary looking, and the pointy spines on its back were probably what “bit” him. It just goes to show that even friendly caterpillars aren’t always what they seem in Honduras.
Thoughts from Blair…
Child inspiration…seeing our 4 campers Milton, Sarah, Kensi, and Haryln wake up every day at 5 am and walk 45 minutes from their village so they can catch the bus for camp. They are only 8 years old and they walk alone no problem!
On Thursday in Discovery…Jose Manuel and Marlon found a styrofoam guitar hiding amongst the random debris of the classroom…what followed confirmed my belief that deep down it must be every boys dream to be a rock star. Click here to see Jose Manuel and Marlon displaying their skills!
Many of you have heard the names Superman, Spiderman, Batman, maybe even their enemies Lex Luthor, Doctor Octopus and The Joker as well.
Duct Tape Man in action.
Yes…these are household names. In Honduras and at Camp Joy we hum to the beat of a different drummer.
This week we were graced once again with the arrival of Duct Tape Man. No task is too large for Duct Tape Man. With his super human powers he is able to fix anything and everything. So you can only imagine that when Straw Man came and tried to destroy Camp Joy that Duct Tape Man had something to say about it! Although his powers are deceiving, Straw Man (Matt) was absolutely no match for Duct Tape Man (Blair), and order was quickly restored at Camp Joy so that little Rachel (Rachel) could play safely in the field, free from the bothersome straw!
Friday we had the first every Camp Joy Olympics! Matt did an amazing job organizing this day and had a multitude of events I never dreamed existed! The kids absolutely loved it and everybody walked home winners. A favorite for me was the Endurance challenge where each team had to creatively thaw a frozen t-shirt and then put it on one team member. These “frozen t-shirts” were more like frozen rocks and resisted the weight of even the strongest rocks being pounced on them, but eventually each team conquered the task.
Each day is better than the last! We are blessed by every child that walks through our doors.
Week 3 here we come!
Blessings,
The UP Honduras Team
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