Philippines LitCamp Day 5: Rose, Bud, Thorn

As we prepare to head to the airport in just a few hours after a fun filled last day of LitCamp, complete with singing, storytelling, a talent show, and a pool party, I wanted to leave you with the team's collective Roses, Buds, and Thorns for the week.

Susannah, LitWorld Intern

Thorn: Definitely the language barrier. Especially since my group was very set on writing in English. Even when Ate, Dhalia and I made it very clear that Tagalog was completely acceptable, they would still write in English. Only when I started speaking more Tagalog did the orange team write in their native language.

Rose: This camp was so FUN. The kids definitely had fun, and we had a bunch of fun too. Helping create the opportunity for unadulterated play was very impactful for me, but it's crucial to acknowledge that all of the kids, through their enthusiasm, helpfulness, and willingness (overall awesomeness), collaboratively brought about that outcome. The LitCamp's structure lends itself to getting closer with co-counselors and campers in a very lovely way. That process gets me every time.

Bud: This week has been wonderful, and I would love to see how LitCamps function at LitWorld's other Innovation Hubs.

Yaya, LitWorld's Innovation Developer

Thorn: The hardest part of this trip for me was and is thinking about the conditions the kids return to each and every day. It's hard enough to think about them returning to slums and squatter communities, but it's even harder to think about the home lives and family situations that some of them have to cope with and survive through each and every day.

Rose: My rose has been seeing the joy and happiness in the kids faces as we gather for morning meeting, split off into bunk time, share and learn from one another. I love each and every child's own unique personality and style. Andrea, the crazy kid who, despite yelling everything she says can't seem to get enough of each and every activity. Nicole, quiet and sweet and one hundred percent into every song, game and writing activity we do. Paul, the joker of the group who manages to see humor in everything despite still morning the recent loss of his father. They are all amazing and wonderful.

Bud: Being able to bring LitClubs to these kids and connect with them on a regular basis. I can't wait.

Madison, LitWorld's Global Community Builder

Thorn: The low of my week is definitely leaving the kids. It is so hard knowing that some of them are returning to Ulingan and the unlivable conditions there. I struggle to understand why some families will not be moving to Bulacan, though I don't want to judge them.  I just wish all of the children could have a stable, safe, warm, and loving place to live and grown in. It is hard to know that is outside of our control.

Rose: Every moment of this week was my rose. From seeing the kids have so much fun and open up more by more every day, to watching the volunteers slowly take the lead, running our favorite activities and feeling confident that the things they have learned this week will continue to impact the community. I have loved each and every second of this week. I feel so grateful for the opportunity to get to know the children, with their unbridled joy and resilience, the moms, with their tenacity and love, and the volunteers, with their commitment and desire to learn. This week is a week I will never forget.

Bud: I am so excited to see how LitWorld, Project Pearls and the Vibal Foundation continue to grow together and work to support this incredible community. I think we can and will continue to be a resource for Project Pearls in terms of our experience and helping them navigate and determine how to play the most robust and supportive role possible in these families' lives.

Eliza, LitCamp Leader

Thorn and Rose: Becoming so close to Bebe and Ludy these past couple of days is both my rose and my thorn. After only five days, I already feel a deep sense of commitment and responsibility to them and to their children. For one week, we teamed up in order to care for the youngest group of kids. Now, to leave them in the dust with this huge responsibility seems unfair. This was extremely clear in Bulacan when Mae off-handedly suggested I take Queen with me back to the United States while I had her in my arms.

Bud: My bud is knowing that I have the power to maintain some sort of connection with them and have a lasting impact.

Danny, LitCamp Leader

As we sat eating dinner tonight in the Korean Restaurant I glanced down the aisle toward the door and spotted a chubby kid playing on a tablet, immediately I pictured 'our' children in Ulingan and wondered what they might be doing at that very moment. I felt a sudden sadness and realised that life can never be viewed in the same way, not after this week. Maybe it was the contrast between his rotund shape and the tiny bodies of 'our' children; maybe it was the difference between the wealth he demonstrated with his electronic device and the rags that some of  'our' children would wear to camp? Although these contrast were striking it was a third which brought me out of my lugubrious state and made me smile; an infectious smile that has been passed around camp all week from child to child, child to adult, adult to adult and adult to child; the child in the restaurant wore a frown to go with his tablet and expensive meal, 'our' children have worn a smile all week. A smile that has motivated me when I was exhausted and brought joy to my heart each day.

It is difficult to avoid the images in my mind of them living in Ulingan,  but their smiles have been so sweet, so loving, so beautiful and so happy that it is these images of  their smiling, shining, happy faces contorted with fun as they do "Jiggar Jar," "Baby Shark," or "Crocodile Crocodile," that will remain with me through the next year until we return for LitCamp 2014.

Philippines LitCamp Day 4: A Beautiful Mosaic of Personalities

Today was our last day of camp at the school in Bulacan. Tomorrow we go to Clearwater Resort to have our last day of camp poolside. The kids have been talking about it since day one and cannot wait.

It's been an incredible four days so far. The last time LitWorld traveled to the Philippines we were still discovering the LitClub communities and meeting so many different people. On this trip we all feel grateful to get to spend these action-packed days with these amazing children who are so generous and loving in spite of the unfathomably harsh conditions in which they live.

This morning Susannah and I had the opportunity to ride the vans to Bulacan to pick up the kids. The new community is in the countryside with fresh air, green fields and space. The community is made up of a long series of row houses made of cinderblock and cement. The houses are bigger with backyards. Some of the houses already have gates and have been painted bright colors. Ate Ludy (pronounced AH-tay, meaning Auntie) shared with Madison that there are many job opportunities for new families moving there, which is comforting to hear.

We arrived at camp and after a rousing morning meeting headed into bunk time. For my check-in question with the oldest campers, I asked them about something difficult that happened to them in the past, and what they did about it to change it or make it better. I asked them to write for five minutes and they wrote for even longer and then shared with each other and me.

Some kids wrote about being separated from friends now that many families have moved to Bulacan, some kids wrote about the monsoon that wiped out Ulingan in 2012. They said that texting makes it easy to stay in contact, and that God saved their lives during the monsoon. Today's activity was "Welcome to My World" in which the kids are asked to draw out their ideal worlds, thinking about who would be in it, what the rules would be, what things would be in it. Everyone drew houses and gardens and they were all beautiful.

In the afternoon, we went into our rotations. I had the older kids for two rotations and it was great to be able to sing Tuwe Tuwe with them, and work with them to write their own team songs. In my time with the different groups, it's been a highlight to watch them work together, and also learn more about them as individuals. We know who are the quiet, thoughtful kids, we know who are the rambunctious jokers, we know who are the kids who like to share with the group and who would prefer to write in their notebooks for ages. It's a true privilege to be able to spend so much quality time with so many sweet, dear kids.

Even though it's become more and more impossible to leave them at the end of the day, I can't wait to begin more LitClubs so that we can continue to connect with these kids throughout the year. Three cheers for that!

--Yaya Yuan, LitWorld's Innovation Developer

Philippines LitCamp Day 3: Opening Up

Today's bunk time activity was four square memories, an activity from the LitClub curriculum that asks children to draw and write about their family, their friends, their hobbies, and their dreams in four squares. Every camper was immediately engaged by the prompts, and we all spent a long time immersed in thought, thinking about and describing our lives. Their notebooks have quickly become filled with beautiful stories and pictures, and I have never seen children so enraptured by having the opportunity to write.

After writing and drawing, it was time to share. On the first and second day if camp, the kids were excited to share, but still nervous. Some were reluctant to share in front of friends, others about their ability to work through the language barriers. Today any lingering apprehensions disappeared. John shared his dream of becoming a flight attendant. Mica shared that she would like to finish her studies to help her family. Paul shared that he missed his father, who passed away recently, and Hendrix comforted him, sharing with the group what a good man he was. Nani Ludy spoke about her sister passing away, and the joy she has felt taking Queen, a camper, as her daughter. Bong drew his sister as his family and his friend.

There are many, many moments of absolute unbridled joy throughout each day, but many moments that cause us to stop in the midst of the excitement and reflect on the realities of the camper's lives. It is hard to understand that at the end of the day, when we return to our hotel, the campers return to the smoke of their homes. It is hard to know at the end of this week, the constant fun that they so absolutely throw themselves into with full force will stop.

But then we remember how important this joy is. Joy is such a key part of resilience - their laughter during Jigga Ja, their clapping during Baby Shark, their giggles and hugs and jumping and high fives all speaks to just how strong and resilient these children are. In circumstances where so many of us would give up, they still find reasons to smile, and after childhoods that have not been childhoods at all, they still find the strength to share. Each and every one of them is inspiring. And that is what LitCamps and LitClubs provide - a sanctuary and joy for every child, and the opportunity to be the child they should be able to be.

Some moments we won't forget from today are a silent game of sending a pulse around a full LitCamp circle, squeezing each other's hands one by one; Wendell and Nestor, our wonderful PEARLS volunteers, helping the youngest bunk successfully lead a marble across the pavilion through pipes into a cup; Nani Mae teaching us "Oh How Lovely" in Tagalog; the orange team writing their bunk anthem and shouting it across camp; the oldest campers huddled around Yaya in a circle for a read aloud of "A Tale of Two Frogs," their faces inches from the pages.

Every day is a wonder with these children, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to share in their joy.

--Madison Graboyes, Global Community Builder

Philippines LitCamp Day 2: Camp Spirit

Last night our team debriefed at dinner, sharing our roses, buds, and thorns of our first day of LitCamp. The thorns were brief, and included the language barrier - an obvious hurdle we needed to clear - and the fact that at the end of the day, the children still returned to Ulingan, and we couldn't do anything to change the challenges there. It was good to air our thorns, and process those emotions together.

Our roses were many of the moments I shared in yesterday's report: smiling faces, a hilarious round of swim fishy swim, and the way that the children were so filled with enthusiasm and joy at every new activity they were introduced to. Our own conversation was filled with laughter.

The buds were perhaps the most enlightening part. For some of us, it was getting to know the children better, and looking forward to our bonds growing. For others, it was trying out an activity in a new and different way. Each of us felt even more excited for day two.

The bud that I shared with the group was a nugget I have picked up from the last two LitCamps I have had the good fortune of leading: you can truly see the fun the children had and the impact you made on day one by the way the children arrive on day two. Day one is a fun and exciting day, but it is also a day filled with "new." New people, new places, new activities, new ideas, new experiences. Day one is a day outside of our comfort zones, before camp becomes our comfort zone. The fun and feel of camp is much clearer when we have all had the chance to reflect.

This idea serves as a metaphor for the second day of the LitCamp. Arriving at breakfast and loading up in the van this morning, the team was itching with excitement, prepared with all we learned about each of the campers and the community as a whole on day 1. When we pulled up in Ulingan to pick up the kids, they burst into the van, leaping in to hug us and squeeze in the seats between us, to chatter away to us about their nights and ask us questions about the day to come. Any butterflies or apprehension were replaced by complete excitement, expectation, and comfort as we drove to Bulacan.

Little traditions became entrenched over night, and the bunks, like LitCamp itself, have developed their own strong micro-communities. Cheers of "Red!" "Orange!" "Green!" and "Blue!" led all the kids into bunk time. Every camper, from the youngest to the oldest, was engaged making heart maps and raised their hand to share.

We moved into some big games, starting with another round if Jigga Ja, with more giggles than before (which did not seem possible) and then played a game of cheering Rock Paper Scissors (where the winner is cheered on by the losing opponent until the entire camp is split into two huge groups cheering for the final competitors). It is always wonderful to see a group of 25 campers cheering madly at the top of their lungs for an 8 year old playing Rock Paper Scissors.

We played a variety of relays - hopping on one feet, two feet, ball chasing, and a crab walk. The smiles and laughter let us know that this play is so special. The children simply do not have the space to run and play like that in Ulingan, and you can see on their faces that it means so much to them to let go and be children.

After lunch, there was more singing, collage making, animal creating (still hilarious), and team building. Danny challenged the oldest bunk with protecting the last egg of an endangered species (a marble) and returning it to it's nest. He gave each camper a halved piece of PVC pipe and had them work together to make a long long ramp to a cup. While the species did not make it, the campers had so much fun, and learned a lot about working together.

Perhaps the most inspiring part of today was seeing our volunteers from Ulingan shine. Nestor, the preschool teacher; Wendell, the enthusiastic teen volunteer; Dhalia, the social worker and disability activist; Bebe, Ludy, and Mae, moms and "nanis" to the children. Each of them blossomed today, translating more comfortably and leading the activities, participating in every way from hopping in the relays to singing at the top of their lungs and making their own collages. Each of them inspired me today with their joy and their commitment, and the way they give so much to these children despite their own difficult lives.

It is clear that this LitCamp will make a deep impact, and that the games we play and songs we sing, the endless amount of times we pick up another and another and another book to read, will be carried back to Bulacan and Ulingan, into homes and schools and daycares. We are all learning so much about just how much joy can fill an 8-year-old, an 11-year-old, a 14-year-old, and we are all - LitWorld, PEARLS, volunteers, teachers, and moms - committed to making sure that joy continues long after the LitCamp ends.

Until tomorrow!

--Madison Graboyes, Global Community Builder

Philippines LitCamp Day 1: Sweat and Smiles

Wow. The first day of LitCamp was an intense, exciting, fun, laughter-filled (HOT!) day.

We started the morning with a visit to Ulingan. It was incredibly humbling to walk through Ulingan, a community so similar to so many we know. Like Kibera and Port-Au-Prince, steel sheet houses line sewage-filled paths, yet the community is unique with its own challenges (water and smoke from the coal pits where the families earn their livelihoods) and alive with its own culture and personality. It was a stark juxtaposition, seeing children running through smokey corridors and laughing when we could not breathe easily. We walked drenched in children (I felt like a human tree growing children!) and ducking into the homes we passed saying, "Good morning," and "How are you?" It is always eye-opening to see how the simple things we do every day, like make breakfast and see our loved ones out the door, seem familiar in such different circumstances. Everyone we met in Ulingan was warm and generous.

 

From there we loaded up the vans with our team and about 15 children from Ulingan, and headed to our LitCamp site in Bulacan. The LitCamp site is the new elementary school that most children will attend when the move to Bulacan is finished and school resumes, so it was a special opportunity for us to help them become familiar and comfortable in their new environment. We were thrilled to find that the school is beautiful. Resource-rich (the classrooms have books!) with a lovely garden, pet guinea pigs, a computer lab, and a wonderful outdoor space for play.

We were joined by another 35 kids from Bulacan, who had already relocated. That meant we had about 50 children - slightly more than expected but a wonderful amount nonetheless! We passed out our LitCamp tshirts and name tags. A little boy appeared at the front gate of the school selling place mats, and after buying a few, Eliza invited him to join the camp. He beamed with pride receiving his name tag and had so much fun all day.

We all came together to start the day with a morning meeting and a rousing rendition of the "Hokey Pokey," a rainstorm led by Susannah, stretches led by Danny, and "Oh How Lovely" led by Yaya. Then the kids split into bunks by age for their bunk-time activities, which included the Hello song, a check-in question, a hand circle, a read aloud, and beautiful journal decorating. They took so much pride in personalizing their notebooks and proudly displayed their hand circles for all to see.

Next we played some big games as a group, with a round of Jigga Ja, a silly dance of African origins, The West Wind Blows, and a very fun game of Swim Fishy Swim!

After lunch, we again split into bunks for rotations. Yaya led two periods of singing favorite camp songs, and some new Tagalog songs with help from some wonderful moms and our LitClub leader Karen! Danny led team-building initiatives, and fun games like Duck Duck Goose. I am not sure I have ever seen a group of kids have more fun playing Duck Duck Goose in my life! Eliza led a wonderful activity on improving our communities and her groups made beautiful collages displaying their ideas. Susannah's rotations designed their own funky animals and gave them new species names and personalities. The kids were in hysterics over this. We closed the day with a book donation from Vibal Publishing. Every book was written in Tagalog and many of the children sat right down and started reading.

Despite the fact that the day was hot and sweaty, and we were a new group coming together for the first time, you could already feel the community in a tangible way by the end of the day. Hugs abounded, giggles were everywhere, and new friendships were made.

We can't wait for tomorrow and the second day of LitCamp! We are off to an amazing start so far, and it promises to only get better from here!

--Madison Graboyes, Global Community Builder