Summer Camp 2013

Change My Stars... Week 1 Hello, my name is Evelyn Bower. I am one of the volunteers this summer and will be updating the blog. I hope you enjoy what you read... :)

 I have never realized the amount of opportunity America hands it's people from education, to career, and finally the many ways to come out of the poor circumstances some Americans were born into, until I set foot in Munõz, Dominican Republic. The small community I live in is full of Haitian people who live in this endless cycle of poverty. With an education that doesn't go past 6th grade and the divide between two classes, there is no hope until someone from the outside comes like Project Esperanza, Change My Stars (Cambia Mis Estrellas) English School. I have never been more proud or excited to bring the hope I have learned to these people through teaching English, in this six week camp. We have the blessing of being a part of changing the path these kids can take, giving them hope for a better future! How awesome!!!

 Yesterday was the end of week one, which went well! Each week has a theme, this week was family and body parts. We taught the children songs, crafts, stories, and games that relate to the vocabulary. The children's favorite song was, "The Family Finger Song." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8anh48PfkQ These sweet kids loved "Simon Says," this also taught them the body parts. Arts and Crafts showed all the volunteers how creative these kids are, how happy they can be with simple things like a piece of paper and crayons can make them. The beauty of simplicity is overwhelming here.

 I believe the first week went as well as it could have. The first couple days were a little rocky because there were so many students and few volunteers (IF YOU WANT TO HELP GO TO: www.esperanzameanshope.org/ ). So the next three days we tweaked the way we were doing things, focused more on one volunteer for one group, instead of groups switching from one volunteer to the next - it was like night and day. At the end of each day we ask the students what they learned that day, the difference between what the students learned on Day 1&2 to Day 3-5 was great. I am proud of the things we accomplished the first week and it will only get better from here. These kids are great and are so amazingly smart! Stay tuned for next week's post.