The inspiring detailed chronicles of Mohammad Ahmad’s and Ali Tayeh’s 11 day camp journey. 

22nd of July 2018

Day 1:

The first day of the camp began with introductions. The facilitator introduced themselves to the participant  who did the same, and gave an overview of the camp with its aims, rules and expectations and then moved to answering questions from the participants. And so, the participants were divided into two groups according to age. The day was planned out to include games, dialogue and English lessons (taught by Mohammad)

Ice breakers and activities followed the introductions to get everyone comfortable and familiar with one another. The ice breakers included the Bomb game and the Qua game. Then they moved to dialogue about the community and the challenges and needs of improvements in it. Finally, they took an English lesson to review parts of speech.

The groups rotated between the activities during the day. When one had dialogue the other was taking English.

Day 2:

​The second day of the camp began with activities and games to let the participants have fun and prepare them for a good day ahead. The facilitator started with icebreakers that included the Imitating game and the Ball game. The dialogue began between the two groups separately with topics regarding the community as a whole and discussing the good things and the bad in it,to finally indentify specific things the groups want to change or improve in community. The Senior group settled on three main issues they want to work on and improve in the community that include:

The younger group decided on two projects:

While the junior group was busy with dialogue the senior group was busy learning English and writing the ‘I Am From’ poem.

Day 3:

​The third day of the camp as usual began at 10 am. Both groups discussed their projects and each made a plan how to approach the issues and improve them, and so they began writing down the materials they need for both projects. Since the Senior group settled on the  issues they want to work on in the community which included speed bumps, traffic lights at the MegaLandintersection and a service around the city, they got a camera and went out and took pictures of the speed bumps that are dangerous on the vehicles and the citizens, and of the Mega intersection that imposes risks because there are no traffic lights and no place for pedestrians to cross the street from. The younger group for their hospital project got small gift bags and cards to package the NoseFrida’s and write a small wishful note with each gift. The rest of the day was spent with both groups working on their projects. And finally, the junior group learned how to write the ‘I Am’ poem.

Day 4:

The day began with games to motivate the participants. The games included the straws game and the human web game. The younger group prepared the gifts and headed to the local hospital to donate the NoseFrida’s to baby mothers’ and help them learn how to use it.

While the younger group was at the hospital, the senior group members were viewing the pictures they took the other day and discussing problem points and ways to fix and improve the problems. They suggested putting paint and reflectors on the speed bumps so drivers can notice them during the day and night. For the dangerous intersections, they focused on one which is the MegaLand intersection which is a major risk for drivers and pedestrians because it has no traffic lights and no place for pedestrians to cross the street from. They also suggested a service that’s cheaper than private taxis, and goes around the city for students, workers,…,etc. The group started planning their work; working on their petition and posters and put a plan to collect signatures from the citizens around the city. At the end the day, they took an English class where they learned to answer personal questions using a large ball with questions written on it, tossing from person to person, answering the question that their left thumb landed on.

Day 5:

​The last day of the first week of the camp began with games and challenges for the participants. They played the Alien game where someone has to pretend to be an alien and communicate with the participants without using speech, and they did the acting challenge where they are separated into several groups and they have to act out a situation their own way. After having fun both groups; the senior group and  the younger group, went back to working on their projects. The younger group started on their second project which was working in the kindergarten. They planned what they want to do in the kindergarten from cleaning to drawing on the walls and creating a game for the kids using tires. The senior group wrote a petition about the problems that they focused on in their project, used the pictures they took of the speed bumps and the intersection, to make posters that explain the risks and highlight the problem areas showed in the pictures. Their English class was focused on teaching them how to brainstorm and create word maps for paragraph writing.

Day 6:

​The start of the second week of the camp marked the beginning of execution of projects,after all the planning done the previous week. The seniors got their petition ready and went out to Khadouri University to get signatures from students presenting the projects’ main points to them which include painting the speed bumps and adding reflectors to them, putting traffic lights on the Mega Land intersection and making a service that goes around the city and stops at main areas where students, workers and shoppers can benefit from it and the cheaper transportation fee. While the senior group was at Khadouri Vollege collecting signatures for their petition, theyounger group was working in the kindergarten cleaning the garden and painting the tires.

Day 7:

At the beginning of the day both groups played the Qua game to get energetic and start the day with good vibes. The younger group continued painting the tires and drawing on the dried tires, and spreading sand on the playground and planting flowers inside some tires. The senior group decided to work on writing paragraphs that talk about their project and explain it and their reasoning behind focusing on the three major problems presented. They prepared speeches for each one of the proposals they chose so they can present it to the mayor and members of the municipal council. The speeches were given to different participants to practice presenting. They also worked on drawing a map showing the transportation service track around the city and its main stopping points.

Day 8:

​The day as usual began at 10 am. The younger group continued working in the kindergarten, since most of the tires were dry they put them in the sand with the help of the facilitator, and made the shape of a caterpillar, that kids can go in and out of. They painted designs on the caterpillar with spray paint. The senior group went out to collect more signatures, this time from citizens were from different crowded areas around the city; from malls to supermarkets and other major areas. While collecting signatures they gave a brief presentation of the project and its main points to every citizen. Most citizens encouraged the project and agreed with it saying that the issues we focused on are of great risk; the speed bumps and the Mega Land intersection, and the transportation service is greatly needed since not everyone can afford private taxis and not everyone owns a car.

Day 9:

​The day before the final day of the camp was a busy day for the participants. The senior group of participants came early to practice their speeches because they had a scheduled meeting with the mayor, the city’s engineer and members of the municipal council that day. During the meeting the participants presented their proposals and different students gave speeches in front of the mayor and members of the municipal council using the posters and map they made to explain each one of the three proposals. The mayor along with the city’s engineer and the members of the city council praised the students for their hard work and how promising they are as youth working for their city. The mayor explained the problems the municipality faces from the citizens and with the national material they use and talked about other issues relating to the ones the students proposed. The younger group used spray paint to draw happy, child-friendly drawings on the walls of the kindergarten and cleaned the place they worked at after they finished.

Day 10:

The 2nd of august marked the last day of the camp. It was a celebration day for the participants since both groups finished their projects. Both the participants and facilitators brought food and sweets to celebrate and make a small party. They started the day with games and challenges that included the Mafia game, the Crime Scene game which they enjoyed.

Day 11:

The participants played some favorite games from the camp and then sat down for the final activity; the ‘Shoulder Tap’, that brought everyone closer. It consisted of statements about the participants and how their experience with them, and how they contributed to their growth andexperiences during the camp. Before putting an end to the camp both the facilitators and the participants were asked to fill a feedback sheet.