Overnight Camp

On July 2nd, Kumar organized an overnight campout with the children from the day camp we had been helping with. We secured tents, drinks, blankets, and some snacks for the kids. This was the first time that anything like this has happened in Fushe-Arrez. It was difficult to get everything arranged and was nearly called off the day before, but we straightened everything out.

We woke up the morning of the camp to discover that a family of Roma had moved in right where we were going to camp. We decided to go through with it anyway and just moved our camp a little farther up river. At around 11am, Kumar, Dritan, and I went and got wood scraps from the local lumbar yard for the fire. Just after lunch, Richie and Michelle (two volunteers from Puke) arrived and helped us set up the tents and clear the area of rocks. A bit later, Judy (another volunteer from Puke) and Jessie (a volunteer from Shkoder) showed up and helped us get everything else together. The kids arrived around 6pm with the teachers. They were so excited! They had never been in tents before and couldn’t wait to get into one of the tents.

After splitting them up into groups, we let them go and get settled in. Sister Benedette (one of the nuns at the church in town) came and greeted the kids, as it is the church that funds the day camp. TV PUKE interviewed the Sister and Teacher Liza and then took some footage of the rest of the camp.

For the rest of the night, we played games, had a campfire, sang songs, and prayed that it wouldn’t rain. Most of the tents had rain covers, but a few did not. Additionally, all the adults had to sleep outside under the stars and it would not be fun if it started to rain. Luckily the rain did not come and everything worked out fantastically. It was extremely successful. The kids had a great time and we when we woke up we still had the 30 kids that had come the night before. No one wondered off or got hurt. It was a great experience.