Camp Espoir 2010

Having been a summer camp counselor for four years for first graders back in the States, I was amused to discover that there are a lot of similarities between camp in America and Camp Espoir, where I volunteered as a counselor for 8 year-olds this year. For example, it is not unusual for beads to fall out of a counselor’s hair when undoing one’s ponytail at the end of the day. The processes of getting the kids to brush their teeth, get dressed, shower, and go to the bathroom (especially with #2) take at least 10 times as long as they would for the average (older) individual. And for both American and Togolese campers alike, balloons can be an available saving grace when it comes to distracting them from fighting with each other, and a curse when it comes to trying to get them to pay attention.

[ bathroom break (no bathroom available)]



But there are certainly cultural differences as well. For example, the girls would sit on the toilets (which many of them had never seen before) with their rear ends half buried in the bowl and their legs dangling off because they’d always put the seat up as well. With more food available than they’d ever eaten before, my eight year-olds would eat up to four plates piled with food per meal – and then we’d all have to book it back to our cabin so they could do #2 (little Ruth would always say, “I need to poop – my stomach’s too big” and then eye my own stomach, pat it and say, “You should too”). In more than one case, Taylor (my co-PCV counselor) and I had to address how, after meals indoors in the cafeteria, the remaining food scraps CANNOT just be dumped on the floor, and hands should be washed after dinner using the outdoor sink instead of by pouring remaining drinking water over one’s hand onto the plate. In taking bucket baths, the girls would always start by washing their underwear (culturally, underwear is washed in private and not along with the rest of one’s laundry), so little panties always adorned the windowsills in our cabin, where they’d be hung to dry.

The one other big difference is that these kids are sick.


Of the almost 100,000 HIV/AIDS orphan and vulnerable children (OVCs) living in Togo, fewer than 10% receive any type of external support. Within the definition of OVCs there are three sub-groups: 1) Children who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, 2) Children who have an infected parent, 3) Children infected with HIV/AIDS. Camp Espoir’s primary goal is to provide a fun, comforting, and educational environment for these kids, who are faced with the most difficult of circumstances. Because of stigma and discrimination, kids are unlikely to open up to anyone about their daily struggles with HIV/AIDs. Camp Espoir is often the first time the children have left their homes and been surrounded by other children facing similar challenges. Camp provides the perfect opportunity for AIDS care association staff to reach out to the campers and really explain what living with HIV/AIDS means. The campers leave having made friends and confidants from their home association with whom they can discuss problems they may be facing. Each camp is staffed by a combination of Peace Corps volunteers, AIDS care association employees (including nurses and psycho-social counselors) , and youth leaders, all of whom contribute to making Pagala camp ground a great place for the children (ranging from age 8 – 17) to forget about their problems for the first time in their lives.

The way camp is set up, it’s easy to treat the kids like the kids they really are and not like sick kids – which is our main goal as counselors. Apart from the educational sessions, there is lots of time for sports, art, and lots and lots of songs. This year’s camp’s theme was the World Cup, so all of the different age groups (divided into different cabins) represented different countries (my cabin was Japan). There is a mock market day where kids from the different age groups sell products they’ve learned how to make (including juice, bracelets, popcorn, and peanut brittle). There is also a carnival day which the kids obviously love, and a dance night as well.










(above: skit on self-confidence)

















Sometimes though, it was hard to completely forget that these kids struggle with an incurable disease. All but one of the little girls in my cabin was actually infected. While I often just tried not to think about it, it was hard to ignore when our girls would knock on Taylor’s and my door early morning to ask for drinking water to take their ARV medication. Another one of our girls fell sick for the first couple days of camp and had no appetite or energy to participate in activities, which broke my heart to see. We had to constantly keep an eye on a gaping wound one of our girls had from falling to ensure that it was always covered and protected. Yet another one of our girls struggled from major psychological issues (having lost both her parents and being sick herself) and would experience extremely dramatic mood swings. We also found out late in the week that she’d been skipping her medication on purpose. In the past, other counselors have recounted stories of having difficulties encouraging their campers to take their medication because their campers dread it, saying that they've seen their parents die after having taken the medication in the same way. And at the end of camp, saying goodbye was something else… Because the sad truth is that many of these kids won’t ever make it through their adolescent years. What’s hard about it all with these kids is encompassed in how Taylor, who works a great deal with AIDS in her village, phrased it: “It’s just not their fault…”





But for the day by day fun we had, it was a fantastic time. Yet another great experience I’ve had during my Peace Corps service. And, without a doubt, it was obvious that the kids had a blast as well – and that’s what’s most important.