I Heart UA GC!!!

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face and I just knew that today was going to be a good day.  I'm sure somebody reading this knows what I'm talking about.  There wasn't any specific reason for the smile, it was just there.  And my thoughts of having a good day were confirmed when I read my Daily Word before work.  The title of the message for the day fit my mood perfectly: I Am Jazzed with Irrepressible Joy!  I am going to share what it said because it really touched me and I'm sure it'll do the same for someone else:

I proclaim today to be a day of joy, no matter what the current circumstances in my life may be.  I do not dwell in pessimism, lack, fear or doubt.  Today I am jazzed with irrepressible joy!

My exuberance is fueled by my awareness of true joy--the joy that lives within me.  It does not depend on outer situations or other people.  This joy is innate.  It comes from the unfailing Source of happiness and serenity within me.

When I allow joy to surface, even in difficult times, its powerful energy calls forth my good.  As I share joy freely, my own joy is increased.

For you shall go out in joy...the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song. --Isaiah 55:12

Wasn't that a beautiful Word??

Now back to my story...The post office called me yesterday to notify me that not one, but TWO

Camp BE Afterthoughts

I got a little sad on the last day of camp and kind of had a short therapeutic writing session to let out some of my feelings.  What I wrote captured exactly how I was feeling at the moment and so I typed it up below to share my final thoughts on what myself and the boys had just experienced:

We have reached the final day of Camp BE and I must say, I am so elated that I was able to be a part of it.  These boys are so amazing!  You would never know from seeing them here that most of them are poor, like one meal a day poor; that they have drunken, abusive parents; that they are orphans; and that they carry the burden of being a child in a country that hardly allows them to have a childhood.  The kids are taking a post test now, and as I sit here watching them work so hard and seeing them smile from the satisfaction of what they have experienced over the past few days, I can't seem to fight off this sadness that has overcome me.  It's not so much the goodbye that breaks my heart, but more the fact that each one of these boys must walk out of these school doors and right back into their situations.

None of these boys have ever experienced anything like this in their lives and most of them may never again.  Some, I hope most, will take what they have learned and use it as a fuel to push toward greatness and move beyond their current situations.  That is the good I see in Camp BE.  However it does hurt that after getting a small taste of "good life" they must all go back to "bad" until they are old enough and independent enough to make the changes that I know they can make.  Now that they have come into this great experience and have been surrounded by all of this positive energy, I hate that tomorrow they will be right back in the presence of their degrading parents, a gender discriminatory society, and a world full of "no" and "you can't."  We have told them that they can and did our best to show them that they can.  Now all I can do is pray that that's enough and that they do!  Camp BE really changed my life; please God, let it change theirs.

Camp BE

Camp BE (Boys Excelling) is a camp that is put on by Peace Corps Volunteers all over the world, which targets secondary school males and teaches them about HIV/AIDS, career planning, communication, relationships, and life skills.  The volunteers in my region of Rwanda just completed our 5 day camp, and boy was it a tiring, yet extremely rewarding experience!  Most of the volunteers that I speak with about their service say that the youth camps are the highlights of their service and I am now able to say the same thing.  From the time we announced the students who were accepted to the moment they all left camp to return home, I was all smiles (from ear to ear) and bubbling over with excitement and joy at the impact that we were able to make in these boys' lives in such a short time.  Some of the highlights from the camp are noted below:

And the Winner Is...

Okay so there wasn't really a "winner" per se, but there was an application that the students had to fill out since so many boys were interested in attending the camp.  At the school in my community, I had the Headmaster pick out the school's top students and these 12 boys proceeded to fill out the application and hand it in.  Once I chose the 4 that I thought were the best, I went back up to the school to give the students their camp invitations.  Little did I know, the day that I happened to be going to the school to notify the students just so happened to be the last day before the holiday break.  On the last day of classes, the school holds a small awards ceremony where the brightest and best-behaved students are rewarded with notebooks, certificates, and new pens for being model students all year long.  It was cool that I just happened to want to notify the students on this day because the Headmaster ended up making the camp invitations a part of the awards ceremony.  He called each boy up to the front, one by one, and presented them with what I would like to think is the best news they've had all year!  An invitation to Camp BE!  I just loved watching the boys as their names were called and as they received their invitations; seeing them smile so bright just warmed my little heart (:

In a Nutshell

Okay there is soooo very much to tell about camp and as you can probably tell by now that I can go on and on and on...and on...when I'm telling a story, so I'll do my best to give the nutshell version of my fondest memories: