From April 8 until April 10, 2019 FSL-India’s Manjesh and the 2 long-term volunteers Linda and Paul facilitated the “Summer Camp” for 35 children at the Government Kannada School at Kandlur. The FSL-India Team was invited by the local Women’s Club, and welcomed by the school teachers, to organise 3 days filled with fun activities for the young girls and boys during their holidays. The facilitators planned a rich schedule to achieve a variety of different goals.

 Every day started with energisers and small games to wake up the students and facilitators and raise everyone’s energy and fun level. The camps schedule involved a lot of activities around the topic of plastics, recycling and reusing. To recycle an old plastic bottle, the children learned how to grow seeds in it. Also, they were introduced to the idea of “Eco-Bricks”. At home, all the students patiently filled one bottle with a lot of plastic. The FSL-India Team and the teachers agreed to conduct a second cooperation project in which we they will use the kid’s “Eco-Bricks” to built a bench.

 The children dived deeper into the topic of our environment when they created a drama in small groups. For this, they gathered materials from the surrounding area, which served as an inspiration for their imagination. 

To switch the children’s perspective to the future and the challenges we are facing, they discussed in groups about the idea of a “Perfect World”. They represented their results on a chart of paper, talking about less pollution, too much cutting of trees and the solutions.

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The children were provided with time for individual reflection, i.e. writing a letter to someone special and with a lot of opportunities to bond in teams with their schoolmates. The facilitators conducted a lot of games to support team building and collective problem solving. The FSL-India Team could observe great improvements in matters of sharing ideas, discussing thoughts and approaches for solutions, as well as mutual support and help. The kids listened to each other, got involved and participated with enthusiasm.

The schedule also featured a health and hygiene session. In this, the children discussed ways of staying healthy but also focused on risks to well-being. They wrote down rules and tips about how to follow a healthy life and shared their thoughts in the role of teachers.

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The Summer Camp was closed with a small ceremony in which all the teachers, sponsors and initiators took part. Every child, one by one, received the “Summer Camp Certificate of Participation”, thank you wishes were exchanged and a final group photo was taken. All the participants had a happy 3 days, with a lot of enjoyment, good food and fun.