Secondary projects are assignments in which dedicated and ambitious volunteers seek ways of helping their community aside from their primary duties to which they were specially trained. They can range drastically, from raising livestock, bee keeping, and even pottery. The list is only limited to the imagination of the volunteer and to the way it correlates with their communities needs. Since being in Zambia, I have sought out a wide variety of secondary projects in conjunction to my fish farming project. Some have shown great success, while others have either been difficult to start or unpopular among the masses. I've taken part in the spread of sweet potatoes by partnering up with a research facility whos goal is to spread the popularity among rural villages. I've started my own composting system in hopes that it will alleviate my communities dependency upon costly and environmentally harmful fertilizers, and have even participated on my village soccer team. I'll let you be the judge on weather or not that latter project is really much of a project.
With so many in secondary projects in progress and so many more planned and in the making, the diversity of my day to day duties is, in my opinion, what makes this job so rewarding. Not having the redundancy of a 9 to 5 with a boss nagging you every hour of the day for TPS reports or what not, setting your own schedule, and deciding who, if any, other volunteers you choose to work with and on what assignments. But out of all the secondary projects that I have thus far taken part in, none have, and I'll go as far as saying none will, be as enthralling and rewarding as my most recent secondary project- Camp Elite.
Camp Elite is a Peace Corps funded sports camp that came together only last year in Zambia. It was a guinea pig project in the North West province that proved successful and because of it, other provinces have followed up this year to seek the funding necessary to run their own camp in their own province. The camp aims to teach, empower and train young boys about successful life skills through sporting activities. In essence , it is an imitation of many of the summer and sports camps programs that are offered through so many youth development programs that most of us have gone through once or twice when our parents needed a place to dump us for the summer back in the states. Weather you're aware or oblivious, just being in an atmosphere of camp does well in giving out precious life experiences in teamwork, leadership, friendship and competitiveness. The goal is to bring kids together and send them off with an experience that will last a lifetime and in turn have them venture back to their own villages to teach and empower others in what they have learned.
As a youth, I happened to be one of these kids that was often dumped at camp as my parents were always less then thrilled at my desired plans for summer. Which mostly consisted of parking my ass in front of the television. Each summer, I was sent to camps such as: Cowboy camp, YMCA and even a Military camp, which would occupy my time and teach me much more then what I was aware of. Though not thrilled at the time, looking back, I now recognize the value that these programs had in giving me valuable life long skills.
I happened to be late in hearing about the entire ordeal, but with a combination of begging and sweet talk, I was able to secure one of the limited spots in the camp as funding is limited and so many were already interested. I promised an enthusiastic attitude and a creative mind to help with the camps planning. We held only 2 meetings before the camp would begin. We talked about making the camp balanced with fun activities but also educating lectures that the kids could take back to the village with them. We had about 13 volunteers and we worked it out so that each volunteer would be allowed to bring 2 kids and one counterpart to the camp. Kids and counter parts would have full accommodation taken care of, so we were told, including: meals, dormitory, showers and fun, which we would provide. The camp was to take place at a boarding school that was rumored to be well equipped for our needs and rather nice compared to Zambian standards.
The list of volunteers signed up for the camp could not have been any better. There were quite a lot of my favorites from my own intake involved, and some more experienced volunteers that had been here much longer then myself. Everyone had a positive attitude, creative mindset and well thought out vision for what the camp should entail. Each meeting would do well in bringing us closer to an idea as to how this camp would turn out. We decided that we'd randomly divide the kids into teams and place a few volunteers on each team to help with the enthusiasm Then we thought that each day we should hold a specific theme relevant to the material that we would be presenting. One day would be leadership, another would be teamwork and so on. We also had connections with guest speakers from the ministry of health and other government organizations that agreed to venture out and perform presentations about their specialized material. Male circumcision, malaria and HIV prevention, safe and healthy relationships and equality were only some of the topics that were presented.
Our list of activities and sporting events were extensive. We played games and variations of soccer, kickball, capture the flag, futsol, basketball volley ball, dodge ball, jeopardy and even a relay race on the last day. We had a solid outline for how the camp was going to go and we all shared enthusiastic anticipation for the camp's date to arrive.
Now to digress a bit and give you an idea as to how I decided to choose the children in my village for the event, I feel it necessary to explain to you the phenomena of 'village jealousy'. In the village, I am the only white man. And being the only white man, to other Zambians means by default that I am rich. When other villagers see me corresponding with other villagers, they tend to get jealous and envious and false accusations have a tendency to develop . While on the surface this seems petty, it has a tendency to lead to rather drastic and dramatic issues. The best example of this in my situation is that a few months ago someone killed my counterparts turkey. Literally beat it to death. Nobody knows who did it, but the speculation that he is most certain of is due to his involvement with me. Other outcomes are villagers shunning other villagers, stealing and false rumors that I may have given them (the one I correspond with) money or gifts. Now because of this, I can't freely choose a child of my preference. Nor can I choose at random. So what I decided to initiate was an essay contest at the near by school.
I went to each classroom and described the camp in great detail and enthusiasm in order to spark motivation. When the deadline arrived, I had 17 essays to read. A decent turnout. Some where written in Nyanja, and some in English. My counterpart and I spent a late night together going over all of them until we felt confident about the two. And so concludes the deciding process. Two gentleman that I had choose winded up being from both of the village that I had done fish farming work in. I was pleased with my choices.
When the day finally came and we arrived at the camp, we didn't find all of our expectations and promises met. The day we arrived happened to be the same day as the last day of school for all the students at the school. The place was a madhouse and kids were everywhere. We convened in the autotorium and found a hoard of kids sitting on their luggage waiting to be picked up and taken home from their end of term at school. They occupied more then half or our promised space. On top of that, the dormitories were trashed, and the bathrooms and showers were a complete disgrace. Something had to be done.
Our two fearless leaders of the camp put forth valiant efforts to try and find the staff members responsible for the broken promises, but it seemed that nearly all the staff had already left for the end of term. Now in America, this sort of incident would most likely not have been encountered. Or if it was, someone would be getting chewed out, or perhaps fired. But it doesn't work the same way here in Zambia. Sometimes trying to find the ones responsible is much more difficult then what you'd think in theory - a phone call. Often times, threatening ultimatums don't surmount to much. Many people just don't care about what you are complaining about and it can sometimes be a difficult pill to swallow as so many of us in America are use to flawless customer service. Customer service is a imagined fantasy in many places here in Zambia.
After hours of getting the constant run around from subordinates and staff member's that didn't have answers for us we had to call a meeting with the volunteers. A bad meeting..
The meeting was a venting of frustration from those who were working at trying to get the problem resolved. It seemed nearly impossible to find the right people who had assured us that everything would be taken care of. The counterparts were terribly upset about the situation and were all on the bandwagon about going back home the next day. Things were looking very dismal, and the thought of sending everyone home because of the state of the facilities on the first day was terribly aggravating as we would all most likely loose respect in our villages for the broken promises we had made. Especially after putting so much hype and emphasis on how fun the camp would be. In the bleakest moment, when we were all about to give up hope and tell the kids to pack their things, we finally found someone with some substantial authority who actually cared. At this point it was already around eight o'clock. The counterparts were all in their dormitories bitter about the situation, and trying to sleep without any bedding or linen on dirty mattresses. I had sacrificed my own bedding and gave it to my counterpart as I had felt guilty enough that I had not been able to follow through with what I had promised. However the kids were having a very good time in the dormitory playing futsol and various other games not knowing the seriousness of the situation.
By the morning, the school finally took some action. They had janitors and cleaning services working diligently at trying to get the place presentable. We had a meeting right after breakfast with the counterparts and begged them to give the camp another shot. They agreed and the camp went from probable cancellation to back on schedule. But spirits were low.
That first full day was huge, and direly needed. Myself and another volunteer named Steve were assigned to present leadership to the kids and the hope was that we would change the attitude of the camp, and especially the counterparts. It couldn't have gone better. We started off with a well done leadership presentation on poster paper in which we received high participation and involvement. After that we proceeded to the soccer pitch where I showed everyone how to play a game that I had learned, and loved in cowboy camp called 'Fortress'.
Fortress is a simple game. There are two teams; one that huddles together on the ground by locking arms, and the other works at trying to break them apart in a certain allotted time by pulling at their arms and trying to find a weak spot. Though this may seem terribly rudimentary, It turned out to be one of the favorite games played throughout the entire camp. It was a perfect compliment to the leadership presentation as teams had to use many of the skills that we had presented in trying to break up the fortress. At first some of the tactics were ineffective, but about halfway through in the third game or so, the secret weapon was out that hit the Achilles of any fortress - tickling. All and all, it was a great time with laughs, smiles and some good old fashioned boys rough housing. It felt good to have such a swift turn of attitudes and enthusiasms in just a single day.
From there the pace was set. each day that followed was a fantastic build where kids did a substantial amount of learning followed by a enjoyable sport that always bordered better then the last. At night we played movies for the kids, but most of the time they were too tired to make it through the entire movie. This meant that we had done our jobs well. The point race between the teams was also close throughout the camp. It came down to the last day as any team would have the ability to win if they performed well. A grand finale of substantial proportions and the winning team would have their pick at the prizes first.
Before I knew it, the last day had come and I didn't have the slightest clue as to where the time had gone. On the last day we had scheduled a jeopardy quiz for the kids that would put what they learned to the test, followed by a relay race. My team, the orange crush, had been in second and third (out of 4 teams) the entire time. But on the last day, they had managed to win at jeopardy and the relay race, which vaulted them into the lead for the win. I had bonded exceptionally well all these kids and was very proud that despite how young they were compared to the other teams, they still managed to overcome.
When it was all said and done we gave out used soccer gear from a college donation to all the children and counterparts in the camp, and everyone walked away with something including a 'Camp Elite' tee shirt complete with the saying 'teamwork makes the dream work'.
My favorite part about the camp was the fact that we were able to exercise many of the skills that we had taught to the kids during the hick-ups that we encountered. Instead of giving up hope on the first day and calling it quits we exhausted every possible sources we could until we finally found someone who could help us. When the dodge balls (that I had made from trash and maize bags) had begun to fall apart after the first few games, we got the kids to all work together to mend them by tying them with ripped cloth and plastic, just as they make balls similar in the village. And on the last day, when the power went out before we were to have a talent show, we instead busted out glow sticks and had a dance party. Every time a problem arose, we worked against it and prevented it from bringing us down. We were creative, positive, capable of delegating tasks to remedy problems and determined to make things work. We practiced what we preached and in a camp of this nature, you really can't ask for much more.
When I returned to the village I ran into the headman of the school (the one who helped me initiate the essay contest) and one of the two boys. The boy, Paul, had spoken highly of how much fun and insightful the camp had been. He thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't wait for it again next year (I couldn't break it to him that I would probably exclude him). The head man also thanked me and appreciated all that I had done for the kids. Everything from the first day forth from the camp had gone spectacular and I only hope that next year, when I'm in charge and running the camp,( as I already have taken on the role) it goes just as good as it did this time around.
I need to thank the two camp leaders Chris and Sam for doing such a wonderful job in all aspects from planning to funding. They did and amazing job with the camps first go round and most of next years model/scheduling will go off of this years. I also want to quickly thank everyone involved especially the PCV's. We had no disputes, worked together well, and weather we know it or not, we bonded because of our involvement. I made some very close friends during the entire stint and reinforced other close relationships I already had.
To conclude, and I know that this is already long enough, I just want to reiterated how much this camp meant to myself personally. As a kid I had always looked up to the camp counselor leader that I was under. Thinking how cool, smart and fun he was. I had always wanted to be one myself, and this camp was the first time that I was able to play that role (can only hope the kids thought of me as cool smart and fun). I can only hope that these kids have looked up to me as I did when I was in their shoes. Perhaps they won't have the opportunities as I have had with going to camp so frequently, but maybe it will encourage them to be a good role model to others when they get older. Thank you camp Elite. The most fun I've had yet here in Zambia.
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