Camp Deporte y Vida!

Sorry I've been so MIA lately. I got a little busy with the holiday season and then the final stages of planning for Camp Deporte y Vida! (Formerly named Camp Caballero) But, it all came together in the end and it was amazing!

Last week 33 youth from all over the country came together at Tierra Prometida in Carapegua, Paraguay for a 4-day male sports and leadership camp.

All together there were 59 youth and volunteers involved in the camp!

The initial idea of the camp was a leadership camp for young men, to teach them values, planning for the future and by doing so making them a part of the gender equality discussion. We also made it a sports camp because we wanted them to have fun as well and show them that the same values that are important on the playing field are also important in your everyday life. We achieved this through a number of sports activities, because we also wanted to introduce them to new sports that they don't get to play normally. Soccer and volleyball are the two main sports played here in Paraguay, so we taught them to play American Football, Tae Kwon Do, Wiffleball and Kickball a well. There were also a number of informational sessions on subjects that ranged from, diversity, women's rights, planning for the future, sexual health and domestic violence.

Wiffleball!

Tae Kwon Do!

We had people from the NGO - Centro Para el Desarrollo de la Inteligenci (Center for the Development of Intelligence) come and teach the soccer segment of the camp

CDI has a program called "Partidi" that teaches young men and women good values through soccer. So they were a perfect addition to our camp!

We also had a "Professional Men's Panel" that included 3 men from CDI and one of the doctors from Peace Corp. They all talked about their individual journey to success.

Working on an activity called "Interview with myself in 10 years" it helped the boys think about what they envision their life to be in the future.

American Football!

Session on Domestic Violence. This is a topic that is not really talked about in this culture but is definitely a problem. He touched issues like self-esteem, machismo and healthy relationships.

A talk about women's rights with 2 people from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Women. This was an amazing moment seeing all these young men so interested in this subject, something most of them have never talked about before.

I was so impressed with the young men who attended this camp. They were all so involved in both the physical activities and the sessions. They all have such bright futures ahead of them and I hope this camp helped them realize their potential.

Also, thank you to all the people who donated to this project and made Camp Deporte y Vida! such a success! We couldn't have done this without your support.