Camp VALOR

A group of participants and volunteers at the camp's closing ceremony

by Micah

Every so often, Peace Corps volunteers from a given department get together to plan and execute a youth leadership camp. Last weekend, volunteers from Cajamarca put on a camp called VALOR for boys aged 13 to 18 from all over the department. The camp was held in Baños del Inca, which is just outside of the city of Cajamarca, and Alisha and I decided to take three boys (Frank, Alex, and Roel) who live at the orphanage that we've been working at since we arrived in Chota.

Frank, Alex, and Roel

The camp was great. In addition to activities and talks on teamwork, goal-setting, healthy lifestyles, sexuality, and ethics, the 30 boys who attended participated in a vigorous debate session so that they could put their knowledge of ethics and argumentation abilities into practice. For a number of the participants, this was both their first time in Cajamarca and their first time hanging out with other boys from different areas of the department. I'm very glad that Alisha and I were able to participate, and we hope to plan a similar camp for girls in May or June.

Alisha and I making fools of ourselves

Jenga was a HUGE hit

And so was Scrabble