“Kids4Peace has taught me to love my religion, myself, and others so much more.” – Kids4Peace Camper
Our final full day at camp was opened by one of our Peace Leaders; giving us a list of qualities found in a friend, our facilitator-in-training asked our Peace Pods to choose the three attributes most important in a friendship and the three attributes least important in a friendship. These included statements such as, “they treat me with respect” “they come from a good family”, and “they are loyal” among many more. The campers, enthusiastically participating, supported their fellow camper as she confidently and articulately led the session.
After breakfast, campers met with their Peace Pods to prepare their contributions to the camp-wide Evening Reflection taking place tonight at the chapel. Additionally, they also had their final opportunity to participate in Interest Groups with the rest of our host-camp community. Many, after listening to Peggy’s session yesterday about risk-taking, took the chance to try something new.
For the final Discovery Block of our week, campers looked ahead to the final step of their Peace Leaders’ Camp journey— action. The Peace Leaders were asked to reflect on the most important question of all: How do we take our new skills out into the world in which we live? To begin thinking about this question, campers were given words relating to the different themes throughout our week and to social justices causes around the world and were asked to write their reactions to the words. In their debrief, they discussed why they reacted in the different ways that they did— particularly, which parts of their identity played a role in their reactions. The discussion that ensued was one that was far beyond their years, talking through nuanced issues of race, gender, religion, and policy.
This afternoon, campers also visited the Waterfront for the last time, having the opportunity to swim, kayak, and paddle-board. Dinner, also our last, was had in classic camp spirit with plenty of banging on tables, singing, and delicious food. We closed the day with two incredibly special activities: Firstly, with our Kids4Peace friends, we met in the open-roof rotunda for our closing fire. Walking counterclockwise, four of our Peace Leaders addressed their peers around the flames, each Peace Leader talking about the significance of each of our themes from the week: Community, trust, identity, risk, perspective, social change, and action.
Secondly, with our host-camp friends, we gathered in the chapel for Evening Reflection, a time for all of the groups at camp to come together and share what they have learned throughout their sessions. Each Peace Leader spoke from the heart, striving to teach the camp community about Kids4Peace, their faith traditions, and their experiences. Though it was a late night for our campers and staff, we are all looking forward to a bittersweet Sunday, saying goodbye to our new friends but showcasing our camp adventures with you all at the Celebration of Learning!
See our photos from the day on our Facebook page!
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