Camp Fihavanana: Day 4

It seems like yesterday when we all met each other for the first time in camp. How time flies.

We stared the day on the terrace as usual, playing music and games, checking in for campers, walking to the field. Training sessions were very smooth and very well organized (shoutout to all the coaches!). While photographing most of the sessions of lacrosse, basketball and football, I could see noticeable improvements from the first day. And I’m so happy that all our campers are enjoying them so much! That's definitely the ray of sunshine on this cloudy day.

The afternoon started with Kevin's English lesson. I was impressed by his concepts and how well the campers were responding. I am from China, and for me and for most of the kids in China, learning the language is one thing, to actually express yourself in the language comes a lot later. He was teaching both at the same time, which is closer to the natural way of learning a language, but at same time a lot harder for local schools to conduct for bigger groups.

Stella and I had our bachata session right after Kevin. It went a lot more smoothly than before. Both of us are learning day by day while teaching the campers how to dance bachata. It was great to see that most of the campers could enjoy the dance and the music with different parters, as well as how excited they were for dancing.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, I was amazed more and more by how much campers are participating in their teams, for Maria's marshmallow competitions and our “and a one-clap” shoutouts. They were not hesitating to participate or to show their appreciation, to fellow campers and to counselors.

The highlight of the day for me was definitely the interview we had with some of the campers for Stella's assignment. Learning about the health care system has always been one of the themes of my traveling. The condition of the country reminded me how much there is for health professionals to work on towards global health, but seeing how motivated young people are also brought us so much hope.

I’m so excited to see what’s gonna happen in the following week and a half! I'm still nervous but at same time, so grateful to be here.