Orientation

The first summer session volunteers arrived on Wednesday and Thursday- our girl-power team is made up of Christine, Megan, Laura, Channell, Sarah G., Paige, Sarah W., Alex, and Jess, and comes from California to Cleveland to Connecticut. We were greeted by our awesome coordinators, Katy, Ashley, Scott, and Jaren, and after some brief introductions, house-tours, and quick trips to town, were ready to get started.

We’ve gone over our curriculum, from HIV and AIDS basics to how to contract HIV, to prevention, to male and female empowerment, to deforestation and its causes and potential solutions, among other topics. We’ve practiced morning songs and games, and have gone bananas, boom chicka boom-ed, and funky chicken-ed with the best of them. On Friday we also took a trip to Chisomo, a local shelter for children, where the new volunteers helped lead some songs and then watched the coordinators demonstrate a game showing the effects of deforestation, as well as do a condom demonstration with bananas. Saturday was full of more curriculum review, and also included some exciting skits, in which two teams of volunteers competed to show off their acting prowess and which resulted in an epic showdown of a Broadway-worthy musical vs. Spanish channel-style soap opera. Stay tuned for results.

We’ve met some lively and friendly faces in Lilongwe, where we’ve promised multiple vendors that we’ll never, ever forget them (or their shops), we’ve sampled nsima and the other delicious offerings of John’s cooking, and some of us have embarked on a pretty ambitious puzzle. From Paige’s lifelong dream to have a dog named Maggie, Alex’s impressive Chichewa skills, Ashley and Sarah G’s inexplicable (yet, somehow, shared) obsessions with Dolly Parton, and Laura and Megan’s (again, strangely shared) elephant figurine collections, we’ve already started to get to know each other, and are looking forward to more to come in the next few weeks.

Until then,

Jess Hallett

Casa Blanca

The program coordinators got here Monday and have been busily preparing a place for the volunteers to call home for the summer. We have been visiting schools and the prison to set up classes, setting up things like internet and hiring a guard, and getting familiar with the town. We still have a lot to do before you get here, but we are well on our way to being ready for your arrival next week!

Here are some pictures of your new home.

Program Coordinators

Meredith Church

Meredith Church is an adjunct instructor of Spanish at Appalachian State University with a Master’s in Latin American Studies. She has been working with World Camp Honduras since January of 2008. She’s lived in Mexico and Spain and spent time in Uruguay, Brazil, Guatemala, Costa Rica and, of course, Honduras. She loves travel, reading good books, being active outdoors, doing yoga and dancing. She’s looking forward to working with you to make an impact in the lives of the youth you’ll meet!

Tara Ilsley

Tara Ilsley is a recent grad of North Carolina State University where she studied International Politics and Spanish. She enjoys learning about Latin culture, and recently studied in Cordoba, Argentina. She enjoys riding her ten speed bike, exploring new lands, and eating avocados.

Katie Smith

Katie Smith is a proud graduate of Appalachian State University, with a degree in Sociology. She has overseas experience in education from teaching English as Second Language in Bangkok, Thailand. She is finishing up her second degree and Masters in English Education and will begin teaching 7-10 grade English/Language Arts at Carolina International School, in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the fall. She enjoys riding her bike, traveling and seeing different cultures, the great outdoors, reading, writing, and theological debates over coffee. She dislikes traffic, cliques and urban sprawl. She looks forward to meeting all of you and working together to find richness in this unique experience!