El Djomba: National Camp Superman

I recently had the good fortune to participate in a 5 day national boys camp here in the Dominican Republic called Campamento Superman. The Peace Corps Dominican Republic boys initiative was started relatively recently, within the past couple years I believe, and is a nice compliment to the tremendous work that is taking place with the young women of the Dominican Republic. The boys initiatives, from my experience, are really beginning to grow and we are fortunate to be developing opportunities for young men aged 10 to 14 to experience teamwork, talk about gender roles, play, exercise and visit parts of the country they have never visited and may never visit again. We camped in tents for 5 days, an experience that many young americans have not had. For others, camping as youth was an integral experience in our development as young people creating a lifelong appreciation for the natural world.

Our tent city

Camp Superman involved 16 lucky volunteers and 45 young Dominican boys in a beautiful location in Los Bueyes, in the Dominican province of Espaillat. I was able to bring three boys from my boys science group at the orphanage. The boys and I left the home at about 8 am and arrived at the lovely site of our camp around 3pm, after riding in several busses and topped off by an amazing two hour truck ride up the mountains! We camped on the the banks of a gorgeous river, which also served as our afternoon showering hole and swimming hole. The boys, divided into five teams, were placed in a variety of situations to work together, improve their teamwork, communication and problem solving skills and promote their individual self confidence. I led a couple activities and I witnessed my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers leading a variety of powerful and memorable activities and discussions throughout the long weekend.

boys chillin at the regional superman

The boys walked blindfolded in silence through a grove of trees following a rope. The boys had to find their way through a labyrinth using a process of trial and error. They worked together to get the entire team across a rope representing the obstacles in their lives. The boys constructed boats out of sticks, tarps and cardboard one afternoon and then floated them down the river. They boys learned about nutrition, made masks, and conducted a wide variety of science experiments. We visited a waterfall, went on a hike and enjoyed watching a movie while eating popcorn one evening. They learned Karate, did warm up games and exercises every morning, and learned about HIV/AIDS prevention through a program called Deportes Para la Vida (Sports for Life).

One memorable moment for me was listening to a fellow volunteer narrate the story of "Where the wild things are" while seated around the campfire and watching the story acted out by volunteers and the boys. My favorite part of the story was watching many of the boys join in the "monster party" by dancing around the fire with wild abandon, getting in touch with the playful and joyful little monster inside of us all.

Another memorable moment was witnessing and participating in a discussion about gender roles in the Dominican Republic. The boys are confronted with a machista culture, a.k.a. male dominant. What this means in practical terms is that boys are not encouraged to take on tasks or chores that are seen as stereotypically feminine or female. This translates into boys learning at a young age to defer household work to the girls or women in the home, often times with a very degrading attitude towards the women and those who partake in this type of work. What my role is, as I see it and as many volunteers see it, is to open and create a space where these roles and stereotypes can be questioned and discussed and potentially redefined. It was a requirement of the camp for the boys, in their teams, to do the dishes. While this is a small step, it may be the first time in some of these boys lives they have been required to do the dishes. I hope they went home to help their family out!

I have discovered my new favorite game, Alka Seltzer Tag! We played this at the regional camp superman and it is quickly becoming the keystone game to the field day activities. For those of you who are not familiar with the game, you poke a hole in an Alka Seltzer tablet and thread a string through the hole. You now have a necklace which members from the opposing teams attempt to get wet, so as to activate the process of dissolving the alka seltzer tablet. Once the tablet is dissolved, you are out of the game. I think I'll bring this one home to the family reunion!!

Camp Superman wouldn't have been complete without an epic soccer game during a rainstorm. A couple of the volunteers played college soccer and a couple others, like myself, played throughout high school. We gathered our teams, chased the ball around the slick grass and jumped around in the mud. It was an absolute ball!

While there are many more memories from the camp and very special moments that were shared amongst volunteers and the youth, these memories will be left for another day. I'm lucky to live in a country like the DR and work with volunteers as dedicated and professional as the volunteers in the DR.

Peace Out, Danno