DUMAGUETE CITY — The Youth Advocates through Theater Arts, Little Children of the Philippines, GWAVE Teen Advocates, and Men against Violence in Amlan, whose leaders constitute the Youth Council for the Consuelo Foundation Life Skills Plus Program, successfully conducted a four-day camp from April 27 to 30, dubbed KampBataan at the Consuelo grounds in barangay Batinguel here, bannering the theme Youth: Transforming the World.
With more than 60 youth gathered for the camp composed of members of the four Youth Council organizations, as well as the Gabaan Youth Lead, Kalauman Development Center, and Dumaguete Effata Association of the Deaf, the participants built their own simple tent structures for their sleeping quarters and would wake at 5 in the morning, then undergo a whole day program combining spiritual reflection, physical work-outs, team-building obstacle courses, gardening, marketing, and cooking, a series of workshops on self-awareness, youth participation in community action, environmental advocacy, leadership, and hands-on skills workshops in integrated arts, songwriting, t-shirt printing, and performance.
Nikki Cimafranca, YATTA vice-president, and one of the lead organizers-facilitators, beamed joyfully, “The camp challenged all of us to leave our comfort zones, to learn to work and play together respectfully and with greater sensitivity to differing needs and styles, and to celebrate our various gifts, and use them to be better servant leaders. At the end, we know that we have built a stronger community of empowered young people, and championed the rights of the youth to participation.” (Dessa Quesada-Palm)
