Camp Oakhurst Day One

The first day of camp is always an exciting one. Volunteer staff gathered the parking lot at 7:30am as we prepared for the campers to arrive at 8am. After check in, luggage loading, and final registration the camp cabins started to organize themselves on to their assigned bus.Once buses loaded, the anticipation and excitement raised amongst the staff and campers as we embarked for what was going to be another life changing week. Camp Oakhurst is a camp that I have been attending since the age of 9. For the last 7 years I have been a counselor and program staff volunteer. This program is so close to my heart. The power that one week of camp holds to change lives of children and staff is truly incredible. This year we had q large volunteer staff of 73. For many of these volunteers, they use their only vacation time from work to come up to Camp Oakhurst. I am honored to be one of the volunteers for this program which I believe in so much. After our 6 hour bus ride to Oakhurst, Ca, the camp gathered their luggage and started to settle into their cabins. The rest of the day was spent participating in swim testing, a camp tour, and cabin unity time. Our lovely directors lead us in campfire for the evening. As a camp, we were able to reacquaint ourselves with the camp songs and see some skits which were oldies, but always goodies. This year, I spent my week as one of the 7 staff for our LIT program. LIT's is our leaders in training program and is designed for high school students (grades 10th and 11th). After Campfire I lead out first LIT devotion which was Brutal Dyads. This is a super powerful devotion for the first night because it really breaks the comfort level in for each camper. During the activity the campers are facing their partner knees to knees. I then instructed the campers to make eye contact without talking or breaking that contact. After a few minutes I instructed the campers to take turns feeling each others hands. Not only did this challenge the campers comfort level, but really forced them to think about what simple things such a eye contact or feeling some one's hand can say about a person. I then had them take turns touching each other's face. This is always a really tricky one because you can see the honest discomfort most of them have. I then wrapped up this activity by bring the whole LIT group together to discuss. We had an open discussion which I lead with guiding questions such as the following; 1) What did you think of this activity? 2) How did you feel during this activity? 3) What were you thinking when you were looking into your partner's eyes? 4) Which part was hardest for you and why? 5) Why was this difficult/uncomfortable?
This really sets the tone for the week. This allows the kids to get a glimpse of what the week will consist of. For our LITS, we really challenge them all week to forget what is back at home and to become one at camp. We encourage them to set an example for the rest of the camp. We challenge them to speak and share their options as well as listen to others with respect. The whole camp program is an amazing one, but I truly love working with the LIT's.