2014-08-09

2014 summer vacation

From the past few years, summer vacation seems like was the busiest time during the year in my life. This year summer vacation I had three camps at the beginning of July, and then I went to Caux + London for a week each. Came back to Taiwan a day before the APYC started. APYC will finish tomorrow.
Kids’ camp I worked with senior high school students. During the school time I met them once in two week and we had different training. In the winter and summer vacation they helped with the kids’ camp. Summer vacation kids’ camp the senior high school students in charge of everything, from the leaflet design, doing the budget, thinking about the program, and making all the name tag, handout. It was not easy to sit back and wait for everything happened. Many times I thought things delayed and felt panic but looked at them, they seemed not worry at all. Working with them trained me a lot in “letting go”.
This time we had 24 kids and 20 senior high school students. Because of the number of the kids we didn’t have enough money to cover the whole expend. The kids they paid fee to attend and we were hoping the money they paid can cover the senior high school students’ fee as well. I shared this situation with the senior high school students and we were trying to get more kids to attend but it wasn’t work out. So instead of looking for more kids I was thinking how to find money to support the camp. I thought about many of my friend, my students’ parents quite support what I am doing, I could invite them to donated some money. I shared with lady A and she thought about another lady B whose daughter I am now doing one to one talk every week. Then I received a phone call from this lady B said she will like to cover all of the money which I needed for the camp fee. Thanks her so much, and can sense what I am doing been lead by a higher power.
Youth camp I worked with university students, the same they took on everything, and the same I was facing my “worry” and “trying control”. During the youth camp we let junior high school students took care of their basic living, so they needed to clean the classroom and the toilet by themselves, enter the kitchen to cook for the meals, and went to the market to buy food. Enter the kitchen was the biggest challenge. Most of them never cook before and was the first time cooking for 30 people. The first day they try to use electric pot to cook rice but they forget to plug the plug.
During the youth camp they also learned to schedule the timetable for the camp. They need to decide in the small group when they wanted to wake up in the morning, when for breakfast, lunch, dinner, when to go to bed, when for the first session to start. They need to think carefully otherwise no time for cooking or cleaning the classroom. After decide in the small group then they needed to negotiate in the big group so 30 of us agree the timetable together. There were a lot of patience and communication inside the negotiation.
I was in Caux for a week. Accompany two of my students there. They attend the internship program. It was nice to see so many familiar faces in Caux but not all of them I had chance to catch up. Everyone was so so busy with different things. It was nice to be there after the tiring camp I had in Taiwan. My time in Caux was relaxing and can get some rest to recover from the tiredness.
Then I went to UK for another week. I met some friends and tried to be a tourist. Most of the travel I did was for different programs and then I might have one or two days can look around. But this time in UK no program. Unusual feeling. It was nice to meet up with Keith and Kofi, two old friends from AFL2. I enjoyed looking around in London and Oxford and I also had two days enjoyed the countryside Lancashire.
Now, back to Taiwan, because of APYC I also met a lot of friends here. But I wasn’t attending the whole program because one of my secretaries went to join and I need to take on her work in the EQ office.
Thanks for reading and wish you a happy summer.

H.Y

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