Reymontowka Summer Camp August 14-28, 2010

Thought of the Day: Don’t cry that it’s over, be happy that you did it.


We woke up to a cloudy rainy day. Once again, we had yet another yummy breakfast before us. Today is our last day and we were all sad that our two weeks just flew by.

First thing I did was to go to the computer room and make sure that I was ready for my last day of teaching. To my surprise, Alice and Marianne had the same thing in mind. Together with Dorota, we were all up in the computer room preparing for our classes.

When the first period began at 9:30 am, the students in each group practiced their Friday presentations and tried to polish up their English with their last day of lessons. The last two sessions of the morning were spent doing different games/activities. Alice was in charge of drawing/coloring. The campers came up with beautiful drawings of trees and flowers. Marianne was manning the card tables. Kinga and Mira were doing friendship bracelets. Marvin was the king of “Simon Says.” Kamila, Ania and Eli were doing party games. Ivy was in-charge of the Uno table. Dorota oversaw all the activities. Once again, it was a successful and enjoyable program.

After another delicious lunch, Marianne and Kinga helped Dorota clean the computer/supply room. Before we knew it, we had dinner at 5:00 pm since the presentation of the students was scheduled for 6pm. Everyone commented on the delicious fish.

Parents started coming before 6pm. The presentation was another five star production. It opened with Alice’s class singing “If you are happy and you know it clap your hands.” It was so cute with each camper drawing a happy face. Alice had her own happy face. Next was Ania and Issac’s class doing “Hokey Pokey.” Marianne’s group sang “It’s a Wonderful World,” accompanied by props of a beautiful rainbow and roses. Mira and Kinga’s group did a skit of a typical day in New York. Ivy’s students also did a skit of “Are We Ready,” where the bus never got rolling cause each kid had something to do and finally the bus driver forgot the keys to the bus. Marvin’s group did tongue twisters with props. Finally, Eli and Kamila’s group did two versions of New York New York, one by Frank Sinatra and one by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. The evening closed with a bonfire and barbeque for the families of the campers.

All agreed the two weeks was a rousing success.

Thought for the Day: Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you.

After classes today the volunteers made a trip to Majdanek, the Nazi Concentration Camp in Lublin.

The volunteers (without nine year old Isaac who stayed behind but with the teacher Kinga) ate their lunch sandwiches in the van. We saw a thirty minute orientation movie about the rise of the Nazis and this Concentration Camp. A private guide, who had been engaged by one of the volunteers, brought us around the camp, explaining in English how the camp worked and how the various buildings functioned. He explained that when the Soviets liberated Majdanek, the Nazis had no time to destroy the buildings and accordingly this was what was unique to Majdanek. It is the only Concentration Camp that is still fully functional and so it is the only camp throughout Europe that has the original gas chambers still intact. Unfortunately, the kitchen had burned down about three weeks and ago and the fire is under investigation. Our guide explained how the Jewish people were treated harsher than other prisoners and that some 60,000 had been gassed after which their bodies were burnt in either funeral pyres or ovens. At the same time we were there, a group of about 50 Israeli high school students were also touring the concentration camp. It was uplifting to see them proudly carrying their large Israeli flags, thereby underscoring the stark reality that the ashes of those Jewish people who died during the holocaust were the seeds to the birth of the State of Israel in 1948.
On the way home, we passed through Lublin and could see the old town, the Catholic University and the castle from the van. We arrived at the Reymontowka camp at 7:15 p.m. for dinner.

The last activity was the students performing the Wedding Ceremony. The wedding ceremony received a five star review from the volunteers. Among the dozen weddings, two volunteers, Eli and Mira, were married to Filip and Kamila.

Thought for the Day: Remember the 3R’s. Respect for Self, Respect for others; and Responsibility for your actions.

As we survey the remaining activities for the week it’s clear that we’re definitely in the home stretch. There are only a few more hours of classroom time to fill but by now we’re pros at running to the resource room for creative ideas, materials, games, and an exchange of helpful hints among each other. Today the volunteers agreed to use one hour to teach the students a few phrases in various foreign languages. Among all of us, and with the help of Kinga and Wiktoria, we presented 9 languages, including Mandarin, Hebrew, and Japanese. Our assignment for Friday is to prepare our individual groups to do a short presentation in English for the parents on the last night of camp, so we were hard at work on that project. In the evening we were invited to a delightful program on Polish culture prepared by the campers in our honor. We ended with a bonfire and a uniquely American touch. With ingredients brought from the US the campers enjoyed s’mores. It was really gratifying to see how many of them felt comfortable enough to chat with us. It makes us feel our time spent in Reymontowka was definitely worthwhile.

Thought for the Day: Don’t push the river, it will flow by itself.

After a delicious breakfast, I went to my class and we learned some English. We practice our dance for the Friday presentation. We played some games outside. We also played some games inside. We were served with a delicious strawberry soup for lunch. After lunch I went outside and played with my friends while the other volunteers stayed and discussed this week’s schedule and the next day’s presentation.
Later in the day, we all watched the “Talent Show” presented by the campers.

Thought for the Day: Nature can provide for the needs of people; (she) can’t provide for the greed of people.

Classes ran smoothly. The last period was given to the volunteers and other staff members presenting songs to the group accompanied by music. Alice taught her class the song, “If you are happy and you know it, clap your Hands”. The campers sang with her. Other songs were introduced by Marianne and Dorota. After lunch, Alice presented many words of wisdom read by the lunch group.

Then Dorota gave the volunteers homework for the week. Lots of it as in the Polish custom. In addition, our goals and whether they were being met was discussed.

Thought for the Day: Always be prepared for your day.

I woke up to the loud noises around me of my family getting ready for class.

Today we spent the first class finding new ways for our bodies to twist and turn like never before during Twister. During the second class we spent time learning new vocabulary for transportation words, such as limousine. After the second class it was time for presentations. Alice led it off with a bang. Florida turned out to have many surprising things I never knew about, even though I’ve been there… twice. California was next up and Marianne didn’t let us down. In fact her presentation of California was so persuasive I’m guaranteed to go there and visit all the major cities. Next was New York, New York, presented by yours-truly. My sister made a great presentation on Connecticut which all the kids including myself loved. Isaac and my Father then completed the tri-state area, with a presentation on our summer house in the Catskills. Although the highlight for all during their presentation was Isaac’s notoriously kicking my father the whole time during the presentation, causing an uproar of laughter in the room. But once again the best was saved for last… my mother took the initiative by presenting on the Philippines, her native country.

Finally after all our presentations it was time for lunch. After lunch, Marianne and Alice began their journey to a hostel, while my family hung around until later that night, for the land of our father’ s and their father’s, Belarus.

Thought for the Day: Service is the rent you pay for the room you use while you are here on earth.

As I walk out the door I feel pretty cold. Another delicious meal sits on the table in front of me. Kinga and I made our way to class. Today was a pretty cooperative day where we taught about American Indians first. After, we did some worksheets, word searches, hidden pictures, apples to apples, and played Uno. For the 3rd and 4th lesson we watched “Bedtime Stories”, which I liked a lot.

After dinner Marvin, Marianne, Alice and Dorota went to a folk concert with performers from Siedlce and Slovakia. There was folk dancing and singing. They also met Dorota’s husband. Another great day at Reymontowka.