Destination: Hayastan: 7/14 - COAF English Camp

During the first two weeks in July, COAF hosted their first English language summer camp in my village and a couple other nearby ones. The participants were students from surrounding villages who have been taking intensive English classes throughout this past year. The day camp was two weeks long, and included lessons, games, sports, and even a 4th of July celebration! Most importantly, however, everything was done in English! No Armenian language whatsoever. Here's a summary of what we did...

Week One:
We had a variety of counselors: the COAF English teachers, some Armenian volunteers, and of course PCVs. During the first week, we didn't have quite as many PCV counselors as we'd hoped for, but the camp still went really well. We had a wonderful Armenian volunteer working with us in my village. She's a former FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) student, and spoke fluent English.
We had a 4th of July celebration at our cultural center. All of the students came together for it (all 90 of them!). The highlight of this day... introducing the kids to S'MORES. At first, many of the kids weren't interested in trying them... too shy, too nervous...but once they did, of course they couldn't get enough!
Throughout the week we also did a lot of ice breaker/team-building exercises, played kickball, sang silly camp songs (Great Big Moose, Papa Shark, etc.)... you get the idea.

Week Two:
During the second week, we had about nine PCVs in all helping out. It was much easier and less stressful! The big events this week was a trip to Sardarapat, a local historical monument, and a Talent Show on the last day. The latter pretty much took up a lot of time that otherwise would've been used for activities. But the kids and teachers really like to plan for a show, so I guess the time wasn't totally wasted. The show was a big success, after all. Some Peace Corps staff and a representative from the US Embassy even stopped by to watch. They all seemed to love it. The acts included songs, dance routines, and one funny game based off of an Armenian tv comedy show.

Overall, the camp was successful. There are a few things that will be changed for next year, of course. But the most important thing will not: ENGLISH, ENGLISH, ENGLISH. Seriously, it was great to give these students the opportunity to really practice their English skills. All English, all the time.