This
summer has been a rollercoaster ride between my youth work, South Africa and
two children's summer camps. It's all good though, because there's nothing I
enjoy more than to work with youth. My last post was about me preparing to say
goodbye to Cape Town again. Once I got back in Holland, I had two days to prepare
myself for Trai He Thieu Nhi and didn't had time to write another post until
now.
Trai He
Thieu Nhi is a catholic summer camp for children of Vietnamese heritage in
Holland. At this camp, the children learn more about God and the Vietnamese
culture. They're prepared to receive their Holy Communion or Confirmation.
Although this is the
foundation of the camp, the most important thing for us as camp leaders is to
make sure that the kids have tons and tons of fun!
I used to attend these camps every summer ever since I was four years old. The thing I loved most about the camps is to hang out with my friends. These are the friends who I would only see once a year, but keep in touch with by writing letters (we didn't had e-mail or smart phones back in the days). This is probably the only reason why I still have Vietnamese friends. This is why I'm really glad that I get to contribute to keep this camp continuing for the next generations.
I used to attend these camps every summer ever since I was four years old. The thing I loved most about the camps is to hang out with my friends. These are the friends who I would only see once a year, but keep in touch with by writing letters (we didn't had e-mail or smart phones back in the days). This is probably the only reason why I still have Vietnamese friends. This is why I'm really glad that I get to contribute to keep this camp continuing for the next generations.
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| My Holy Communion class in 1992 |
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| Helvoirt, 1998 |
Trai He
Thieu Nhi 2012 has been a huge success. The kids were angels! They were so mild
and obedient that I was a bit in shock. They listened to everything that we
said... no sneaking out of their rooms in the middle of the night and going to
bed at a decent hour. I almost wanted to give the elder kids some tips on how to
break out, but I didn't. I remember my days as a kid during these camps; it was
a hobby to think of ways to break out of our rooms to annoy the camp leaders. It
was a good and fun competition between kids and camp leaders.
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| The angels of 2012 |
The
children were rather young this year so I'm pretty sure that they will come up
with some tricks for us in the coming years. I really enjoyed seeing the
children having a good time. We were blessed with a beautiful location, good
food, great weather, a lot of help from parents, very kind and fun children
which all let to this wonderful week.
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| Tôma: Philippe and I couldn't wish for a more wonderful group! |
The
thing that I'm most proud of is to see the next generation of camp leaders rise
to the occasion. We had a mixture of old, current and new generation camp leaders.
Our plan is to 'train' the new generation so that they will be ready to take
over in a couple of years. It is a lot to ask of these youngsters during their
first year of camp leadership. I saw them grow into their role as camp leaders
and am so so so proud of each and every one of them. They are the ones who have
made a difference in the experience of this camp for the children. I'm very
glad and grateful that I got to witness this.
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| Old, current & new generation of camp leaders |
Tuan,
Yvan, Lucia, Philippe, Patrick, Jimmy, Anthony & Terence,
thanks for
everything that you've put in to this camp.
Chi Nhi is very proud of you!!
Lots of
love,
Bao-Nhi
