From 20 to 30 September, the National Children’s Office of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania in collaboration with World Vision, organized a children’s day camp with the theme: “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself”. The children day camp was held at Thavor, in Tirana. (Ex- Shalom Center)     Eighty children, between the ages of 6 -12 years old, participated in the children day camp.
    They came from the Factory of Tractors neighborhood, in Tirana. The participants were mostly from families with difficult economic conditions. The theme of the camp was: “Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.”     During the camp children spent time in large group and small group activities. Each small group was given different names, such as love, respect, freedom etc.
    The program of the camp consisted of discussions in small groups about the value of being good people; about the great love that God has for each of us; and the love that we should show to one another. Other activities in the program included children’s songs; large and small group games; and arts and craft projects etc. During the first nine days of the camp, children learned many important things.       One day during the camp was called “Olympic Games” day. Children played games for the whole time of the program, and in the beginning of the games, a teacher explained to them the meaning of the Olympic Games.
    How important it is to respect each other during the game, and to be happy when someone wins, and to be honest and to enjoy the games and not to compete with anger.     The last day of the camp the children and their teachers organized a festival. The children performed before each other and before their parents what they had learned during the camp. Parents were very happy to be part of the festival and many of them expressed appreciation for the beauty and the values of these kinds of activities.
    Some of the parents visited the program at other times, and they were happy to see their children participating in these activities.     Eight (8) people from the staff of the National Children’s Office of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania offered their time to organized and conduct this camp. They were all trained by the office for each part of the program prior to the camp.
      They worked hard and with joy, for the children in this poor neighborhood of Tirana, knowing that these kinds of activities teach children about the love of Christ and Christian values. 

    The 10 days children camp was very successful. We measure our success through the number of children participating in the camp, opinions and comments of the parents, the teachers, and the whole community. 
 
 
Prepared and translated by Ana Kërçyku
Edited by Pamela Anastasia Barksdale
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