10 - Years of Summer Camps in Kosovo organized by our Church. (September 2011)

Every year with the arrival of summer, children in Kosovo eagerly anticipate the beginning of summer camps held at their school. For the tenth consecutive year, the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, through its Central Children’s Office and many volunteers, held four summer camps for children in Malisheva, Kosovo. The camps, which lasted four days each, were held from August 14 to 31, 2011, in four villages (Begaj August 14-17, Drenoc August 18-21, Banjë August 23-26, and in Lower Carallukën 28-31 August). Twelve hundred children, ages 5-13, attended the camps.

The camp program was comprised of diverse activities such as songs, games, drama, and discussion groups. Each year a theme is chosen for the camp. This year’s theme was “Happiness,” hence the camp was named Camp Happiness. In addition to discussing various aspects of happiness and where it comes from, the camp leaders began each day with a short drama. The children learned songs that highlighted the theme. The children also enjoyed small group and large group games as well as crafts based on their ages. The joy-filled days of camp culminated in a concert celebration of poetry, song, and dance which parents attended and enjoyed.

The camps, as in previous years, were a huge success. Children enjoyed learning new things about happiness and were immensely entertained in the company of each other and their teachers. “Every year, children look forward to our arrival and treat us very warmly and with gratitude and with hope that we will meet again next year. But this year, we were especially greeted with warmth by the children in the village Drenoc because it was our first year of summer camps there. We received thanks from teachers, parents and relatives of the children. The camp staff was well prepared for their work having received a special training in teaching, recreation and child development—all to encourage children to achieve their full potential.” – commented one of the main coordinators of the camp, Gabriela Hoppe.