AYF Corp blog
Raffi Karapetian
We are only two days from the end of our camp in Gyumri, and I can already feel how much I will miss the kids when the time to leave comes. The excitement and energy are reflected as soon as you walk through the doors of the Shirvanyan Center. Our day as counselors usually begins at 9:30 in the morning as we wait in the yard, greet kids who enter and play soccer or volleyball with those present to pass the time until opening.
At 10 AM camp begins as we get each group in line to sing Mshag Panvor, which many have only known for a week but sing as though they’ve known it for years. We close out the opening by doing stretches which are always a fun time.
We then enter the classrooms with our designated groups and kick off by feeding the kids breakfast which consists of sweat bread and yogurt while we discuss different topics. One of these topics has been teaching the kids basic English words and phrases and they’re ecstatic to learn.
We then move on to song practice for the competition on the last day. Each group must sing 4 songs,3 of which are chosen by the group while we have all been assigned the Artsakh anthem. Though there were some who had trouble with memorization or melody for the songs, they have really pulled through and surpassed my expectations compared to when I first heard them sing.
We follow this up by giving them free time, where many of them have taken a liking to making lanyards which are colorful strings that could be turned into either keychains or bracelets, and seem to be one of the kid’s favorite activities outside of those that we organize.
We end the days off by playing games in which two teams compete in order to gain points for the competition. Today we introduced the kids to a new game called ships and sailors in which they run back and forth when a side is called and have to group up when a number is shouted.
The kids were ecstatic and the game went extremely smoothly. The games are the last activity followed by the closing in which we all sing Mer Hayrenik and dismiss the kids from camp!
