Corrie Sample's Venezuela Adventures - 4
Master Guide Camporee Activities

April 7 to 15, 2006






Hey everyone!
 
Sorry for the long silence.  I have been at a Camporee for the last 9 days, which was a lot of fun!  It was like a Pathfinder Camporee only it wasn't for Pathfinders.  It was for Master Guides.  Here in Venezuela the Master Guides have a club of their own instead of just helping with regular Pathfinders.  We left for the campout on the 7th of April and didn't get back until the 16th.  But it sure was fun!  I will send pictures when possible.  At this point the computer I am on does not have a USB port so I can't download my pictures from my camera. 

The first few days of the campout were pretty laid back.  The 7th was Friday and we spent the day setting up camp.  We were given a rectangular piece of ground that we had to build a fence around and clear off all the savannah weeds and grasses.  We then built a kitchen shelter using poles and tarp and set up all the tents.  The Camporee didn't actually start until Monday night so we had lots of time to set up camp.  My club (the club from the local Colegio) was also in charge of decorating the main meeting shelter which is why we had to get there so early. 

That first Sabbath we had a worship with our club then in the afternoon walked to a nearby waterfall where we swam for several hours.  How refreshing!  Sunday and Monday were spent refining our facilities.  The guys put up an addition to our kitchen shelter and built in shelves for suitcases and changing rooms for the boys and girls.  The reason for this is that camp regulation stipulated that no suitcases could be left in the tents.  Nothing but bedding could be in the tents during inspection each morning.  This was very annoying, but at least we had a place to change where our suitcases were. 

We also had to dig our 'toilets' and build a shelter around them for privacy.  My club was quite fancy because the leaders had brought toilets.  These were put over the hole in the ground so they could be sat on.  To flush them, we had to pour water into the toilet bowl and paper went into a garbage bag conveniently located near the toilet.  We were so up town that we even had a guys bathroom and a girls bathroom.  Pretty spiffy, I thought :) 

Anyways, Monday night they held the opening ceremonies complete with flags, banners, marching, and even a marching band.  Then on Tuesday the main schedule started.  Up by 6:00 am, club worship at 6:30, flag raising at 7:00, morning meeting at 7:15, breakfast at 8:30, inspection at 9 and so on.  They definitely kept us busy :)  Usually by 10:30 the sports competitions had started and I actually got to play on one of the teams! 

The name of the game was kikimbol, which to me sounds like a Pidgen word from PNG :)  And that is exactly what you do, you kick the ball.  Actually, the rules parallel the rules of baseball complete with 3 strikes and you're out, only a soccer ball is used.  The bases are set up in the same way.  Each team  consists of 7 girls.  The outfield has a 'pitcher', one player at each base and 2 in the outfield and one short stop.  The pitcher roles the ball to home base where the girl up to kick is waiting to kick it.  You don't want to kick a foul ball because they are counted as strikes, and you don't want to kick the ball into the air within catching range because if it is caught you are out.  It was really fun!  I only got to play because one of the other girls got run over by a runner and got a big bruise on her leg during the first play of the game.  We won our first game so we got to play again a couple of days later. 

Other sports included volleyball, soccer, and another game that I don't know the name of, nor to I know how to play it.  They also had tug-of-war competitions, song competitions, and marching exhibitions.  The marching here is also quite different from the marching in the U.S., though I don't know how to describe it.  There was also a meeting each evening that usually went from 7pm to 9:30pm.  I got a lot of good Spanish practice :)  There was also a class in sign language that was offered and I tried to learn what they were teaching, but it was awfully hard when the explanations of what it meant were in Spanish, lol.  I learned enough to be able to do two songs in sign language, one of which we performed in the middle of Santa Elena during a grand march on the second Sabbath. 

I got a lot of stares as I walked in the 'march' (no one was marching in time to the music) because I was the only white person there.  (though I'm just as dark as some of them, my blonde hair and blue eyes gives me away :) 

And now I am back in Maurak trying to find things to keep me busy.  But I do have my work cut out for me.  For a while I thought I would go to Chiricayen and work out there, but I don't get the feeling that they especially want me to come.  Besides which, the main building is finally nearing completion and it desperately needs to be cleaned up.  The metal beams holding the cement roof had a lot of cement drip and dry on them.  So they need to be sanded and painted in order to keep them from rusting. 

So I will be staying busy, though I won't get much in the way of Spanish practice.  However, for that I will be attending quite a few different classes at the Colegio to listen and possibly speak some as well.  I have quite a few friends there now that I am comfortable trying to speak with.  So that is what has been going on around here.  I hope life has been going well for all of you and that you can see God's hand working and blessing. 

With lots of love,

 

Corrie

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