You may remember a while back that I blogged about our annual adolescent girls camp (Camp ALMA), put on by the volunteers in my region. Thanks to your support, we met our fundraising goal and were able to put on a really incredible 3-day camp for the girls from our sites! Here's a picture of some of the 60 girls listening to an HIV-positive speaker. Sexual health is always a big focus of our youth camps, since the topic is not addressed anywhere near adequately in schools or in the family.
In early June, it will be the boys turn- we will be putting on a 3-day camp (Camp VALOR) for a total of 50 adolescent boys from our sites across the region of Lambayeque. Our focus will be promoting the "well-rounded man"- through activities in agriculture and business, environment, future planning, nutrition, sexual health, and gender equality (fighting the ever-dominant machismo). So, in order to achieve our goal we need to raise money FAST, about $1,400 in the next month. A little goes a long way here in Peru! If you weren't able to donate fast enough to contribute to the girls' camp, here's your chance! Once we reach our goal, the link will close.
I can assure you through my experience in the girls camp that you will be contributing to a really special project. It is very rare that Peruvian teens in our region are allowed out of the house past 9pm, much less to sleep outside of the house for 2-days, so beyond the training and information that they get, this is an experience that they remember for a very, very long time. The girls from our camp in February still gush about the experience, posting and re-posting pictures on Facebook of their new friends from across the region! Moreover, our camps give teens a safe space to talk honestly about relationships, health, and other topics with their peers and Peace Corps Volunteers... the adolescents trust us enough to ask very personal questions, about their bodies, families, and futures.
As with all of our projects, a significant portion of the budget (40%) is coming from local community contributions and donated support. All donations made through this link are secure through the Peace Corps website and tax-deductible.
DONATE HERE!
A picture from last year's VALOR camp in our region:
Will you help us meet our fundraising needs? Please forward this link on to friends and family you think may be interested! The Peace Corps Volunteers of Lambayeque, Peru and our adolescent campers thank you!! Any questions feel free to email me or you can read more about the project in the donation link. Again, if you find the link closed, we have met our fundraising needs.
Thank you and sending all my love,
Kim
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