My heart is bursting. Look what I got today on WhatsApp!
The girls are going to stay at the Hogar all summer because of the virus. But is that keeping them from having Campamento 2020? No!
Above is their list of camp activities that they will lead. They are even getting t-shirts to dye (or decorate). I am beyond proud of them and I hope everyone else involved in camp is, too. These girls are so resilient!
From Sister Fifi… my translations follow. “Las niñas mañana inician su campamento.” [The girls tomorrow are starting their camp.]
“Me han hecho una lista de todo lo que van hacer😂😂😂” [They have made a list of everything they do]
“Ellas dicen que son las americanas.” [They said that they are the Americans.]
“Y van a dirigir.” [and they are going to lead.] “Les voy a dar materiales de los que dejaron.” [I am going to give them the materials you left.] “Hoy a comprarle camisetas porque quieren pintar.” [Today I bought them t-shirts because they want to dye them.] Estan muy motivadas. [They are very motivated.]
“Este año no podrán ir de vacaciones por el virus.” [This year they won’t be able to go on vacation (home to their families) because of the virus.]
“Cada una tiene su personaje.” [Each girls has their own personality.]
I am so proud of them for making the best of a tough situation. And Sister Fifi is so supportive of them. I hope everyone else feels the same!! So many people have been a part of campamento, either traveling, volunteering here, or donating. It’s been such a blessing in my life and I’m humbled that it’s continuing even in 2020!!
Campamento 2019
I hope they send us pictures from Campamento 2020!! If so, I’ll post them!
Hoo boy, got that message loud and clear. Like Gilda Radner’s Litella, I’ll say “Never mind.” Take a look at your e-mail for another idea. I’m leaving these content ideas from below on this page in case you need ideas.
We had our first virtual Campamento meeting! It was a little bumpy, but together we met our goal.
Our goal was to keep moving toward campamento goals given our constraints today: no travel, no shipping, unreliable internet connection at the home. I’m e-mail this info with some other details to people who’ve shown an interest. If you do want to participate, but didn’t get my e-mail, please let me know.
The Plan
We settled on sending a weekly letter to Sister Fifi. Everyone who wants will take a turn creating a letter (signup genius schedule through e-mail, lmk if you didn’t get the meeting follow-up e-mail and want to). You can put together the letter at anytime, just send it to Sister on the date you signed up for. She can share it with the girls. See the e-mail for a schedule to sign up for a week and more detailed instructions. Copy me on the e-mail to let me know you sent it 🙂
Spanish
They should be sent in Spanish, making it easier on them. If you don’t have a family member, friend, or resource to translate, let me know and I’ll try to put you in touch with someone. If you want to be a translator, please let me know. I’m learning Spanish so am going to use this time to practice what I’m learning. Of course that may make for simpler messages, but that’s OK.
Ideas for Topics
We brainstormed ideas on what to include in the letter. We’re not going for a consistent format, but consistent timing. So each letter should reflect what you want to share or do.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Photos or short video of you, family, friends, work in quarantine life (remember their bandwidth is low)
Stories from what’s been going on with you and your family
Prayers (that you’ve written or like), prayer requests (pray for my sister who is ill), prayer offerings (we are praying for everyone in quarantine at the hogar, the Sisters and the girls. We pray for everyone who is suffering. We pray for everyone who is helping.)
Bible stories – or women of faith. Current women or Saints, or Biblical women or other stories the kids would like. A link on formed.org that you think they would like. (I’m sending them directions for that separately)
Songs – sheet music, link to recording. Lyrics with Spanish translation or a Spanish song (see Father Michael Joncas’ new song Shelter Me, does anyone want to translate the lyrics?)
Physical activities – video or link to video of activities like Zumba, yoga, workouts, or games they can do.
Notes from other people – in case they have something short and timely to add.
Questions about what they are learning in distance learning, what have they been doing, links or pics they want to share, etc.
Guidelines
Do not call out (i.e. name or somehow specify) any one girl. Don’t call out a group unless you’re calling out everyone. For example, if you want to say something special to the pecenas (smallest girls), be sure to say something special to the other three age groups as well.
Location: Video Conference. Contact me for the link.
Opening Reflection
Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity to meet this evening. May we engage with each other with faith and perseverance. May we manage this new situation with wisdom and value. May we speak and serve with integrity and purpose.
Lord, we invite you to work within us today. Amen
Introductions
Let’s go around and introduce ourselves.
New Normal
It looks like we won’t travel in July 2020 due to the global pandemic. We always think Campamento will always happen “Si Dios quiere.” Of course God wants us to do camp, so of course it’ll happen again. I’m confident that we can do something, but it won’t be the same as last year. I’m inspired by friends’, my employer’s, and the Church’s response to this virus, they are figuring out a new way – whether it’s:
a golden birthday parade, complete with a police car, fire trucks, electric scooters, decorate minivans. It really livened up our sleepy neighborhood!
my employer’s first “road show” to major cities in the US plus London is moving to an online series of events on EventMobi
What’s cool about these is they are all redesigned events under new design constraints. Our design constraints for camp this year are: no travel, no shipping, unreliable/low bandwidth internet.
Campamento has been such a special experience for me and so many others as well as for the girls and Sisters. My hope is that we can find a way to maintain a relationship even though we can’t travel. We might even be able to include some Americans who couldn’t travel but wanted to be a part of it. As a group, let’s review our principles.
5. Deepen our faith by experiencing the universal, catholic church
Brain Writing!
In this exercise, each of us will simply start an e-mail with a few rough ideas for solving the problem in an e-mail. Each e-mail is then sent to someone else, who reads it and adds their own ideas and forwards it to the next. This process is repeated until everyone has had a chance to add to each original e-mail. The e-mails can then be gathered, ready for discussion.
The big advantage of brain-writing is that it makes sure everybody is given the opportunity to have their thoughts and ideas thoroughly considered by the group. This avoids the loudest or most extroverted people (I’m guilty!) unintentionally dominating the sessions.
Ideas for solutions “Meeting our goals with travel restrictions”
Next, let’s look at each and consider the ideas. I don’t think we’ll come up with a final answer yet, we might even prototype/test some ideas, depending on what we come up with. We can whittle down based on realities of their internet, travel, and shipping. Then, what people will sign up for.
Next Steps Action items/owners Next meeting
Closing Prayer
Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are changing. God alone is changeless. Patience attains the good. One who has God lacks nothing. God alone fills out needs.
Each year we have an uplifting pop theme song for camp.
And 2020 will be no different. Here are your top suggestions for songs this year. Slow, upbeat, uplifting songs work the best. Out of the past songs, it’s hard to choose a favorite, but one is “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars . We translate the lyrics so the girls can read the uplifting message. It’s a fun way to teach English.As well as the theme song, we bring down CD(s) of fun/popular songs from the last few years. It will include the runners up from this list.
If you have suggestions for that, put them in the comments here.
Hopefully we can bring DVDs down for “Movie Nights”. Look for DVDs or Bluerays with Spanish audio.
This article by the Guardian in 2018 hit me hard – challenging me to reflect on Campamento.
Are we – travelers, supporters, and I – “sustain[ing] practices and institutions that actually do harm“?
Is Campamento “about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege“?
“Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción” sounds horrific and is now closed. This was a Catholic institution. Could this happen to our Hogar? Is our Hogar like the more humane but “chaotic, impersonal and lacking stimulation” Hogar?
How about this description the reporter gave of her feelings after a summer of working at a home for boys in Detroit?
“I now understand that I did leave Rodrick with something: a sense of abandonment. Every single boy in that institution already had abandonment issues. If it was hard for me to leave these boys behind, how much harder was it for them to see me go? And the next adult who came for a few weeks? And the next one? They might have learned that there are people who love them and will take them on walks. But they also learned that these people always leave.“
Is our Hogar spending “not much money […] on its most vulnerable, disabled residents, while a lot of investment has gone towards making the volunteer experience as comfortable as possible“?
On my first read of this article, I was reading it defensively – thinking “That’s not what we do.” “Our Hogar is not like that.” Then, I read it again with a more open mind.
Are we sustaining practices that actually do harm? The reality is we aren’t sustaining anything. The home does not exist to host Campamento. Campamento is a small, optional part of a comprehensive program that is the Hogar. The Sisters provide the foundation of the Hogar. Campamento (I hope) merely enhances the program that they design and run.
As for doing harm – I’ve seen the opposite. Many girls thrive at the family-like setting at the Hogar. (For those who don’t like it for whatever reason, they can return to their homes.) They get basics like safety, a home, food, school, tutoring (many of their parents are illiterate), values, self-esteem, chores, affection, and support from each other.
An old practice, not used any more, was to invite girls to camp before joining the Hogar, to see if she’d like it. One year a new girl came and she had a very tough exterior, was very skeptical of camp (pretty reasonable from a kid who’s never seen anything like the Hogar or experienced anything like camp.) She stuck with it though. Two days later, another new girl joined. The next girl’s response was to cry all day. I’ll never forget what girl #1, with her 2 days off experience told girl #2 “This place is not that bad. The women here are nice and they feed you three times a day.” Girl #2 wiped away her tears, then joined the game going on. Both girls thrived for a while at the home. Neither stayed through graduation.
The education piece is major, even if a girl leaves before graduation, she receives a much better education than she would have otherwise. Many continue their education, even after leaving the home. But it is harder without the support they get at the Hogar.
By “enhancing”, we run a 2 week summer camp with: Bible study themed “Women of Faith”, educational enrichment focusing on math and English, as well as crafts, games, songs, skits, and free time. Our focus is on self-confidence and self-esteem. Many well-off families send their kids to similar camps over the summer. We also work with the director of the hogar on the curriculum to make sure we’re a positive influence at the home.
Over the last 19 years, we’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the Sisters, the girls, and even the community. Here’s my two favorite: A new driver joined the home. At the end of camp, when he was bringing us back to the airport, he said “Many groups come to visit the girls, bringing donations or holding a party. I’ve only seen the girls cry when you leave.” The other is when Sister Fifi took the reins as director of the hogar soon after camp the previous year. She said that she was looking forward to camp and can’t believe it’s finally here. I asked her why, because summer is usually a break for her and camp is a ton of work for her! She said “Since I joined, all I heard was ‘at camp we do this, at camp we do that. The girls talk about camp all year long.” At the end of camp, she told us that she now knows why!
I hope each traveler gets a deep spiritual and personal experience at camp, as well as fun!
Tuesday, February 4, 7-9 PM, Church of Saint Edward Room 125 You are invited to join the Church of Saint Edward’s 18th Annual Mission this year. Support a social justice organization – the Teresa Toda Home, a home for very poor girls in Azua, Dominican Republic with a summer camp in July 2020.
This trip is for women over 18 and mother-daughter pairs for daughters over 14. We have openings from July 4-12 and July 11-19 for travelers interested in sharing a spiritual experience with young women and girls from another country.
Our camp theme is “Women of Faith”. We study bible stories, play music, make crafts, perform skits, and do other activities. We pray, exchange stories, share love, and spend time with the girls. Through the activities they learn English, enjoy crafts, and build self-esteem.
Each trip is deeply touching and spiritual. Special gifts you may share are patience with kids, crafting and beading talents, or your professional experience.
Is 2020 your year to follow the Pope’s lead on social justice, charity, adventure, spiritual experiences, fellowship, growth, and fun? If so, answer the call to travel with us this summer or help from Minnesota.
Please contact Ann McGuire at annnmcguire@gmail.com to RSVP to our kick-off meeting and take a look at this blog site.
Don’t miss the first-ever Christmas Card Making and Signing Event at St. Ed’s for the Hogar.
We will make about 50 cards for the girls, Sisters, and staff at the hogar. We’ll all sign all of them. Next, we’ll send them to the home so they (si Dios quiere) make it there by the Feast of Kings January 6, which is what they celebrate with presents and a party at the hogar.
It will be Monday, December 9, 7-9 PM at St. Ed’s. Let me know if you you’re coming or have questions or ideas.
In the meantime, I just discovered another blog, seemingly unrelated to our mission here, but it is! You can read about her mission and how it’s impacted her way of thinking. I’m inspired to write how Campamento has changed my ways of thinking, my beliefs as well. In the meantime, check out https://wanderingpine.com/2019/11/10/why-i-pick-up-trash-and-things-i-learned-as-a-groundskeeper/ 🙂
The Gospel today, Luke 19:1-10, was the story of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector. He was a sinner, like all of us. When Jesus came to Jericho, he wanted to get closer to Jesus, to see him. But Zacchaeus was short and the crowds were large, so he climbed a sycamore tree. You know the story… Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ for dinner – which shocked the townspeople. But no one should have been surprised – Jesus was being consistent. And the meal made a big impact on Zacchaeus’ life!
Jericho was famous for their trees. Zacchaeus did what he could – climbed a sycamore tree – to get closer to Jesus. Click here for more about the poetry and meaning of the Middle East sycamore tree.
Some believe Zacchaeus climbed this sycamore tree
What is your sycamore tree, your way to get closer to God? I’ll invite you to consider joining Campamento 2020 to spend some time with God’s children. It’s your opportunity to get away from your normal routine and get closer to God.
December 9, 7-9 PM in the auditorium at Church of Saint Edward is a chance to meet past travelers, learn more about Campamento, and make Christmas cards for the girls, Sisters, and staff at the home. We’ll have the materials and design ideas. Bring a pair of good paper scissors. RSVP by commenting below.
“Mindful Breathing” and “Proper Breathing” information has been coming at me from many sources lately. I am practicing this to be more calm and also to reduce stage-fright (or more accurately Webinar-fright for a webinar 9/26). I am feeling some of the benefits, but need more practice.
Breathing techniques are free and available to the everyone who is, well, breathing. Breathing techniques help you live in the present moment, but of course, I’m thinking future – we should schedule time for this at Camp, for the girls (part of circle time?) and for us (mornings and/or kick off daily meetings) next year. Take a look at this Scientific America article for more information and let me know your thoughts. Proper Breathing Brings Better Health
Speaking of next year, we have some exciting plans underway. I’ll keep you up to date when the plans are firmed. Keep an eye in your mailbox for a question about if you’re planning to join in 2020 and the week would work for you. This year, July 4th is on a Saturday, so, should the first week by the 4th, 5th, 6th or the 11th? Rank your choices below. Hopefully we have enough travelers for two weeks in 2020!
Let me know!
Breathe (5 seconds in, 5 seconds out) back to the present . This year we’re requesting monthly “Prayers of the Faithful” for the Sisters, girls, or community as it makes sense. Last month we prayed that the girls has a successful start to their new school year! If you have ideas for October, let me know.
Teresa Toda Home and Church of Saint Edward, 17th Camp, Our 22nd Year Together
“The girls look forward to campamento all year long.“
Sister Fifi, Director of the Home, to the travelers
Dates June 18-25, 2019
Travelers
Abby Rinowski, Jeane Peters, Jane Konkoly, Ann McGuire, Emma Nelson, Desiree Green, Michele Cowling
All the girls wearing their Campamento 2019 T-shirts
Zumba and the Holy Spirit
This year, Debbie Gibbs, first-time 2018 traveler, offered to lead a Zumba party to benefit Campamento in two ways: promoting Campamento in general and providing the opportunity to support the home through gym shoe donations. Wow, parishioners, neighbors, and friends filled half the social hall. They saw a presentation about camp, then got to sample the spirit of Campamento by doing on of our favorite activities there: dance!
Zumba 2019 – a new Campamento tradition?
About 50 people came – some had never danced Zumba before. Others were excited to dance with this instructor visiting us from Washington DC.
Check out these dancers!The not-camera shy Zumba DancersVisit to Paisley Park before heading back to Washington DC – five stars
The Holy Spirit was working with us this year again in mysterious ways. This was the first year we provided the opportunity to help purchase shoes through donations in January (no mystery yet, except that Debbie offered to fly to Minnesota in January ❄️). Then in February our source for the gym shoes, Payless Shoes, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy (not a mystery – many retailers have been closing lately). Payless announced they would be discounting their shoes to liquidate their inventory. In the past, this would have been a crisis, but this year, we had the money to purchase the shoes!
White Tennis Shoes
Michelle Padua, past traveler and on-going supporter, and I each chose four stores to scour for the shoe sizes we needed. In the past, this would have been a crisis, but this year, for the first time, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we already had the money to purchase the shoes! Our Parish Administrator, Beth Schorle managed the finances for Campamento, including supporting our last-minute shopping spree.
When things fall into place like this, I believe that’s the Holy Spirit affirming our work by assisting us. We call these events “camp miracles”. Through Campamento, I’ve seen more of these then I ever thought possible.
Cutting and Kitting Night
Cutting and Kitting night was a huge success again this year. It’s so fun to see past travelers, future travelers, and volunteers committed to coming back each year to help how they can. Cutting and Kitting Night makes our craft time at camp a lot more efficient and organized. Thank you to the 35 volunteers!
Donations
Unique Donation = Unique Packing Challenges
Thank you to parishioners and friends for the donations. The Sisters and girls appreciate them so much. A friend offered a thoughtful gift this year – these boxes with sections for organizing things. They were used for a lab and were about to be discarded and this friend thought girls at the home would like to use them. To pack them and the other generous donations of medicines, socks, underwear, jewelry making supplies, and other things into our suitcases, we took everything out of packages and packed them in the boxes. It was slick; all donated items fit into our suitcases.
As well as the shoes from Zumba, Parishioners and friends donated OTC medicines, vitamins, Spanish books, and other requested donations.
Overview of Campamento
We structure Campamento like a Vacation Bible School, customized to the girls’ needs. Our theme was and will continue to be “Women of Faith”. We chose this theme because the Sisters who run the home are women of faith. The travelers and girls continue to grow in faith. Studying women of faith from the Bible, the Saints, or other faithful women provide relatable lessons for the girls.
Each day we study one (or sometimes two) women of faith. At opening ritual, one of the girls reads a Bible passage or a passage related to the woman of faith. We then discuss what happened in the story.
Next, we break into age based groups, who then rotate through stations. At one station, the girls reflect on the characters they share with the woman, and what they’d like to develop and explore other lessons related to the Bible story. The other two stations are English and math. When the stations are done, we all get together again to do a craft that relates to the woman we studied.
Reflection Station with DesireeEnglish with MichelleMath with Abby
Instead of stations, the oldest girls work on life skills that can help them now and in the future. This year, the program was based on “Getting to Yes” a classic business book by Harvard negotiation professors. We have three curricula we rotate based on “Getting to Yes”, “The Power of a Positive No”, and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens”. The girls benefit from getting the material more than once.
Negotiation with Jeane
Formal camp activities are about half the day. The other half of the day, we take an excursion to girls’ home neighborhoods, go to the beach or pool, or do other unstructured fun activities.
Family visit
Background
The Church of Saint Edward has had a relationship with Hogar Teresa Toda, a girls’ home run by Carmelite nuns, since 1998.
The relationship began when Bloomington Rotarians dug a well for the home. The Rotarians had only planned to dig another well in the region, but the Sisters convinced them to dig a well for the new home. After digging and digging, the crew was not hitting water. The prospects were looking grim until the Sisters gathered the girls in a circle around the hole. In the limited Rotarian Spanish and Carmelite English, the Rotarians asked “What’s going on?” The Sister and director of the home said, “You dig, we pray.” Within minutes, the crew hit water, enough water for years and years to come. After that success, the Sisters expressed interest in maintaining a relationship with an American organization. This was not in the scope of the Bloomington Rotary, but someone there knew a Saint Edward’s parishioner.
Sue Kellett and Vi Lee headed down on cheap ($98 each!) tickets the following winter to see the place first hand. They saw the good work that the sisters and girls were doing at the home. They asked what the Sisters would want from a relationship with the Church of Saint Edward – money, supplies, clothing? No, they wanted to build a personal and spiritual relationship with parishioners through a summer camp, or “Campamento.”
The girls live in the home because their families don’t have the resources to support them to thrive. Many mothers have died in childbirth or due to malnutrition or other poverty related complications. Other mothers work long hours for very little pay and cannot supervise the girls while they are working. Many of the girls do have extended family. They are not “up for adoption”. The girls are healthy, well behaved girls with capacity to succeed in school.
The girls live in the home during the school year. They attend the Catholic school in Azua. Two times per month the girls return to their families. In this way the girls maintain a connection to their roots and the girls provide a positive influence in the community. Many of the girls return from these home visits hungry and dirty, but they are maintaining these important bonds. In the summer, the girls return to their families except for two weeks when they go back to the home for Campamento. Before our relationship the Sisters ran a camp. In 2002, we started by running one week or two weeks. This year, we had enough travelers to lead a one week camp.
Goals
These are the five top goals we have for the Church of St. Edward/Hogar Teresa Toda relationship.
Goal #1 Enjoy a balanced relationship where we all benefit.
For Campamento this year, we gave our time, our talents, and treasure, and we received much more in return. The Sisters’ hospitality is very generous. They make sure we are well fed (delicious mangoes!), hydrated, and safe. They run a generator to make sure we have electricity. The girls make sure we eat first at the family style meals. This is embarrassing to some of us, but we respect the honor. We received a spiritual lift, a cultural exchange, their love, mind and heart expanding experiences. After a break from our normal lives, we returned energized and excited to be back home. We appreciate the material wealth we take for granted every day.
We get to witness the goodness in the simple life that they live. The kids make up their own games, know what fruit to pick and eat off the trees, and share with each other. These girls do chores with minimal complaints. Compared to some children here, they are very resourceful and responsible. I (Ann) came home with a renewed idea of what kids 6-18 years old are capable of (to the chagrin of my 15 and 18-year-old sons).
The girls and the Sisters benefit from the Campamento experience, although we are a lot of work! The girls get a lot of attention from us. They get the comfort that we return each year to be with them. The girls get English practice and math tutoring. The Sisters get a break in their routine. We hope that camp helps the program that the Sisters have developed by providing a small incentive for the girls to work hard, follow the rules, and stay at the home for another year. Sister Fifi enjoyed her fourth camp this year. Each year, she tells us that the girls talk about camp all year long. That is high praise which inspires us to return year after year.
It’s also a privilege to be able to witness the Holy Spirit through the Sisters’ lives. As Carmelite Sisters of San Jose, they turn over their lives to serve the children. Like San Jose (Saint Joseph) took care of Jesus even though He was not his biological child, the Sisters take care of these girls and other children who are not their biological children through medicine, education, and pastoral outreach. Carmelite Sisters wear a wedding ring – signifying that they are “married to Jesus”. I admire their commitment. They are role models in faith as well as in their actions.
Goal #2 Make many connections with Saint Edward’s parishioners and the Hogar Teresa Toda so that more benefit from the relationship.
Each year we make many connections between the Saint Edwards community and the Hogar Teresa Toda. This year was no different.
The entire Parish contributes through the Social Justice budget. The parish donated $2,000 to offset camp costs. In this way, every parishioner is a part of the trip, even if they cannot travel themselves or help out in other ways.
Some parishioners, past travelers, and friends made cash donations as well. This went toward new beds, school uniforms and other items needed for the girls.
More than 35 parishioners, travelers, and past travelers help at the annual “Cutting and Kitting Night” where we prepare the crafts. Doing this helps make the craft part of camp run smoothly. Michelle Berndt designed, purchased the materials, and prepared the crafts for cutting and kitting night for this year.
Three of the new beds from donations from St. Ed’s parishioners and friends.Girls led us on a tour of their rooms – the matching sheets, blankets, and curtains were donated by a local community member.
Our spouses, families, and friends all help out when needed, driving up to and from the airport and keeping our families running smoothly when we prepare for the trip and are away on the trip.
The Church provides storage for supplies and donations throughout the year.
We use the Parish copier for Travelers’ guides and Girls’ journals.
Many pray for us, especially when we are mentioned in the Prayers of the Faithful at the Masses.
The Sisters, the girls, and everyone involved with Campamento very much appreciate all these ways that Saint Edwards Parishioners and friends support Campamento. We hope everyone feels they contributed and enjoyed doing it.
Goal #3 Organize so that the Campamento does not rely on one parishioner
We get closer to this goal each year. The good news is that we have many travelers who want to return. Also, many travelers know of others who are good candidates for the future. We always have to work to find Spanish speakers who could travel. We rely heavily on the few who can speak well. This year Desiree joined us from Washington DC. She was a dream traveler – a Spanish speaking accomplished singer and dancer. We hope to see her again in the future.
We are getting return travelers and also are finding Spanish students. This is a win-win for everyone involved because the students get to practice what they learn at school.
We used the “Travelers’ Preparation Guide” on the blog campamento.blog again this year. It’s a compilation of wisdom from past travelers and other sources. This was useful for this trip and will be useful into the future. We continue to update it with new insights from recent travelers.
For the curriculum, Michele Cowling, a physician in Obstetrics & Gynecology prepared a health class. Abby Rinowski planned the math station. Michelle Berndt planned the crafts. Heidi Busse helped choose the “Women of Faith” and the lessons to learn from them.
2019 Travelers with Sister Sandra, former Director of the Home
Many parishioners have personally come to the Campamento or visited the Hogar. This helps to maintain momentum. Over the course of our 15 years of camp we have had 64 Saint Edwards parishioners visit the Hogar. They are: Michelle Brooks, Kim Brunner, Samantha Brunner, Michele Cowling, Katelynne Delfs, Kristine Delfs, Jana Duggan, Sue Griffin, Lizanne Ham, Hannah Heitzman, Sue Kellett, Mike Kellett, Pam Kennedy, Kelly Kennedy, Maureen Kent, Kathleen Kent, Karen Kinsella, Stacey Kinsella , Michelle Koster, Lindsey Kreye, Mary Kurth, Vi Lee, Ella Marzolf, Moe McCullough, Kate McCullough, Kris McCullough, Ann McGuire, John McGuire, Jack McGuire, Michael McGuire, Emma Nelson, Stacia Nelson, Ann Nusbaum, Carolyn O’Donnell, Corinne O’Donnell, Laura O’Donnell, Chris Ohotto, Deborah Paone, Jackie Peters, Jeane Peters, Marilyn Peterson, Shelly Pomonis, Mary Pat Potts, Michaela Potts, Abby Rinowski, Diane Ross, Mia Ah Sani, Alexa Schirber, Carly Schirber, Carol Schirber, Haley Schirber, Jill Schreiber-Smith, Jackie Sias, Stephanie Sias, Anna Smith, Mary Snydle, Kate Soderlund, Hannah Szfraniec, Katrina Viegas, Diana Villella, Annie Weatherhead, Joni Weatherhead, Liz Weatherhead, and Jenny Webster.
Additionally, we’ve had 43 friends and family travel who are not parishioners. They are: Lindsey Allais, Ashley Andres, Amanda Berndt, Michelle Berndt, Samantha Black, Abby Burgason, Emily Carr, Julie Carr, Laura Dallmann, Marilyn Fox, Charlotte Freschi, Sarah Freschi, Debbie Gibbs, Victoria Gregus, Deb Hohenstein, Desiree Green, Meghan Hohenstein, Susan Hulbert, Sydney Hulbert, Abby Konkoly, Jane Konkoly, Karen Konkoly, Michelle Koster, Sharon Marini, Isabel Mendoza, Jean Nightingale, Leah Nightingale, Cheryl Noyes, Barbara Owens, Joan Pare, Emily Peters, Fatima Pimento, Heather Rowe, Georgina Santos, Amber Scaletta, Julie Seguin, Mary Beth Schleif, Forrest Schrader, Susie Schrader, Claire Skach, Cheryl Tombarge, Melissa Trujillo, and Haley Wayt.
This totals 107 travelers, just 35 more than the 72 missionaries mentioned in Luke 10:1-9.
Goal #4 Continue running a two week Campamento each year at the home
With the schedule changed to June, this year was a one week camp. We’re so happy we got any travelers this year and look forward to a second week next year. The girls really benefit from that second week. We have recruiting plans to be able to continue with a two-week Campamento again next year. Each traveler is encouraged to share their experiences with friends and invite good candidates to consider joining us.
Goal #5 Adhere to the Principles of all our Sister Parish Relationships
1. Emphasize relationship over resources
2. Practice mutuality and equality
First time traveler and parishioner Stacia enjoying the Zoo with everyone
3. Seek to give and receive, learn and teach
4. Work to change unjust systems and structures
Sister Fifi, Director of the Home, and Sister Stephanie who lives and works there.
The First Group to Church
When we support the home, we are supporting a just program
5. Deepen our faith by experiencing the universal, Catholic Church
Mass at Buen Pastor (The Good Shepard) Church
Ready for Mass
Because camp was in June, we got to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi Mass, which was Thursday, June 20 this year.
More about Camp Activities
We held one week with two programs and activities each day. One program was for the girls ages 5-12, and another new program, a “retreat” for the girls ages 13-18. This is consistent with VBS in the US where the regular VBS becomes somewhat juvenile for the older girls. We developed the VBS curriculum this year “Women of Faith”. This worked so well at Camp. We will use this theme for years to come.
Woman of Bible
Daily Theme
Daily Craft
Eve
We have choices.
Snakes
Mary Mother of God (wedding at Cana)
Do what Jesus tells us.
Craft boxes
Poor Widow of Sapphira
Trust in God.
Coin purses
Mother Lange
Teach Others
Vision Boards
Each day we opened with a ceremony where we sang the theme song Look up Child by Lauren Daigle, read a Bible passage, and read a psalm. Then, we lead a discussion on what happened, then how the woman and her story relate to the girls’ lives.
Then the older girls went to retreat, and the younger girls did Camp activities.
The younger girls broke into their age-based groups. The three groups were: the youngest (5-6), middle-younger (7-9), and middle and oldest(10-14). The groups rotated through three “stations”: Math Games, English, and Journal. After that, we all do the craft together. Then we conclude for lunch.
Crafts
Sharpie Tie Dye t-shirtsTie-Dye T-shirtCraft Boxes – an upcycle from a laboratoryGiant Coloring Page – Sea TurtlesFramesA Collage of Finished FramesSnake Craft by one of the two new girls (from Eve day)Ready for Church and sporting the purse she made (Widow of Sapphira day craft)Vision Board (from Mother Lange day)
Skits
Each evening a different group performed a skit of the story we read in the morning. Desiree was the director of the skits this year. The kids really are good performers. We had some new costumes and props this year, which was fun. Each younger group had a skit to perform based on the Bible passage of the day. The oldest group performed two skits illustrating what they learned in negotiation class.
The Cast for Eve (the youngest group)Cast of Mary Mother of God – Wedding at Cana (the young-middle group, some missing)The Cast of Widow of Sapphira (the middle group)Cast of the Negotiation Skits (the oldest group)
The Retreat
The oldest girls (14-18 years) begin and end each day with all of us. While the younger girls do Campamento “stations”, they learned to negotate using the model in “Getting to Yes”. Negotiation is a tool to solve problems. You can solve problems with win-win results. The model is:
Me (know and articulate what you want, interests – not just positions)
You (understand what they want, interests – not just positions)
Together (work together to find a win-win solution)
Build (realize the win-win solution together)
This is the model in “Getting to Yes”, a business classic, presented originally for teenage girls in Zambia. The model is universal and it resonates with hte girls. We call this a “retreat” where they worked on skills they can use now and in their future.
Notice the board: Like last year’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” had important definitions and models. In this program, we learned what a negotiation is “Speaking and working together with others to solve a problem”. We also defined Positions vs. Interests, and Win Win Solutions.
Home Visits
We visited homes this year as well. Many of us have heard the statistic that 1.2 billion people live on less than $1/day, 1 billion are illiterate, and 1 billion do not have access to water. We witnessed how hard it is for people facing this kind of life. It really makes us thankful we happened to be born where we did.
One visit (pictured earlier) was to “A”. “A” is to Sister Fifi’s left with her family. We met her last year. She did extremely well in school, but got homesick. She is welcome back when school starts in late August. Pray she does decide to return – she is truly gifted!
Another visit was to a family we’ve visited before. The stepmother is mentally ill. The father doesn’t know what to do. It’s a very sad. Sister Fifi is looking into options for the girl there. We did not take pictures at this home.
Excursion
Each year the girls go on an excursion with the travelers. This year, Sister Fifi had to scramble, because she was hoping (as we were) that there would be two weeks of camp and she planned something for August. So, we went to the Carmelite school and had a good time there.
Riding in the GuaGua (minivan)PlaygroundRefreshing Pool TimeSister Fifi and Desiree Dancing the BachataPlayhouse
More Pictures and Stories of the Girls and Travelers
Betania – a former camper and high school grad, is now helping at the home and going to college. She’s studying early childhood education.Why did it take 17 years to bring Twister to camp? It was a hit. Jeane dancing with “H” – fun!Evelina made this sign as part of the 25th Anniversary of the home.One of the two “new” girls this yearDancing with Desiree to “Look Up Child”Dancing with Abby to “Waka Waka (This time for Africa)” by ShakiraTouring the Bedrooms and Neat Closets! She displays the bead craft from last year!ColoringAbby and Michelle with two girlsThe girls do each others’ braids.Emma and girls reading the lyrics to Look Up ChildJeane cooking Mac and Cheese (a rare treat!) for the girlsNew two weeks ago, this girl was a little overwhelmed by camp. She can really jump rope, though! From this day on, she really opened up and had fun with everyone. The home is filled with gardens. These are papaya trees.Three jump ropes tied together!Jane is holding a giant mango from the driver’s farm. The local fruit is delicious! Sister Grace in the middle has lived in worked in New York and Wisconsin. She speaks English very well!Dominoes – a Dominican favorite gameParty BuffetParty SmilesFriends in the playgroundAnn (me) with some of the kids on the final night.“G” in her beautiful new Quinceañera dress – a gift from a Bloomington friend. If you are Kondo-ing your prom and homecoming dresses, consider passing them along to the girls at the Hogar.
Check out this video by Jane and her daughter Michelle. Thank you Jane!!!
Thank you Saint Edwards Parishioners, Staff, all travelers this year, all past travelers, volunteers, and supporters!
Pray that each girl decides to stay at the home through high school graduation, like Evelina this year. She graduated with distinction.
Please consider joining us next year. It will be in July and we’d love to have two weeks of Campamento! You can help make it happen!
Campamento 2026 