(For more Superkids day camp pictures)
Saturday was Superkids Day Camp.
We got there at 7am and prepared for the children to start arriving, though I think some were there before us, their excitement surely pushing the parents to be rid of them for the day! Just kidding. Well, in some cases. Not for the mother of my student, Lewis. She came to me shortly after I arrived telling me in the little English that she knows, that this is the first time she has left Lewis somewhere all day, and she was nervous. She asked me if I would keep an eye on him, and of course I assured her he would be fine and I would keep track of him for her.
And I wasn’t just saying it, I was fairly confident that I would be able to check up on him every so often, since I was set at a station that the groups would rotate through all day long.Did I mention that Lewis is one of my oldest, and most well-behaved students? I wasn’t worried, though I did feel a twinge of unexpected responsibility after her request.
The camp was set up at the park in Danang. We had a big red and white striped parachute tent set up as “home base” for the day. Then there were 5 white tents set up around the big tent. There was a station under each tent., with activities led by some of us teachers, along with volunteers from Azusa Pacific University, as well as Seattle Pacific University. All of my worlds collided! My hometown, my university, and my current life, all together in Vietnam. It was a nice homey thought.
Activities included tag, making bracelets, face painting, balloon animals, skits, baseball (my station) and a few others. There were 5 in the morning, and then 5 in the afternoon. Baseball was new to ALL the kids. For some reason this really surprised me, but I guess it shouldn’t have. The APU team brought 9 donated children’s mits, an aluminum bat, rubber bases, a tee, and 4 soft baseballs. It was great! We explained the basics to each group that
came through our station, including (and limited to) “This is a ball. This is a bat. This is a glove.” Then Tyler and I would physically demonstrate that they would be hitting off of the tee and the others would be trying to pick up the ball that had been hit.It was so cute, they were so excited!!! When a child was up to bat, we had to show them how to hold the bat, how to aim to hit the ball, and not to swing until we told them to, as to avoid injury. We devised a more clear “thumbs-up” system after Tyler and I took a few hits while trying to get away from the batter. Things got better.
In the morning session we made sure everyone got to hit, then in the afternoon we instructed them to run around the bases after they hit the ball (and we of course had many runners choose the 3rd, 2nd, 1st base route), and also for the fielders to throw the ball to the teacher after retrieving it. It was a lot of fun! They all had a better understanding of how the game worked—what we had told them at least—in the afternoon, and many were even hitting the ball pretty far!
It was awesome to see, the kind of joy that makes you laugh in pleasure without realizing it.Overall, it really was a great day. There were a few bloody noses (from the weather, not the baseball), and maybe one knee scrape. No one fell in the lake and we didn’t lose anyone! Obvious markers of a successful day.
I had a lot of fun getting to see my students outside of class, like I’ve mentioned about the field trips, but this was better: A whole day of fun and activities, playing and joking. It was amazing. I really bonded with a lot of my students and it was fun to see them in class this week, sharing with them this new level of knowing and understanding between us. I feel my love for these kids continue to grow more and more every week and I can’t thank God enough for the incredible things He’s doing in my life and for the many ways He is blessing me in my relationships, experiences and support, here and from home. Amen and amen!
Awesome photos Audrey!!!
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