Provide Summer Camps for 500 Youth in Transylvania

On a crisp, white winter day the Care2Travel team and 4 volunteers paid a visit to the Márton Ferenc Elementary School in Csíkbánkfalva. As one of the favorite schools we work with, it is always a pleasure to go there. The kids gather around us, happy to see the familiar faces of our team and excited about the new international volunteers they will get the chance to meet and talk with in English. Last year Care2Travel held 3 successful camps for the children of this school, with the participation of 90 students, 15 international volunteers, and 12 local volunteers. We are already preparing for our camps this upcoming summer and while we are visiting we mention it to the children and they are all already looking forward to it.

Today we came with two new teaching volunteers who will assist the English teachers for 3 weeks. Kristine and Julie arrived in Transylvania only a couple of days prior, and they started their first day in the placement, still overwhelmed by all the new knowledge they gained about the region and culture the previous day. The first class is with the 6th graders, and they get the chance to talk about their hometown in Canada, about their family, and about jobs as that is the topic for today. Eva, the teacher a bit unconventional but probably because of that very popular among the children, puts on an Ed Sheeran song and everyone is happy to sing along. She really knows how to address these children on their own level.

Eva is always happy to welcome the international volunteers into her classroom or into the summer camps. As she says during a break, she likes meeting new people and finding out about other cultures. She says that it is terrific also for her because, "I can use English on a daily level, not just with the kids, but another kind of language as well." We ask what she thinks about the summer camps and what the benefits of the volunteers are, "I think that kids find it very entertaining and I notice that they learn a lot of new words, and they have a richer vocabulary since the summer camps have taken place. Our holidays are quite long, and sometimes they get bored. These summer camps are beneficial for them, the volunteers not only teach them but they also play with them and entertain them. The kids have to use their English to communicate with the volunteers. So the summer camp is good for vocabulary and communication between the students and the volunteers."

We hope that we can continue to support this school for many years to come and entertain these curious and excited students who are always eager to learn new things about the world so far from their little village in the Transylvanian mountains. We are grateful to all our donors who make it possible our summer camps to be a great experience.

Links:

• Teaching volunteers at the Bankfalva school