Good Vibrations on Day One

A day full of handshakes and high fives, Day One of JASY Camp was all about getting to know the campers, building trust, and encouraging the campers to try their best, keep faith, and have fun.

The JASY Team of volunteers stood in two lines on both sides of the doorway watching the buses filled with campers ready to take on their first day of camp. We stood cheering loudly and held our hands out waiting for high fives as campers ran by. Some were excited and running full speed, some were walking sluggishly, just like they would any other Monday going into school. But, by the end of the day each camper ran through our tunnel on the way out the door and stopped to give volunteers a Jamaican handshake.

JASY Camp began with all of us joining together to sing our camp cheer, yelling loudly across the gym for everyone to hear and participate. And after a small opening ceremony, camp was underway!

JASY campers are split up into four teams: Red Team (boys and girls ages 8-12), Yellow Team (girls ages 12-16), Blue and Green Teams (boys ages 12-16). The teams learn a new theme each day and spend an hour at the four venues to complete a full day at camp: Football (soccer to many of us), swimming, Caribbean Games, and Olympic Village. Today's theme was faith.

Each of the volunteers can agree, and we think the campers would too, that our first day was exceptional! It’s hard to go into any situation without expectations, and today was no exception. We all had our own individual expectations of the campers, how the day would go, how we would react to situations as individuals and as a team, how we would feel, etc. I’m sure even the campers had their own expectations of how their day would go, but I know they certainly had expectations for themselves.

One girl in particular inspired us by surprising herself with her athletic ability. She was hesitant when it came to football and basketball. She told her team ambassador that she didn’t want to participate because she “wasn’t any good”. After encouragement from her team ambassadors and some of her teammates, she challenged herself to play both games – and she did outstanding! Everyone was impressed by her perseverance and her teammates supported her with cheers. Her team believed in her, but more importantly, her faith grew in her ability to be resilient in a situation she was nervous about.

What our JASY Campers believe FAITH is:

“I believe I was created for a purpose. I believe everyone deserves a chance.”

“I have faith in God because He will walk with me and put me to sleep and wake me up everyday. He is more than 100% to me. He takes care of me and when I pray to Him it comes true. I love Him.”

“I believe people will change the world.”

This kind of support was mirrored in our JASY volunteer team as well. We learned throughout the day that we need to trust in the process and adapt to different circumstances. The day was run so smoothly and smiles hardly ever left our faces, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t hiccups along the way. We experienced various points of learning and room for improvement tomorrow.

One of the greatest highlights of our day was at the end of camp when the campers were waiting for the buses to arrive. Throughout the day we had Jamaican music playing which is ideal for any dance party. Suddenly, we saw one camper start dancing, then another, and another. The campers were all moving to the music to create a dance circle where the initial dancer was highlighted in the center. Soon everyone in the gymnasium was dancing and moving to the music – we weren’t trying to keep up, but we wanted to try and learn their electric moves. Maybe by the end of the week we can catch on. It was so special to see all of these campers come together, many who have never met each other, and create bonds through their shared culture.

Take a look at our first day at JASY Camp by viewing our daily video: https://youtu.be/LmWyotv1_U8.

Stay tuned for more about JASY Camp this week!