05/07 - Homestay 1 and Leaders' Preparation Weekend (D1)

This is it: the first official day of "Peace by Peace" Village!!! The day started with some minor problems with regard to the host families picking up the delegations from the airport, but all was eventually settled and the kids were finally able to go home with their host families and have a good rest.

Here's a video made by the parents of the Danish delegation! :-)

The Leaders and JCs, on the other hand, reached the campsite one by one to get settled in before some orientations and activites to build the core of the Village, prepare the campsite for 47 crazy kids, and mash together the awesome adult group.

Leaders and JCs listening intently to the Staff presentations...will the kids be this behaved?

In the morning, Hugo and Jaime went to go shopping for the JC shop, and came back to Saint-Do with a car full of candies, chocolate, sodas and other sweet surprises for the kids (and adults, if they also want some!).

Sugar!!!

In the afternoon, the Staff gave a tour of the school to all the Leaders and JCs, just to make sure that nobody gets lost in the HUGE campsite we have for the summer. We explored different areas like the dining room, the activity hall, the JC shop, lullabies room, Leaders' lounge, and of course, the rooms we would be sleeping in.

We have a chapel...

...a BIG activity hall...

...lots of space for outdoor games...

...rooms for activities/meetings/lullabies...

...open spaces to play and enjoy the sun (the photo was taken during winter!)...

...a soon-to-be-very-noisy dining hall...

...and of course, spacious and comfortable bedrooms!

The only downside? ENDLESS stairs!!!

In the evening, the Staff led some very important discussions about the camp rules and goals, as well as the equally-important introductions of each member of the adult group through some fun and interesting games and activities. We ended the night by making some creative signs/posters and colorful nametags using our abundant arts & crafts materials.

The Leaders, being very serious about their work...

...and the JCs, being not-so-serious (and that's a good thing!)