July 5th—Camp begins! Students from the 11 regions of Ethiopia met up on a foggy morning outside the U.S. Embassy to begin their month-long YSEL program. Before heading to camp in Debre Zeyit, students were congratulated by Molly Phee, the Deputy Chief of Mission. Ms. Phee stressed the importance of learning English as well as solidarity among youth from the diverse areas of the country. Tom Toomey, the YSEL Camp Director, read a message from YSEL-Afghanistan alumni, encouraging YSEL-Ethiopian students to take advantage of every moment at camp and to learn as much as possible. “YSEL is really a life-changing program,” said Abdul Moqet Moneeb, YSEL-Afghanistan alumnus from the first YSEL camp in February 2011. “YSEL brings youth together. Don't forget that one main purpose of the YSEL camp is solidarity so try to know how important it is for the youth,” commented another YSEL-Afghanistan alumnus Najibullah Ebrahimi.
Despite the rainy weather, the YSEL students’ spirits were
high and excitement was in the air as they piled on their bus and headed to
Debre Zeyit. The YSEL camp staff was eager to meet the students as they arrived
at camp. “Wow it’s really starting!
They’re finally here,” commented Megan Sievert, one of the four Peace Corps
volunteers who make up the teaching team.
After settling into their rooms, students began the first steps of
getting to know the site, the staff and each other. Initially many students thought this program would take them
to the U.S., but unfortunately it doesn’t. So instead, we brought the U.S. to the students as much as
possible. For example, each dorm
room is a state and students can imagine that they are living in that state for
the length of camp.
The Houses. One
of the core components at YSEL camp is the Houses. This is a way to organize students into diverse groups and
have them work together. Students are placed into one of four different
houses. The YSEL counselors are in
charge of each house, mixed by gender and region. Together, each house must work together all month in order
to build solidarity among students from different regions. It’s also a healthy way for students to
compete against each other. On the
first day of camp, students are assigned to a house and collectively come up
with a name for their house. They
select a name for their house, a symbol to represent themselves, a motto, and a
set of values important to all house members. At YSEL camp, the four house names are: “The Fantastic 12”, “Habeshas”,
“11 Geniuses in One House”, and “Sunshine”. If you come visit us at camp, you can find in the dining
hall posters for each of the houses.
Each house eats together in their defined space in the dining hall,
meets at least once a day to see how everyone is doing, and play games
together. 
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