Reflections on Week 1

 

Everything turned out to be exactly as I thought.  I was in my house last time I checked, but the next thing I knew, I was in a place where there were flowers, which I had never seen before.  They grew in different places and looked different in every way, but they are all flowers.  Besides the 43 beautiful flowers, there were four angels who look out for them.  Four who gave them things they all need, and two who run all things and make sure that everything the flowers need is given to them.  There is one who is responsible for gathering all of the flowers.  The place is awesome, like really awesome.  The food we eat is WOW, really WOW!  There are four houses, which consist of 11 flowers each.  There is a name for each of the houses.  One is named “The Ants” and let me tell you, you don’t want to mess with them.  Another one is called the V.I.P’s, and they really are V.I.P’s.  The next one is a little different.  It’s name is “RAMSEL.” I definitely know that this word is not in the dictionary that we’ve been given at camp, but it has meaning: unification of the 11 members.  Last but not least is the “Big Bangs.” Oh what a name you should say. Dream big, do big, work big, appear big and then “BIG BANG!”  The next thing I knew I was at the YSEL camp writing this story about my first week at camp…

Zerubabel Meressa, Bonga, SNNPR

  I never thought life would be this interesting outside of home.  Where you get used to the smiles, tears, laughter,anger of everyone.  Away form those giggling mouths that welcomed oyu at birth, far from the hands that took care of you.  Leaving those searching eyes that would die to find you in a big crowd.  A new place with new friends and new environment.  The YSEL camp, where the new life begins and where the past life is missed.  New people welcoming you with a warm smile and lively melodies, “You Can Count On Me”  New hands taking your frightened spirit to teach new friendship and relationships.  YSEL, a new life started to teach life skills and stengthen every vein within and give birth to me again.  Imagine the green view on a thousand hectares of land.  The harmony of colorful birds from 11 places, the lovely, warm-hearted farmers taking good care of the plants, positivity over the environment—that is YSEL.  The camp I started to call home, the pace I started to miss when I think I am staying just for one month, the place I am being born again.

Lelisse Tesfaye, Addis Ababa

  I came a long way for the YSEL Ethiopia camp.  I never thought it would be like this.  Of course I was expecting it will be great but what I got is more than I expected.  This camp is a place where English knowledge, fun and food are the best.  I have never talked in English the whole day before.  I was shy because my English was not good, but here it doesn’t matter.  I try it and as practice makes perfect, I am changing.  I can see how I am changing, how my friends are changing too.  We are all free.  We are happy to get this amazing chance.  We are all very lucky.  We work the whole day.  Each day I see I am improving myself.  I am a better person than I was before.

  I’ve made many new friends from different regions.  We are all like brothers and sisters.  We have five American teachers.  They are all amazing teachers and are very professional.  Mr Tom, our camp director is very funny.  He always makes me laugh.  Mr. Peter is my Home Room teacher and I’m glad he is my teacher.  Mr. Paul is my reading teacher.  We finished the book “Freak The Mighty” and saw the movie too.  He is a great teacher and also teaches me public speaking.  Marre is my Cinema teacher, which I enjoy very much.  Everything here is going well.

Asaph Ayenew, Finote Selam, Amhara

 

YSEL Ethiopia Alumni Reunion Workshop

  The YSEL Ethiopia alumni had a unique chance of attending a reunion workshop prior to the YSEL camp last week.  For three days, 42 out of 44 YSEL alumni returned to Debre Zeyit for a chance to reconnect, learn new skills, and prepare the camp for the new students.  Alumni made presentations on the different activities they have done since being at camp last year and attended workshop sessions on TOEFL iBT prep and university skills run by Tom Toomey and Endalkachew Tesera.  Semira Alhadi of the U.S. Embassy’s Information Resource Center made a presentation on how to prepare for university in the U.S. and finding scholarships. One of the evening highlights was hearing from Duguma Ysehitla, Hewan Meles and Sintayehu Wakuma about their trip to the U.S. on the

Pan African Youth Leadership (PAYL) program.  “This was a great three days of spending time with each other after a long time,” said Hamza Mohammed about the Reunion Workshop.  “It reminded us how important it is to stay connected no matter how difficult it may be or how far apart we are.”

On the last day of the workshop, alumni helped prepare the camp for the new YSEL students by making welcome signs, helping teachers set up their classrooms and preparing the rooms for the  new arrivals.  At noon on August 3^rd, the new students arrive to cheers of “Welcome” from YSEL alumni.  It was a wonderful way to greet the new students and make them feel at home here at camp.  After a tour of the campus, everyone sat down to lunch, getting to know each other and hearing stories about last year’s camp from alumni.  Before heading back to Addis, YSEL alumni received certificates for completion of their workshop and sang some of their favorite Morning Songs for the new students.  Each alumnus also left a letter of congratulations and good wishes to each of the new students.  As they said their goodbyes, new YSEL students formed an arch up to the bus and said goodbye to the YSEL alumni as they ducked through the 50-person arch and got on the bus.  “It was so great to be back at the YSEL camp site and so hard to leave,” said Gnajuok John.  “We know the new students are going to have a great time just like we did.”  With new ideas and energy, the YSEL alumni boarded the bus and headed back to Addis amid waves from staff and new students who remained behind to begin another successful YSEL camp.

YSEL Ethiopia Continues!

Interviewing at the American Corner in Dire Dawa

 Thanks to funding from the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, the Youth Solidarity and English Language (YSEL) program will continue this summer of 2014.  American Councils for international Education and the Peace Corps will team up to provide an exciting month of learning and fun for 44 lucky high school students from the 11 regions of Ethiopia. 

Interviewing in Assosa, Benishangul-Gumuz

June and July were busy months of screening applications and interviewing potential candidates.  Tom Toomey and Endalkachew Tesera, the directors of the YSEL camp traveled around Ethiopia interviewing students.  From Assosa to Dire Dawa to Harar and Adama, they interviewed many potential candidates face to face, with many being interviewed by phone.   It was a lot of work in a short period of time, but they managed to complete interviews of over 100 semi-finalists.  In total 44 students were selected and began their YSEL experience on August 3^rd in Debre Zeyit. Students will be on site for the entire month of August, and will be blogging about their experience at camp. Stay tuned for more from our campers!

August 5th--The Saddest Day for All

August 5^th was a rainy day.  It was reflective of the mood of the YSEL family.  Like the clouds, the tears fell from our eyes as we packed our things, loaded the bus and said good bye to the YSEL staff and our friends from all over Ethiopia.  Some of us left early to catch morning flights to our homes, most of us went to Addis on the bus together, but when we got to Meskal Square and said our final goodbye, again the tears flowed from our eyes as the rain came down and flooded the streets of Addis.  YSEL camp was over but despite the tears, we still have each other and we’ll never lose our YSEL family.  Although we are far apart from each other, we are forever in each others’ hearts and minds. “This was the best time in my whole life,” said Daniel Workeneh of Kombolcha.  “I will never forget this month or my YSEL family.  I hope American Councils can give this opportunity to other students in the future.”  As this program ends, now we have the busy task of making it happen again for more students from around Ethiopia.  We shall see what the future brings!

YSEL Closing Ceremony

  It’s hard to believe that a month had passed so fast and the day came when we were holding our Closing Ceremony. The day before we all said goodbye and left our home in Debre Zeyit, we put on a big show to celebrate the culmination of all our work.  We had special visitors from the US Embassy, Peace Corps and USAID.  Molly Phee, the DCM who wished us well at the beginning of camp came to help celebrate our success at the end of camp.  Bob Post, the Public Affairs officer and Tahra Vose, the Cultural Affairs officer were also in attendance, as was Greg Engel, the head of Peace Corps and Michelle Chen of USAID.  We showed our special guests a typical day at camp from “Morning Song” to “Goodnight Ladies” highlighting all the things we learned throughout the month. Afterwards, there were speeches and we received our certificates of completion and some books from the embassy. 

  It was a very special day and yet somewhat sad because we had become so close with each other and now we had to say goodbye.  “Going home tomorrow is going to be really hard,” said Senait Zemenu of Bahir Dar.  “The YSEL family is like my own family and I will miss them a lot.”  Like everything in life, there is a beginning and an end.  There is the YSEL Ethiopia FaceBook page and everyone has each others’ contact information so it won’t be too difficult to keep in touch.  Before the last day of camp comes, we will celebrate and enjoy every moment together.  Long live YSEL!

Karate Club!

Everyday after lunch is Club Time.  This is a time for students to do non-academic activities and unwind a bit before the start of afternoon classes.  One of the more unique activities YSEL students have had for clubs are Karate and Capoeria run by Nzingha Uhuru, one of the Peace Corps Volunteer teachers.  The dining hall was full of eager campers interested in learning about martial arts.  Nzingha has taught karate and some capoeria in the US and wanted to give YSEL students an opportunity to try something new.  Students really enjoyed learning the basic steps of both forms of martial arts from Nzingha. “I really liked the karate,” said Daniel Workeneh, “It taught me discipline, how to focus on the moves and count in Japanese.” 

The last week of camp, Nzingha taught capoeria, the lively form of dance mixed with martial arts that originated in Brazil.  Students loved the vigorous dance moves intertwined with some martial arts move.  It was a rigorous club and really gave students a workout before heading back to class in the afternoon.

  Besides martial arts, other clubs included soccer, aerobics, art, poetry, song, dance, and computer.  Every week students changed clubs and were able to explore different activities that they may not get back home.

Culture Day!

Yesterday was Culture Day, the last of our Spirit Days at camp.  This day, everyone dressed in traditional clothing from the different regions of Ethiopia.  Overall, it was the girls who dressed up, leaving Sintayehu of the Fantastic 12 House as the only boy who managed to wear traditional men’s clothing.  Tom wore one of his traditional Afghan outfits to give students an idea of what men wear in Afghanistan.

   At lunch, the kitchen staff surprised us with a traditional coffee ceremony.  The dining hall was covered with grass, as per tradition, and Eyerusalem from the Fantastic 12 House had the honor of roasting the beans and making the coffee, or buna, in the traditional Ethiopian way.  Other girls joined Eyerusalem to fan the small fire to boil the coffee and serve it to everyone as well.  In Ethiopia, coffee is served with popcorn so Beza and Gnajuok of the 11 Geniuses House passed a giant bowl of it around the dining hall.  Lastly, another part of Ethiopian tradition with coffee is served a special kind of bread.  Being the most senior person at the YSEL camp, Tom got the honors to cut the giant, round loaf before it was passed around.  Afterwards, someone put on some traditional music and we all got up and dance different dances from around Ethiopia.  We were a bit late for Club Time but everyone was having a great time and enjoying the moment.  Tom wasn’t sure how Culture Day was going to turn out, whether or not students had brought traditional clothes to wear, but they surprised him and it seems like Culture Day was one of the best Spirit Days we had at camp!