Nearing the End

As of this post, we have approximately 56 hours of camp left.  56.  Not very much at all.

We have a mix of emotions…I think we are all ready to see our families and sleep in our beds.  But leaving here will be very difficult.  We have lifelong friends, a schedule that does not include school or work, and summertime in Brazil.

The friends we have made and the experiences we have had here have challenged us and changed us.

I´m not sure how much time to post I will have in  the next 56 hours.  But expect some more posts after we return home.  We have lots more stories to tell!

And please remember to be patient with us when we do get home.  We love you all, but will probably be missing our new soulmates at the same time.

See you soon!

 

Trees

As we posted before, the theme of our camp is Footprint Village – what´s the mark you leave on the world?

One of the ways that humans leave a mark on the world is through our impact on our environment.  And in order to help make our footprint smaller, we have planted two trees here at our campsite – a mango tree and a lemon tree.  The CISV song, which we sing every morning and every evening, says “sow a seed and plant a tree, beneath whose branches there may be, all the nations gathered free.”

(taken in our pre-Will days)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We´ve also been told that the parents of the Swedish delegation will be planting trees to cover the carbon footprint of flying from Sweden to Brazil round trip!

And speaking of trees, check out this sneak peek of our beautiful campsite!

 

Boa Noite from Brazil!

Just a short update post…

We have just finished our first day of camp – kids, leaders, JCs (junior counselors) and staff!

The kids arrived this morning to quite a fanfare, including footprint “registrations” – think bare feet, paint, a banner and a theme of Footprint Village and you can probably connect the dots.

We also had a car wash that didn´t involve any cars…oh yeah, we are having fun!

We are really excited about this month. The kids have already made new friends, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Will – hopefully will be sooner rather than later.

On a personal note, my email is not working from the camp site as of right now, so I haven´t been able to open any emails sent to me. Please send to ldonelan at nonprofitctr.org instead if you need me.

Besos from Brazil!

 

Footprints

So why is this blog called “Leaving Footprints”?

Our fantastic staff chose the theme of our village to be the Footprint Village.  Here’s a little excerpt from our pre-camp information:

You’re invited to Footprint Village, a place filled with possibilities, a world with no boundaries which we can build together in our own way.  Each one of you will leave your mark here in our Village and in everyone we meet during this experience.  Let’s work and grow together to impact all the world with our dreams and actions.  So get ready to spread your footprints all around!

Did you ever stop to think about the impact you have in the planet?  While the world population goes beyond 6.5 billion people and the world is growing nonstop at full speed, what difference can one person make?  Do you think you have the power to change something?  Do you believe your existance makes any difference on this gigantic world?

Walt Disney once said, “If you can dream it, you can do it”.  So come dream with us at Footprint Village and let’s leave a great mark all together!

And finally, some questions that we have been thinking about:

What’s the mark human kind is leaving in the world?  Is it good or bad?
What’s the mark you are leaving in the world?
And finally, what’s the mark you want to leave?

What do you think?  What is your mark?  We’ll be leaving some of our answers as the month goes on.

And in case you are wondering…we leave in 4 days!