A Community

Today, at the close of our morning core activity, my campers were asked, "What did you discover this morning?"  Answers ranged from "I discovered that I can eat a whole cinnamon roll in five minutes," to reflections on the activities of the morning, to recent discoveries on Minecraft (a popular video game).  Then one boy said, "I discovered the true meaning of community." 

Whoa.
We prompted him to share further:  "Community is working together and caring for one another."

Such clarity and insight from an eight-year old sums up the very best of Peace Village.  Peace Village is our community, which continues to grow each year as we add more campers and more activities.  Older campers, or veteran campers, welcome and mentor the younger and newer campers.  Our focus on service this year has encouraged a sense of support and belonging between campers, counselors, volunteers.  I have heard so many 'thank you's today as campers lend a hand to their friends.  The ability to offer help, ask for help, and receive help gracefully has been a major theme to the last two days, and it goes right to the heart of that boy's discovery:  Community is working together and caring for one another.

Over the week, so many of our kids have/will have these moments of revelation - moments that they will share with the rest of us.  Our Peace Village community will continue to be nourished by the energy and insights that all of our children bring.  And I can't wait to see what that looks like!
~Sullivan, Otters Counselor