YMLP 2012 – A long lasting memento
Have you ever wondered why, we in Macedonia, use the same stereotype for the summer holidays, and as in the past we’re
more willing to go to the swimming pools and the beaches?
I admit, I’m indeed addicted to things that
I’ve already been through, and I know that I’d have full control of them.
However, wouldn’t it be so much better if we would’ve been indulged in life and
if we would’ve been into a really brave new spending life-time adventures?
The concept of “camping” for us doesn’t almost
mean anything. Maybe you’d get fancy about the night before the first of May,
but this is something completely different. It’s all about you and your
dedication to the ones around you. This camp is a project developed by Peace
Corps volunteers together with USAID and YMCA-Bitola and as well as many other
organizations. It aims to make leaders of all young men in Macedonia during a 7
day journey in the region of ‘Tajmishte’. Well, it won’t be like a walk in a
park, but you’ll get the experience needed to become a chieftain in your
community.
Bonfires, archery, sleeping in tents, parties,
joking all around, learning many useful skills are all in the daily activities
of all campers. And the most substantial, there are no cigarettes, no cell
phones, no alcohol and no girls to bother you and to make you pay attention to
some very simple and banal stuff.
At first glance, it seems weird. A whole week
without FB or the internet… you’d be out of this world to go there… but on the
other hand, could you imagine how much our life has changed. Above all we must
acknowledge that it has lost its triviality and has become an integrated
fragment of a “more sophisticated” quasi-modern society. Even though we’ve got
a lot benefits from its computer era, still the tall mountains, the thick
forests, the shining sun and the fresh air ought to be the things that we
should be delighted by.
The arrival in the camp, as any other
beginnings, was followed with sad emotions, fear, and a bunch of soap opera
scripts for the following week. Obviously the human being could be creative,
imaginative and “productive” when it has the desire for it. Nevertheless, you
got to go, whether you feel like it or not… so with your bag on the back and
the boring “Be careful!”, “Answer the phone!”, “Listen carefully to them” of your parents and ‘till they weep out,
you’ve found yourself in a van with more flabbergasted guys, but in the same time
fit to meet with the circumstances.
As the trees, the branches, the green leaves
pass by, accompanied by the merry warblers emitting marvelous sounds flying in
the firmament filled with the dusky hills, you find your speech and lead off
your words. You’re like a little child at the first day of school that has
seen, for the first time, the gorgeousness of the day. You’re agreeing to flow
into the unknown and unfamiliar waters and as the conversation fluently goes
by, you’re ripping along the way. Before you can surpass the convalescence because
of the bumpy driving, of the holes on the road, you’ve already arrived at the pedestal
of one astonishing and breathtaking vast mountain.
Everything around you shines with energy, warmth,
and waits for you, to make you feel at home, to embrace you into the sublimity…
then, with your lungs full with freshness, with your soul purified, you’re off
to enter the notorious place. Surrounded by other, unknown visages, you’re
faced with the situation of the moment. You ought to take control, take the
initiative, and you put your bag aside.
The first day is the most difficult of them
all. Lost in time and space, you’re more to estrange of everything. Instead,
you’ve found yourself in your team, and you don’t know anyone. Everyone’s
trying to present himself in a brighter manner and to coruscate with his apparition.
As can be expected, our own Aaron managed very well with everything. We were
the first to go rough camping, to make ourselves a dinner, to go night-hiking,
deep into the woods, and as scouts that don’t fear anything, we penetrated into
the darkness.
We, the ‘Death Eaters’, had our chant, flag,
and an importance in the camp. The point system made us work harder. In the
morning there were the classes, in the evening, the electives and in the
meantime hanging outs with the “babas” and of course helping with all sorts of household
chores. I want to thank the grandmas about the most delicious meals I’ve ever
had.
Two nights in the Mountain House, two nights
with the Brits, one to the rough camp, and one to choose, all these moments enhance
and refresh the glory and make you liberate yourself. Now, in our team we were
like a family, together resolving the difficulties. During the games the team
work was particularly stressing. You must be in cahoots so as to succeed and
accomplish, even without talking. The significance of the communication and the
mutual understanding would find its way.
We were studying about health, about keeping
the environment clean, about self-respect and making conditions for better life
in the communities, as well as presenting all of this in a more modern way. In
addition, all of that learning leads to one goal: creation of a human who’d be
able to guide and lead the community, a LEADER.
And as the breeze blows rapidly, our week
passed very swiftly. On the last day we had real fun. You could see some sorrow
and a tear rolling down the cheek, but everything’s well if it ends well. We’ve
made solid friendships that would never be torn apart. Moreover, we’re grateful
for every kindness they gave us.
And at last, after saying goodbye to everyone, group
by group we went to the vans. Hoping that we’d see each
other next year, with the road ahead of us and the mementos in our head we left
the small place with the big amenity in it.
Ilija Nikolov
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