In August we prepared the third year of the day camp for children from families in need (last year the camp was not held due to the pandemic). And so, from 9 to 13 August 2021, ten children aged 6 to 12 met with animators to experience something new, fun and adventurous. The program was really varied, judge for yourself: various games outside and inside, a trip to Devínska Kobyla, a tour of the Capuchin monastery, the Olympics, a ride in Prešporáčik train in the Old Town, dancing, singing, guitar playing, painting... The joint music program with autistic children from the civic association Čmelík was also enriching. In addition, the children were introduced to various topics, such as friendship, nature, sports and competition. The dance workshop with a professional dancer Roman from the Break School also had a great response. In the end, there was also a barbecue with the parents.
Children and animators took home many nice experiences. After the competitions and the Olympics, the children also received diplomas for individual activities and competitions, as well as a few small things such as toys, fairy tales, board games, etc. The children were very skilful and everyone definitely deserved a reward.
The camp was again hosted by the Family Center (Centrum rodiny) in Dúbravka, so we would like to thank the director Mrs. Šporerová for providing the premises and for the support throughout the week.
Our big THANK YOU belongs mainly to the volunteer Tinka, who was in charge of the whole organization, but other animators and volunteers were also very helpful, without whom the camp would not do. They are: Adam, Nicol, Terka, Aďka, Samko, Ali, Katka, Martin, Simonka, Muna, Emília, Eliška, Majka, Juraj, Angie, Gabika, Gabika, Zuzka, Edko.
And what did the animators say about the camp?
Thank you for the opportunity to be part of the camp, which was organized on 100%, a big hat down in front of Tinka, she is a professional. I only got involved for the last two days and I will just say that many thanks for that time - I met great people, there was the opportunity for us to get to know better not only the children, but also us from DuK and I had the opportunity to be with my student, which I am very happy about :).
I was happy to be at the barbecue, which, in addition to good food also had a deeper meaning that we could be also with the children's parents and sit with them at the same table; as they say that the food connects, so it just happened, the parents glowed with satisfaction and we had the opportunity to see the children how they behaved when they were with us and with them :). It was nice to hear one mom to note that she last had a barbecue when she was 14 years old and she was very happy that she could repeat it right in this camp :).
I highly recommend to all volunteers to go for it and experience a great time.
Many thanks again and I wish you all a lot, a lot of energy.
Sima
I perceive the DuK children's camp as a very successful event. Spending time with the children was precious and I think we all enjoyed it well. We tried to make the children's program interesting with fun activities and to create a space for them to get to know each other. I believe that the children enjoyed the camp and had a wonderful experience, as because I had a lot of them. I'm glad I could be a part of it. It's beautiful to help each other do good things, and I wish we could hold on to this, because this is what is important.
Aďka
I am grateful that I could join this camp as an animator. With few exceptions, I haven't met any of the participants before (unless I count one video call with the animators). So I came to something new, like most of the children. In this short week, however, we managed to make friends thanks to the good atmosphere that prevailed here all the time. We were not stoped by the fact that we came from different parts of Bratislava, Slovakia and even the world (I think of our animator Ali from Pakistan :)).
I was very pleased with how older Anička* positively evaluated the camp at the end of the week. After a demanding trip to Devínska Kobyla, she rated Tuesday with 2 points out of 10, when a visit to the monastery, combined with pizza lunch, a tour of the ground floor and the church, a visit to a "guinea pig safari" and relaxation in the monastery garden with home grown vegetable tasting increased her rating to 5 points out of 10. In the following days, however, the rating rose to 10 points and Sofia (together with her little friend, younger Anička) left happy, enriched with new friendships and experiences. I was happy too, because I won the Tuesday bet - that she will be happy at the end of the week :D.
I thank to all the organizers and animators who spent their free time and effort, and I also thank to all the children who gained courage, came and I believe they did not regret it.
Brother Samuel, Capuchin
I think we all fit together well - children and animators. And after the barbecue I can say that the parents too :-). After the camp, I got few great feedbacks from the parents - they wrote, they called. Everyone praised the camp, children and parents too. It was worth it and we would like to thank you dear animators from the bottom of our hearts. For your energy, time and patience. We really appreciate you came.
Tinka, the main organizer
* We've changed the names of the children to keep them anonymous.