News from Flint Club

Emma Talks About the Camp:

I feel passionate about the responsibility of society to nurture its children in an environment that is safe, welcoming, and conducive to self-evolution. As an aware world citizen and inner-city resident, I am familiar with far too many stories of children deprived of these necessities by poverty, difficult family structuring, and other circumstances. At an age where I am able to act as a mediator between the harsh world of adulthood and the tenderness of youth, I felt obligated and eager to begin to address this concern locally. I pondered my own talents and abilities in the process of deriving a means through which I could have a meaningful impact on the children of my community. I arrived at the combination of my passion for teaching the arts, my deep concern for raising awareness of environmental concerns, and my aptitude for business management.

This past summer I founded and became the Artistic Director of the Green Earth Arts Day Camp. My day camp included two main concentrations, exposure to the fine arts and actions addressing environmental concerns. It was of the utmost importance for me to make my day camp accessible to all children. The Green Earth Arts Day Camp accrued no profit and all income went directly to sponsoring campers from low-income families. I put a great emphasis on creating a learning process that that was hands-on to foster creativity, personal expression, and self-confidence. I also focused on engaging the children in a discussion of global awareness. The day camp allowed the children to participate in proactive efforts, many of which were camper-inspired. On one afternoon woods exploration, one camper, Ibora, astounded me with his concern for the environment and his eagerness to not only take action, but to express his thoughts through artistic means. Ibora said, "This river is by the highway so people are always throwing trash into it. Could we clean it up and then write about the animals that live in the river and drink the water?" This request so moved me because I believe empowering youth to make the world a better place and to be a part of the education of the local community is vital to environmental security.

While the three weeks I spent with a relatively small group of children (~15) may hardly seem comparable to the atrocities suffered by the children of the world altogether, I took a small step that produced definitive results. I do believe that the experience was life changing for the children I worked with and I know that my perspective has been substantially influenced by the experience. The children developed self-confidence, improvisation, and interpersonal skills that will hopefully govern their future endeavors. As part of the process, I saw my life, my actions, and my perspectives reflected through childhood innocence, trust, and honesty. I have gained respect for and wisdom from the young minds to which we entrust our world.