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Youth camp kids learn to channel their creative juices
A group of students and their instructor get creative with arts and crafts yesterday at the Summer Youth Empowerment Camp hosted by the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs. (Dennis B. Chan)
Students gathered to learn arts and crafts at the Kilili Beach Pavillion in Susupe yesterday as the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs’ Summer Youth Empowerment Camp holds its arts week.
Yesterday’s camp had 98 students, with turnout varying each day, according to camp coordinator Julian Camacho of the Division of Youth Services.
Students were divided into six groups to learn homemade flower weaving, mwar making, lei making, bead making, coconut leaf weaving, and sand painting.
Maria Christine Castro, 16, was one of the 21 instructors who helped the groups with their arts and crafts and kept them orderly.
Castro, who is a volunteer for the second straight summer, enjoys the different ideas children can come up with in their craft making.
John “JM” Mercader, 13, of William S. Reyes Elementary School, says the camp is “awesome.” He said he enjoys the “free stuff we make” like bracelets.
Soni Pomee, the coconut leaf-weaving instructor yesterday, came away impressed with one girl’s ability to make baskets.
“[The girl] surprised me because she really wanted to learn,” he said. The girl only needed help with finishing the basket, which Pomee did for her.
Pomee volunteered because he wanted to help the kids learn the art.
A Tanapag camp, open yesterday and this coming Thursday, is also open to the public, according to camp coordinator Alex T. Olopai. While they have only three students, he said, “I don’t want to turn kids away.”
The camp concludes Friday with a showcase for parents featuring the students’ art. It will also be held at the Susupe pavilion. (Dennis B. Chan)
