Boys Camp 2009
From Peace Corps Wiki
Info about the Boys Camp 2009
Four Peace Corps Volunteers of Cape Verde, alongside fellow Cape Verdeans are proposing one of the first ever Boys Camps. The objective of this project is to facilitate an environment for the future leaders of Cape Verde, by providing leadership, critical thinking and self-esteem training. The camp will provide the boys with an isolated and safe place to develop these skills. It will take place between the dates of July 12th and the 17th. These skills have been identified as crucial to the development of Cape Verdean males within this cultural context.
Our reasoning for making a boys camp came from 8 months of observation by the current PCVs and extensive dialogue with Cape Verdeans about the problems youth face here. It occurred to us that young boys in this country have higher high school dropout rates than girls and higher problems surrounding drugs and alcohol. Our findings also illustrated a lack of positive outlets for young boys and so we determined that developing a program for boys in our communities provides new coping strategies for problems they face. After a rigorous application process, we will accept 20 boys from three different localities. This way we will be able to reach more youth throughout the island. Each day we will deal with specific themes such as leadership, future planning, self-esteem, HIV/AIDS, safe and respectful cross-gender relationships, health, and nutrition. This will equip these boys with the proper skills to be the leaders of tomorrow.