Day 3 - Our values: personal, social, global

A roving bagpiper woke us on this sunny morning so we could be on time for gymnastics. Today’s exercises trained both our brain and muscles.  We stretched, played a name game, and Ninja.

The theme of the day was values – personal, social, and global. The first activity asked the students to consider various values as printed on cards. Working in small groups, the students decided which values they consider to be the most important to them personally, in the context of a democratic society, and from a global perspective. The students also provided insightful comments about their rationale for the values they prioritized over others. By knowing our values, we have a moral compass to guide us in responsible decision-making.  

To follow-up on this, the students participated in a simulation game where they played roles of people with different social statuses to determine how prejudices affect decision-making. They discussed how we can reduce intolerance and increase inclusion in our lives.

All the campers appreciated today’s weather that, combined with the lovely setting of the camp, allowed us to participate in sports such as swimming, rowing, volleyball, frisbee, soccer, and other outdoor fun.

We put our values into action today at lunch! After noticing for two days that we often leave uneaten food on our plates (the students estimated that up to 40% of the food served on our plates goes to waste), we decided to request that our wonderful chef serve us buffet style rather than plated lunches. After he kindly agreed, we talked about food scarcity in the world, and our values surrounding equality, sharing, concern for others, the environment, and our own needs for food. The result of our buffet experiment was that we took only the amount of food we wanted and needed, so nearly every plate returned to the kitchen was empty :-)



We were honored to welcome two speakers from the U.S. Embassy today. USG Fulbright Exchange Program Alumnus Vytis Silius spoke about values – how we develop them, prioritize them, and act on them. Sometimes our differing values cause conflict, and it is important to recognize that other people's values should be considered and respected, and we have to work to understand them.  

Meghan Luckett, Assistant Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy, took us outside for a game that illustrated the diversity of our large group, and emphasized that although we are in different places, we move forward together. This seems like an apt metaphor for our experience here at the camp. Through a trivia game we learned that we can accomplish goals best when we work together as diverse individuals of different nationalities, ages, and interests, and when we share our knowledge and experiences.  

In the afternoon, we worked on the theme of No-Hate Speech. Using cutout heart as a prop, we discussed how our words and actions can hurt the heart of others and ourselves, metaphorically creasing or scarring it. Kind words and actions can help open the heart, but wrinkles remain. The students created, in small groups, four-line rhyming poems suggesting the idea that we need to protect others’ feelings and our own by thinking about our values before making decisions that could hurt others and ourselves.

Two videos introduced us to the definition of hate speech, and the ensuing discussions resulted in a contest where students captioned images that depicted either positive or negative situations related to our speech or behaviour. We had two winners who were delighted to receive gifts from the US Embassy. 

At our evening campfire, groups presented the camp flags they had designed yesterday, each of which combined the symbols and colors of all three countries, such as one that depicted gratitude to the US Embassy though its design based on “Old Glory,” the American flag, and another that included elements from all three countries’ flags. By a democratic vote, the students selected the finalist featuring the symbols of the countries of the campers.

With each day, our friendships and appreciation for each others’ differences and commonalities grow. We truly value that!