Week 4

Week 4

Last week in Qaanaq and saying goodbye

This week has been quite emotionnal for the volunteers for we all new that the time to say goodbye to the children was getting closer and closer. Amazing friendship were formed with both the kids and the villagers, and there were some tears as goodbyes started to happen. Stories were shared that made the volunteers proud of the month of work they put in, and led to hopes that the children will remember this camp and be inspired to go out into the world and explore!

In the gym

The children who had been doing dance with Josphine and Sarah, spent a few mornings rehearsing a dance that they were going to perform on Saturday in front of the whole town. The teenagers kept up their bootcamp training and boxing with Dominique and Bella. The late mornings were spent practicing Greek dancing with Emily and Ellen in order to also present those dances on Saturday. The children were so proud to prepare such a show and worked really hard in getting all of the steps right. The afternoon were spent either playing volleyball or soccer on the outdoor field. More young adults and teenagers joined for the volleyball and the outdoor games this week. It has been really nice for the volunteers to also get to know the young adults for most of them spoke good English and were able to exchange on their culture and traditions but also translate for the youngers who wanted to have conversations with us.

In the school

The kids got to try a few new worshops this week. Soap making, cooking, glass painting, salt dyeing, and papier maché were the novelties at the camp. For the papier maché workshop, the ladies who work at the daycare came to help the volunteers. It was a nice cooperation and a great chance to get to talk with grown ups.

As the camp was coming to an end, it was clear that the kids were well settled into their favorite workshops. They all seemed to have a routine to which they stuck to on much of the days. It was nice for the volunteers to see the kids evolve and keep a high interest in the workshop that they ran.

The last activity of the camp was a scavenger hunt around Qaanaaq with a list of things that teams of the children had to find and take photographs of. Creativity was encouraged so the task to find ”a fish” could be completed by taking a picture of a fish, drawing one, or making one out of paper! The teams had a wonderful mix of teens and younger kids which meant that the entire game was fun for everyone!

The Saturday Party

Gathering at the gymnasium, the community of Qaanaaq offered the volunteers unique and wonderful performances as a series of ”thank yous” for the camp. In traditional North Greenlandic garb, a choir of men and women sang three beautiful songs and shared a drum dance duet between a man and woman. Another treat was a Tae Kwan Do demonstration with katas and forms that really amazed the crowd. The camp volunteers made a video of pictures taken from the weeks of camp, and some of the pictures drew laughter and sighs from the community members present.

The principal of the school made a lovely speech and gave presents of pictures of the children to the volunteers, and another local leader gave everyone a souvenir with the old symbol of Thule and the Qaanaaq Commune! Games were played including a traditional Inuit game called ”airplane” where three men carried another person by their arms as far as possible, a game that will be contested in the next Arctic Games competition!

written by Bella