Eco Kids Summer Camp 2019 Day 6: Solid Waste Management & Sustainability

Eco Kids Camp Day 6: Solid Waste Management & Sustainability

It’s been a successful week with so much to be grateful for. How amazing that twenty-four kids from all over country have been fortunate enough to attend such a prestigious camp and to have experiences that will stay with them for a lifetime. Having first hand experience in the field learning about the Ancient Maya, Biodiversity, Medicinal Plants, and Land Conservation. On the day’s agenda the camper’s will be learning about Solid Waste Management.

Early rising for most of the eco kids since chatter and giggles were heard all over the camp grounds before the wakeup call. Around 6:30 a.m. the camp’s president Mr Levi made his morning call. Giving the troopers thirty minutes to get ready for the morning muster. At 7:00 a.m. the troopers all met in the main yard with the golden sun rays shining through the trees. They all song with their song books in hands before Mr Levi laid out the day’s agenda. Lots of shouting and excitement was heard when Mr Levi mention something about a splash party, whatever that meant, it sure was impressionable to the kids.

The campers all had breakfast then wasted no time and got going with the daily arts and crafts. For today’s art they all painted rocks, painting emojis, favorite cartoons, landscapes and abstracts. Many of the kids got messy painting on their faces and hands. They then moved on to play Angry Birds. You heard it right, Angry Birds just like the popular game played on mobiles all over the world. They used the bean bags they created the day before as projectiles to topple the piggies and other targets a distance away. It was fun and challenging making the campers apply a bit of physics to calculate the distance and momentum needed for the bean bags to head the targets.

Around 10:00 a.m the little troopers gathered their snacks and marched along on the river trail to the lodge. At the lodge they all got in their groups and began practicing the songs, since they were presenting them that evening. Ms Lucy stopped by to hear them sing and to see how things were going, she also lended a hand and made suggestion to better their songs.

While everyone practicing their songs, Levi was in the kitchen baking away a surprise for his camp mates. Yes you heard Levi, but not the president Mr Levi. This year in attendance is a camper named Levi, at camp they call him Little Levi. Little Levi has a brilliant personality and is passionate about baking.

After the rehearsal were over, it was time for the a special guest from Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD) to give a presentation about Solid Waste Management. Mr Justin Pook, full of energy and passionate about protecting nature, had an hour-long presentation with the eco kids. He displayed a power point presentation with never before seen images from the Chiquibul National Park, Belize’s largest national park. The Chiquibul is extremely important to the nation, because it provides clean water to the majority of the population of Belize.

At FCD Mr Justin is in charge of protecting against the poaching of wildlife, illegal gold panning, illegal logging, and pollution. He explained that his favorite thing about his job is exploring and discovering gigantic caves, sink holes and skeletal remains from the ancient Maya. The campers were in awe as they saw the images of waterfalls, caves and about the importance of Mr Justin job. Mr Job is surely a silent hero protecting the jewel along with his fellow rangers at FCD. After the presentation was over the kids all gave Mr Justin a big round of applause and showed gratitude for what he does.

There after troopers had lunch at the lodge’s kitchen. Then they all marched back to the camp for the afternoon’s splash party. Arriving at camp they were met with a wonderful surprise on the main yard. Grey tarps and a foam machine, yes it was slip and slide time. They were happy about the splash party but a bit frustrated that someone had tied one of their shoe to a line above the slip and slide. They wondered and wondered, but stopped caring when the splash party began.

First there was a water balloon war, tiny balloon flying all over the place hitting some on their chests, hands and legs. Then the slip and slide, everyone’s favorite, perhaps the most fun of any of the recreational activities. Everyone was sliding and laughing. Then the councilors brought out the shaving cream, and they all mischievously began covering their faces with it. It was an epic thing to see, the pictures tell it all.

With so much fun and water under a hot afternoon no one wanted it to end, but it was time to shower up and clean the mess.

Evening time came around and everybody gathered around in the dining hall for supper. They enjoyed a tasty meal of stewed beef with white rice and stew beans, topped with the red velvet cake that Little Levi had prepared earlier in the day. Everyone had Levi blushing as they thanked him for the delicious dessert he made for them.

The night ended with all the camper’s playing games and singing the songs they rehearsed during the day. They competed and two teams won, the Howler Monkeys and the Toucans. Nothing else can be written about the songs, only that they will be presented to the parents in attendance on Sunday. Bed time came around and the campers all headed to their cabins turning off their lights to get some much needed rest.

And there you have it folks, another incredible day at the 2019 Belize Eco Kids Camp.