The first day I arrived at the camp, I was both excited and nervous. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I knew one thing: I was about to face a real responsibility, guiding an international group of volunteers as their campleader. What I didn’t imagine was how much this role would teach me, not only about leadership, but also about teamwork, cultural exchange, and myself.
Being a campleader is not only about organizing the work, answering questions, and acting as a bridge between the local partner and the volunteers. It’s also —and more than anything else— about creating community, building a strong team spirit, and turning a group of strangers into the best of teams over the course of two weeks.
In my case, even though I had organizational skills, I was afraid of seeing myself in a leadership role for the first time. I feared not being up to the task, not knowing how to manage it, or that the position of responsibility would create distance between me and the other volunteers.
When they arrived, I found myself excitedly organizing icebreakers and different workshops on assertiveness and teamwork. I reconnected with something I hadn’t realized I enjoyed so much, and it filled me with satisfaction to see how the volunteers started opening up to the rest of the group thanks to these activities.
From the rest of the camp, I’d say they taught me far more than I taught them. We were people from completely different nationalities, all holding paintbrushes in our hands, sharing countless jokes and laughter. Thanks to that, I soaked up new knowledge about countries I had never had the chance to explore so deeply before. That is what I enjoy most about the international environment: discovering how the little things that are obvious to me are nothing more than social constructs that do not cross the borders of my home country.
During the week and a half I spent in Kyselka, I learned to find balance between being a campleader and being a volunteer. I enjoyed the time together and I learned to respect my own needs without guilt: sometimes I simply needed to sleep, and that was okay. The next morning, I would wake up refreshed and with much more energy to face the work and the responsibility.
I also practiced active communication with my co-leader, Teresa. Throughout the week we kept an open dialogue about how we were feeling, what we appreciated, and what we needed to improve in order to feel better. That open communication helped us avoid misunderstandings and allowed us to be a stronger team: both between ourselves and with all the other participants.
When I looked at the cabin we had renovated on the last day, I felt an enormous sense of satisfaction. Not only because of the result, but because when I looked at it, I could see all twelve volunteers in my mind: standing in the corners, climbing ladders, crouching down to finish the lower parts of the fences. That was what we had achieved, together. Twelve people who didn’t know each other a week and a half earlier, who had no previous knowledge about renovations, had made it happen.
Of course, along the way there were moments of stress and overstimulation, but we were lucky enough to take it as a lesson: to talk about it openly and to listen to what our bodies were asking of us at each moment.
Being a campleader has taught me many things about myself: what I value, and what I need to improve. All through an experience that, if I could, I would repeat tomorrow.
