THE thought of this experience coming to an end in just a matter of a couple of days is so emotional.
I feel like I’ve both been here for months and been here for no time at all, and it has truly been one of the best experiences I have ever had.
Today is day three of the innovation process, where our campers should ideally have their problem and solution worked out and should be working towards pitching their solutions to the judges tomorrow afternoon.
It never works that way in practice though. For some, it has been a relatively easy process that has seen them gel with their teams with little effort. For others, it has been an intense few days of going round in circles, disagreements and frustration.
Regardless, everyone will arrive at the same end – what their final pitches look like and the quality of them is ultimately up to them. My teams have been working flat out on their solutions, with one choosing to focus on the human trafficking of vulnerable young women in South Africa, another on social isolation and intergenerational socialising in Victoria, Australia and the third on access to clean drinking water on Canadian First Nation reserves.
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It’s been so enlightening for me to watch them go through the motions this week and to hear all of their interesting and first-hand lived experiences of their problem statements.
As well as paying attention to how they arrived at them, and what united them as a group of people from different cultures, backgrounds and corners of the world.
Later today they will be meeting with mentors that we have brought in from across different industries that are relevant to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals they are working on, in order to fine-tune their problems and solutions with the help of an external expert in their field.
A really important part of the process, and often where the end solution is altered the most because the advice tends to be harsh and offers a perspective outside of the bubble they have been working in for the last few days.
When I was a camper, my team’s solution changed entirely after our mentorship session because we realised it was too far-fetched, and we almost had to go back to the drawing board – the night before our pitch.
I suspect there will be a few similar instances later today, and the pressure is really starting to mount ahead of the Changemaker Summit taking place on the opening weekend of Global Goals Week tomorrow in New York City, where our winning teams will have to present.
It comes after possibly the best night we have had on camp so far.
The counsellor team donned moustaches and bow ties as we took on our role as waiters at “Cafe Dilemma” a social exercise where campers are sat at tables with fellow campers they haven’t yet got to know very well, and are given a menu of prompts to encourage connection and meaningful conversation.
We served them ice cream sandwiches, cookies, tea and coffee while they got to know each other better.
Me and my colleague Anna, possibly the coolest girl I’ve ever met who is from Denver, Colorado and is the very definition of a fearless rebel of a woman, were in charge of social events last night.
But day three of camp is tough and everyone is starting to get tired in every way, so we wanted to keep it light.
We settled on a music quiz that got people so animated it ended up descending into the most organic open mic night I’ve ever seen, we had a queue of performers lined up by the end of the night.
From spoken word poetry by a Canadian woman who once spent a year living in an Abbey on Iona to a group performance of the Hoedown Throwdown from Hannah Montana – led of course by my good self – it energised our team so much and left us all feeling so connected and in tune with each other.
It was especially impactful for campers who have been a little more reserved and have found the social aspect of camp more difficult, by the end of the night they were singing on the stage, and today they are having lunch with their newfound friends.
Each day this experience outdoes the one before it, I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.
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