CAMPAMENTO AIRE LIBRE

Last year at the start of the Summer holiday, Robbie and Maia bravely went off for a 9 day summer camp, organised by Fundación Brethren y Unidas. John bravely went off to the coast for a week, solo. The FBU camp worked out well, although Robbie and Maia were the youngest participants. The FBU dates this year did not fit so we looked for a different option and came up with Fabián Zurita's Campamento Aire Libre, recommended by several BSQ families. Better also in that the camp was specifically designed for 6 to 9 year olds.

Fabián Zurita is a legendary figure amongst Ecuador's mountaineers. Now 76 years old, he still spreads his charisma and articulates his message amongst all who will listen - patiently listen, for he is quite a talker! He describes himself as a Pioneer and an Educator and his camps are run under the slogan: Alegría en el Esfuerzo - Fulfilment is in the Effort. In Fabián's ideal world, growing up should be a series of challenges, preferably outdoors, which must be met without the customary comforts of computers, mobile phones, TV, junk food and all those other fall-backs we depend upon. He is strict with himself - no computers in his office, no web pages, no TV at home, never owned a mobile phone and still does not know what is a play station. He is strict with his 'campers' and even stricter with their parents - from drop-off of the children in Quito, until collection 9 days later, no communication is tolerated from parents to children. Like bells signalling lesson changes at school, Fabián employs a whistle in his camps. That whistle and his voice, supported by a wonderful intellect, a kind heart and a real empathy with his 'campers' are all he has ever needed in the 35 years of these successful camps. Google his name and you will find out so much more about him. Fabián is unique but there is undoubtedly a lot of Kurt Hahn in his personal, life philosophy.


So John bid Robbie and Maia farewell at 9:00 am in Quito Saturday morning, and received the first, long instalment of Fabián's 'message', given from the back of a pick-up in the middle of a main street packed with tearful parents. 9 days is long for youngsters amongst new surroundings but we were bluntly told to shed our tears, go back home and to report at the camp site in La Merced Sunday morning, 9 days later.

John arrived Sunday morning, as instructed, and found two filthy but supremely happy children, amongst 60 other equally as cheerful camp participants. Maia's hair was a dreadlock chaos; Robbie was on his last pair of torn shorts; and both were covered in dog hair, dirt, grass and cuts and bumps. 

Robbie had perhaps suffered a few moments of unhappiness - some tears a couple of nights, according to his leader/guide Koa - but had otherwise really enjoyed the experience. Maia had made new friends and was even selected by the other children as one of the best, all-round campers of the week, chosen to raise her group's flag.

 The campers were divided into 8 groups, 4 each of boys and girls, and were allocated a cabin, where they lived for the week with their guide. These groups were called patrols and each had to make and raise its own flag. They cooked some of their own meals and washed their own clothes - not very well, on the evidence of the mess delivered back home on Sunday!
Maia's group leader or guide was Camilla, who even tried to do Maia's braids!

 They climbed from their camp to the top of Ilalo. This is quite a trek for a youngster, but they all made it. Here is Maia's group at the top. Maia's group came up with the name Tortugas Marinas (Sea Turtles) for themselves.


A big part of the Aire Libre campamentos is to encourage all the children to meet challenges which they otherwise might not even dream of meeting.

 Robbie's group apparently climbed well, and without any sort of fuss.


Robbie's group called themselves the Piranhas.

 This is the line down from Ilalo. Fabián Zurita is a stickler for organisation and from the very beginning of each camp he quickly gets all the children following camp rules and expectations. The kids respond well to this.


A special rule for Robbie and Maia, who both arrived wearing England football shirts. "None of that! We are in Ecuador!", said Fabián!

 This is Robbie, in the stripey balaclava, leading his group up to the Refugio on Cotopaxi. Again, all the children successfully made the climb up to 4,800 metres.


The disappointment was the lack of snow. Certainly Robbie and Maia were all set to make it to the snow-line, but with so little snow around, this would have meant a long haul up to the glaciers.

Robbie's group, the Pirhanas, with their leader/guide, Koa.


You will see that all the children had to equip themselves well for their trip into the high mountains, although in the end, there was no rain or snow.

What Robbie is doing here seems innocuous enough but as far as he was concerned there was a deep and treacherous ravine beneath the log he was crossing!


There were plenty of other activities during the camp. The children all spent one night under the stars, without tents or cover except for the branches over their heads. They walked on ropes and crossed the deadly mud swamp on a narrow plank - actually Robbie as well as at least half of the campers, fell in, much to their initial horror but eventual delight! They swam in hot water pools. They built things out of twigs and leaves. They made a graffiti wall. They visited a nearby river and completed an environmental clean-up there. And throughout, they were supposed to be looking after their daily needs like washing clothes, preparing and clearing away meals, cleaning out their cabins and organising their other chores.

 Accommodation was certainly not high in the comfort zone! Bunks with wood boards on which to sleep, most of them sloping horrendously, seemed to guarantee sleepless nights. Not a bit of it apparently - Robbie and Maia slept like logs every night. Thank goodness it didn't rain - Robbie reported that through his roof there was an excellent panorama of the stars and the heavens at night!.

 Here's Maia zipping down a huge earth pile in the camp site. Both Robbie's and Maia's 4 pairs of trousers were finished in this one week! Not a surprise!

 Like the earth slide in the photo above, when John turned up on Sunday to collect the two children, he was first given a show-around by Robbie and Maia of all the different camp play activities. There were ropes everywhere, mostly of them insanely dangerous, but then if they weren't dangerous, who would ever have fun on them?








At the end of the camp there was a group gathering with all the mums and dads, when each of the children were proudly awarded their diplomas. They were also all given a DVD of some 500 photos taken during the week - several of the photos here are copied from that DVD - and a copy of Fabián Zurita's book, Montana, Pasion y Mensaje.

 


During this camp John was not idle! On Monday at 4:00 am in the dark he left Quito on his bike and arrived to the coast at Samvara, some 12 hours later. Actually 10 hours riding time for the just short of 300 kilometres represented a good average speed, despite the truly mean headwind for the last 100 km. Buttery knees for a couple of days were the only penalty. John returned on the bus - the climb back up the Andes to Quito would have been pure madness!