Here is a detailed report of XYZ’s SUmmer Camp 2019, sent over by our dear friend and XYZ founder Hoshaang Gotla
Day 1 of the week long XYZ summer camp began on a beautiful Sunday morning with 4 centers Colaba, Byculla, Dadar and Andheri. There were over 180 kids participating in this camp.
The camp started with an humbandagi, distribution of ID cards and introduction of kids, parents and volunteers. Since it was a twinning day, parents and kids were asked to dress up as twins and some pairs did a wonderful job. This was followed by a series of fun games for the parents and kids like lemon and spoon, 1 minute games, crows and cranes, tug of war. Irrespective of the games being played in different centres, the parents thoroughly enjoyed and then bonded over some delicious dhansakh.
Day 2 of the summer camp started with the humbandagi followed by a scavenger hunt. While some centres had a puzzle search, some walked around the colony mapping prime places and some did a A to Z collection search. The 4th centre started their day with playing a human size snakes and ladders a game designed by one of the groups, followed by a game of spin a wheel.As kids were truly exhausted, (a little time to take a chill pill and calm down) they were given topics for spin a yarn and were explained the rules. Some choose fairy tales as the theme whilst some choose gujrati quotes.Post lunch, centres conducted the Gujarati Pictionary, wherein kids had to draw a picture of a gujrati word which the team had to guess in gujrati. Quite a few Picassos in XYZ may we say! Post some yummy snacks the teams broke out into discussion for Spin a Yarn, a play which the kids would be putting up together on the last day!
Day 3 day began by thanking Ahura Mazda for a blessed life with a visit to the Atash Behram.
XYZs and volunteers traveled by bus to the 4 Atash Behrams in Mumbai. Dadar group visited the Wadiaji, Colaba group went to the Anjuman, Byculla visited Dadyseth and Andheri visited the Banaji Atash Behram. They were also accompanied by Mobeds in association with the Empowering Mobeds initiative. They accompanied the children into the Atash Behram educating them about fire temple etiquette. They also played games and asked questions on the way to the Atash Behram. Post the prayers kids took a quick heritage walk and bus ride around South Mumbai spotting all the prime locations built by Parsis. All groups then met at Albless Baug where yummy curry rice and sali par edu along with rotli, achar and sariya were served. The kids then went back to their respective centres and the evening was spent on drawing competitions, discussion on the spin a yarn and some workshops.
Day 4 was an energetic Wednesday morning which started with a Humbandagi followed by Zumba / Dance Out at all centres. Some of the best dancers were also chosen by the instructors. The kids enjoyed dancing to famous hindi and english songs.
Post lunch the day continued with an Entrepreneurship and Team Building session conducted by WZCC. The idea was to encourage children to think like entrepreneurs and sell their ideas or concepts at an early age.
Day 5 The fifth day began with Crickball at Cusrow baug. All 4 centres travelled to Colaba to meet up and enjoy this combined fun game of Cricket and Baseball. Using a cricket ball and 4 bases of baseball the kids ran, hit and chased the ball all morning. 16 teams played against each other with 2 teams of Colaba winning the 1st and 2nd place. After a hearty meal of sheekh kebab biryani and chocolate Ice cream the kids returned to their centres. The second half of the day was focused on Entrepreneurship workshops, games and even learning origami at the one of the centres. .
Day 6 started with a humbandagi followed by teams competing in outdoor games. Whilst some played dodgeball & saakli, a few centres had other games planned. Rest of the day was spend in teams preparing for the spin a yarn competition. Each group had a spectacular performance where parents and grandparents came and supported them.
It all ended with awards being given to the kids for various achievements and of course the winning team went home with the trophies.
Every child returned home cheering with XYZ Tiffin boxes. Kids and parents feedback were very motivating for all the hard work put in by the volunteers this last week.
Day 7. The last day of the summer camp was a fun trip to Nandanvan Resort and Water Park at Vasai to all kids parents and volunteers who worked so hard the last week.All 4 centers travelled by bus and on reaching they were served hot poha and yummy Misal Pav. Soon all were seen splashing and diving into the pool and water slides. More than the kids the parents were thrilled to try out the various slides and rides. After an exhausting and fun time in the water, all hungry kids moved on to have popcorn, candy floss and wada pav. A few more dips and slides and then it was lunch time. By 2pm all buses moved back to their respective destinations marking the end of an exciting and fulfilled XYZ Summer Camp