The first days are always a lot of work and it is very important to have it well distributed among all. Welcoming the new monitors and the soon beginning of the School Continuity Program would not be possible without the help of the coordinators and supervisors.
During the weeks preceding the arrival of the monitors a French coach specialized in leadership workshops, Gwen, gave some talks to the coordinators to work and improve some of their skills. It benefited to all of them to prepare then face the beginning of the camp: “They were workshops to learn how to cooperate with each other, how to listen, to say things the best way, how to manage conflicts… She made us work in groups so we could get to know each other. Gwen was very concerned about all our questions and requests and she involved us a lot.” Inés, 1st year coordinator for Central.
Another workshop the coordinators attended was about the importance of emotional intelligence, given by Fernando, former coordinator and supervisor for the first year this summer. Indeed, he suggested to introduce games, activities or exercises during the summer program, to make the children start realizing how and what they feel, as much as the importance of naming and recognizing feelings, both theirs and the others’. It would also insist on developing empathy, a feeling that is truly lacking within the Khmer population due to its recent and violent History.
“Teaching is the key. The more and the sooner, the better. Mental health has to become a long-run priority.” explains Fernando.
Each coordinator went to visit, sometimes discover, the location of its program before the arrival of the new monitors to make sure everything was settled and no material was missing. Also, they met with the Social Team – which does a lot of work identifying the children who need to go the School Continuity Program ; the Khmer coordinators and monitors, and the PSE workers who are here the whole year. Later on, they created notebooks for their projects, which they will give to each monitor, Khmer and European. It explains the schedule of the activities they will do during the month, the history of the program, its characteristics, its objectives and a lot more needed information to start.
The supervisors of the projects had to review these notebooks so that every piece of information is accurate and easy to understand. In addition to that, they are responsible of all the logistic concerns that have to be resolved before everything starts.
PSE is a puzzle with many pieces, both throughout the year and during the Summer Camp. Each of them is needed, each of them is essential : it’s only with all the pieces together that the School Continuity Program will be a success again this year.
