Mes de Misión 2: A Summer Camp Like No Other
It’s January again, time for this JV to fill her hiking backpack with as many warm clothes as possible. Mes de Misión is about to begin, a grueling mission month in which Jesuit volunteers accompany students from third grade secondary of Colegio Miguel Pro as they spend part of their summer vacation in service to others out in the mountain regions of Tacna. I remember the summer camp of my childhood - archery, sports, arts and crafts, theatre— fun, educational activities out in the Sequoia National Park. This is not that kind of summer camp. For the next 28 days, my 14 year-old students will wake early, often before daybreak, to cook meals over open fire, swing machetes and pick-axes on local farms, and participate in communal life. My students will often give me heart attacks (usually when swinging sharp objects) and I will find myself arguing over some non-sensical subject: “no, you can’t get a ride on a stranger’s motorcycle”; “no, you can’t play soccer when lightn