Each year our partners at Sunflower take two small groups away on summer camp. Six young adults who have just left their children’s home, and five families with young children took part this year. Although the beautiful rural surroundings are a wonderful escape from the city, this is not just a holiday. Everyone who takes part has been selected because they are prepared to work intensively on improving their relationships, on making responsible choices and on becoming more resilient.
Sunflower young people
Growing up was the theme of the first summer camp. During the preparation sessions, the psychologists picked up on the shared concerns the group had around this topic. Through the summer camp, they reflected on their childhood, their teenage years and the qualities that they would like to take with them into their adulthood. Some found it very difficult at first to remember anything they could put on their time-line. Others had to work out which events and people had been most important to them so they could fit it all on one sheet. Through this process they were able to value their experiences, even the negative ones, and to see how much they had grown.
Dima said, “I thought that it was better to erase a difficult childhood from my memory, but there are so many valuable memories in it.” By contrast Lera reflected, “I became an adult and responsible so early that it seems that I want to stay in my youth a little longer, so as not to grow up so early.”
Both have been able to continue talking about the subject through the summer.
Sunflower families
To me this photo sums up the amazing process that can happen on summer camp. At the beginning of the camp Liza was unemotional and seemed to ignore her daughter, often turning away from her. Despite being a committed member of the Sunflower group, she was struggling to play with her child. In fact, some of the skills which seemed quite established in St Petersburg were lost when she found herself in an unfamiliar situation.
All five families that took part were all able to make a stronger, closer bond with their children. They were able to understand why their children seemed to reject them when they wanted to play, why they didn’t obey them. They all went home with new skills to make life more harmonious, skills they will be able to practice back in the city.
