The hot and sultry summer season is at our door-steps. So is the summer vacation. Vacations are one thing every school-going kid, be it of any age, looks forward to. And so do the adults who take a well-deserved break from work. How children spend their holidays has gone a vast change in the last decade or so. During the years when we adults were students we probably used to spend time at our relative’s place or at the ancestral house in the villages. I recall as a young boy I used to spend my holidays at my uncle’s place at Loutolim. We used to go to the jungle to collect berries, cashews and even mangoes which we used to throw down with stones. A refreshing swim in the nearby lake was a welcome relief from the sultry heat.
In today’s world children would probably not prefer to spend their vacation in the villages which according to them would be “outdated”. So what is the next best thing they prefer to do? Well it all depends on the financial standing of their parents. Children of well-to-do parents always prefer to spend the vacations abroad. Even a vacation to Switzerland would not be out of place. For the average family a vacation to any state within the country from Kashmir to Kerala could well be on the cards. But then for parents who are not able to get a break from the work, the biggest worry would be where to send their children for a vacation.
Well the place for the kids to spend the summer vacation could be at the summer camps. The idea of organising summer camps has really picked up over the past few years. Of late several summer camps are being organised all over the state. Every social club worth its salt makes it a point to organise summer camps in their respective cities. As a matter of fact there are even international summer camps. World Youth Alliance International Summer Camp is an exciting and personally enriching experience for young people aged 13 to 18. During this intensive one-week programme, young people from all over the world come together to learn about the dignity of the human person and how this idea is the starting point for change in the world. Participants learn to articulate and defend a vision of the human person that is both positive and critically engaged with global issues. Summer camp programmes have the potential to help children and youth improve their academic and excel in other extra-curricular activities. There are obviously a wide variety of activities that are undertaken in a camp. What is necessary is for the parents to identify the latent talent of their child and accordingly choose the right summer camp. At these summer camps there are personality development courses, paper-art workshops like mural, paper quilling, creativity from newspaper, hand embroidery, flower-making, paper-craft. For those interested in sports there are free football camps. While for those who would like to learn a few steps there are dance classes in Ballroom dancing, Salsa, jive, etc. And for those who have a dig for water sports, there are always swimming classes and classes in parasailing, water scooter-rides, jet skis, wind surfing and even dolphin spotting trips. The list of activities children can now indulge in during the summer
