AID for ROMANIAN CHILDREN Charitable Trust Reg.No. 1098344 46 Bishopthorpe Road, York YO23 1JL tel: 01904 635018 email: annebrown47@btinternet.com Once again this summer the Aid for Romanian Children charitable trust organised three camps for some of the most disadvantaged children in Europe - the Roma children of Cold Valley village in Transylvania. The camps, which have been running for many years, are staffed by volunteers from the UK. They work with local villagers to provide a memorable experience for over 150 children. The UK volunteers are mainly students and ex-students from Leeds Metropolitan University. They each raise around £500 to cover their personal costs and those of five children. This includes providing every child with two complete changes of clothing; towel; toothbrush; toothpaste; soap; shampoo; and a pair of shoes. The camp site we use is pretty well equipped, even by UK standards. It has a children's play area, with a good range of equipment, a football pitch and a badminton net. There is a dining room, two toilet/shower blocks, and wooden cabins to sleep in. Night-time felt like being back on my adventure playground, when we used to camp out in wooden dens. The site is also home to an orphanage. The foundation which runs the orphanage relies on income from the site to keep afloat - so, the fees from the ARC camps not only give a holiday to 150 Roma children, but also help provide a secure home for twelve orphans. In many ways the camps provide the sort of pure playwork experience we see less often nowadays in the UK. The role of the volunteers is that of facilitator/enabler, rather than leader or coach. There is a loose programme of games and activities each day, but no coercion to join in. Some children only appear for meals, preferring to spend their time decorating the cabins, or washing their new clothes. Sometimes the planned activities take off in a completely unexpected direction. For example, a very successful puppet making session turned into an improvised music and dance session for some of the children, when they decided to use the scrap materials to make percussion instruments instead of puppets. Roma dancing is quite unique, with elements of tap, flamenco and traditional Indian dance. The moves are complex, but even very young children seem to master them easily. One of the volunteers who had also been to Camp America said she was struck by the inventiveness and self-reliance of these children when compared to their American counterparts. Another striking difference is the energy with which everything is done. The children are not bothered by physical knocks, and seem to enjoy arguments. A version of oranges and lemons caused lots of disagreement about the rules. A game of hangman created a huge argument when participants couldn't decide how a particular word should be spelt. They played dodge ball with great enthusiasm. Their version involves trying to hit the legs of a few children in the centre of the circle. If you manage to hit someone, you swap places with them. I can think of children in the UK who would not be enthusiastic about a game whose outcome was to go into the centre of the circle so that people could throw a ball at you. These children loved it.