The city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was the headquarters of the Bolivian Idente Youth national camp, which took place from January 6 to 13. A very pleasant place in the middle of nature called “Ciudad de la Alegría” housed the 78 young people coming from La Paz, San Ignacio, Santa Cruz, Slovakia and France; Many of them had worked for weeks to cover the expenses of the camp and to get to participate in it.
The days passed very fast between courses of sculpture in plasteline, nutrition, first aid, tai chi, painting on canvas, carving of pencils, among others. Some training seminars were also held, and every evening we all gathered around the fire to share with each other our talents and our efforts in small artistic evenings, called “hymn to fire”.
One of the most anticipated activities was the march. One day we visited Lomas de Arena, a very beautiful tourist place, with spectacular views. The walk lasted many hours, but it gave us great lessons for life, since we had all the inclemencies of the weather, heat, rain and a little cold. It was an unforgettable walk.
To conclude the camp there was a workshop of the PUJ (Universal Youth Parliament) called “Peace in Construction” in which, remembering great characters in history such as Gandhi, Antonio Gaudí, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Fernando Rielo, we joined narrative, theater, dance, and poetry to present works and proposals promoting peace.
To start and end each day, the “anthem to the flag” was sung. We all returned home with the last verse of this song printed in our hearts: “The camp does not end, because in us there will remain the thought that these days we have recorded in our work. We will walk in life, we will walk to something more”.
