Teachers learn as much as students during the long-awaited catechism day camps in the Taiwanese mountains.
By Leanne Hester

Lay missionary Leanne Hester leads Atayal children in a dance during a catechism day camp.

The children look forward to these fun weeks in the summer, not only for the classes, games and snacks, but also because they meet new “Big Brothers and Sisters”—university students who volunteer to teach aboriginal kids.

This summer, our Columban parish held four sessions of camp, each in a different village.

These camps benefit all involved. The children, of course, get a week’s worth of catechism and much-needed attention; the local teen-agers gain experience leading younger children and learning from older students; and the college students, in their short time in the mountains, also learn invaluable lessons.

Can’t Wait To Get Started
For the children, a day of summer camp begins at 8 a.m. (The activities officially begin at 8, but sometimes the kids are so eager they start knocking on the church doors much earlier. Sometimes I have to tell them to return later . . . when the sun is up!) The day is filled with songs, dances, classes, games, crafts and food.

The teen-agers, who a few years back were students at these camps, lead the kids in songs and games while the college students prepare classes. During the hot summer days, the rivers continually lure us, which makes keeping 50 wiggling children interested in learning a great challenge.

The teachers work hard to ensure that this week of classes, the only catechism time given specifically to the kids all year, captures their interest.

The camps offer the children two different types of lessons: the information the teachers present, and what they observe from the attitudes of the young adults. Most of the year, the young people are away at school, so aboriginal children are accustomed to a less lively church experience. Witnessing college students and their older siblings working, playing and praying together makes a big impression on them.
At 3 p.m., the children leave, but only after capturing promises of a return visit the next morning. The rest of their day is free, but the staff gets only a short break before preparations for the next day’s activities begins.

We spend hours practicing songs and dances and making lesson plans. Most important, each day has time allotted for a staff meeting and shared liturgy.

It is invaluable for the teen-agers to witness other young adults praying together, because although they have “graduated” from catechism camps, they still need to continue their faith development, especially at this critical time when they are preparing to be on their own.

Former catechism camp attendees, like these two teen-agers, often return to camp years later as volunteer camp instructors.

By meeting Catholic Taiwanese, however, the aborigines encounter a different kind of minority. For some of these college students, they are the only Catholic in a family of Buddhists or the only Catholic in their school. They often struggle with the loneliness of an unshared faith.

Aboriginal teen-agers tend to take their Catholic heritage for granted. So by listening to college students share their own faith journeys, the teen-agers witness their dedication and begin to understand the force that compels college students to give of themselves.

Our volunteer teachers’ week of camp is not so busy that they don’t have time to learn lessons as well. The most significant experience for these flatland Taiwanese is immersion into the local culture and church community.

At first, some visitors are homesick and nervous about the food, language, and customs—not to mention the insects and snakes. By the end of the week, however, they have begun to understand and appreciate the aboriginal lifestyle, and few are ready to leave.

Attending evening prayer services with parishioners gives the teachers an opportunity to learn songs in the Atayal language, and it exposes them to a different face of the Catholic Church—one that is centered on family.

One student, after visiting a house prayer session, came back grinning from ear to ear; she had been given a godmother and an aboriginal name. Now “Yurau” has a new name and a new family.

Making Christianity Exciting
Another student shared that the most moving event of his whole week was the home prayer service he attended. “I’ve been going to church all my life,” he shared, “but never once have I seen a liturgy in our own homes.”

When they leave the mountains, the college students take with them a new understanding of what it is to attend church.

They also leave behind a deep impression on local parishioners. The children talk all year about the fun they had at day camp and wait impatiently for next summer. Junior high students wait for the day when they, too, will be one of the youth leaders.

And as for the teen-agers? During the final liturgy, one offered his reflection:

“When I was a kid, I always attended these camps. Although the games were fun, the classes were taught by adults and were boring. But with these students, it is different—they make the classes exciting for the kids, and they play games with us. Before, I didn’t know that young people were able to teach catechism, but they have given me a lot of inspiration. I hope that next summer, I will be able to come back from college and be a teacher at the camps.”

I already have his name down.