[CRC] Summary of first week at CRC Machinima Camp
Hi everyone!
This is Tabitha Gkid, I am here to report on our first week of CRC Machinima Camp, and what a wonderful first week, indeed!
On Day 1, each camper did a “show and tell” exercise. Every camper got up to introduce him/herself, and shared something from their inventory with the rest of the group. That was a lot of fun and we got to see some interesting “prized possessions” from a few of the campers.
Here is a snapshot of us going through the CRC, putting up a poster version of the child-friendly version, soon after everyone had agreed to the 3 GK guidelines – One mic, safe space and participation!
Here is Scott standing closer to the poster for a better look:
Before everyone left, we had an optional dance party for everyone to get to know each other.
Thanks Daniel Voyager for taking the snapshot!
On Day 2, we did a quick warm up activity, which surprised a few campers...
The group was asked to line up in a row from beginning of the year to the end of the year, according to their birthdays.
2 campers found that they had the same birthday! While the rest were scattered most in the beginning and end of the year.
Then, the campers were asked to discuss what they think are "human needs" and "human wants". We had it listed on the board, and the discussion went a bit over time but it was well worth it. Funny enough, MONEY was both listed as a human need and human want.
Then the campers were asked to put on their "lawmakers" thinking cap, as you can see Meghan wearing below as a example, to write their own children's rights declaration in their own words.
On Day 3, Campers played the "Name That Article" game, where they were broken into smaller groups, and were each given a scenario where a child's rights were violated. The campers also brainstormed on how they would translate a real-life story taken from UNICEF's Voices of Youth website to a snapshot display in Teen Second Life.
Here are some examples:
Fatima's story by Totem, Joey and Echo:
Ishen's story by Tecno and bb:
Lam's story by Dragon and Mike:
Ali's story by Daniel Voyager, Tonyo and Ashtar:
On Day 4, being the only day we had to explore in depth on an issue that matters to all of us - child labor, and how it relates to the CRC.
The campers were asked to do multiple things, and they all got through the activities with huge success!
First, they were all given a real life story of a young girl's struggle in Brazil.
The teams decided on what they would do if we were to replicate her story in a machinima video, what props, objects, music, dialogue, and etc, would be needed, and then we discussed about her rights as a child, we identified numerous articles in the CRC that would relate to her situation, and at the end, each camper was asked to finish a sentence beginning with...
1. One thing I learned is...
2. I now feel that......
3. I appreciate that the fact that...
4. I wish that...
5. One thing that I would like to learn about this issue is......
Here are some examples:
Towards the end of day 4, we did a role play activity where each camper was asked to MAKE TOYS AS FAST AND ACCURATELY without a break or time to chat, as if they were working in a toy factory under harsh conditions.
Here is a picture of the massive pile of dollhouses the campers were asked to build:
The activity helped campers to put themselves in someone else's shoe, and learned that although it was a mock-version of what a real working child's life would be, we had a lot of strong feedback.
On day 5, we did a quick warm up activity called the Human Barometer. Campers were asked to listen to a statement, think about it, and to stand on the platform if they agree, disagree, or is unsure about the statement.
Then for the rest of the day, we went around one by one and helped each other brainstorm on what RIGHT they want to identify in their machinima, and for some, what story they would like to create.
Lastly, we had Machinima Guru, also known as Moo Money on the main grid, introduced herself to the campers for the first time, and we all watched A Child's War, a short machinima made by teens in our Virtual Video Project machinima program.
We ended with a great sense of accomplishment, and everyone looks forward to Machinima Guru's lessons for week 2. Stay tuned for the next weekly update!
Cheers,
Tabitha
