When District Governor Lion K.J. Paul offered me the position of Youth Camps and Exchange Program (YCE) Chairperson for District 3231 A2, I couldn’t have been more excited! Ours was the only camp in the entire country of India, so it was a huge responsibility—and a wonderful opportunity.
…get involved in the Youth Camps and Exchange Program. It’s an experience you will never forget.
I was familiar with the YCE program as I oversaw many responsibilities on the YCE Committee for more than five years under the leadership of Lion Sudheer Saxena. I had a solid understanding of what was involved in heading up this amazing Lions program.
I immediately put together my team with a mix of current as well as new members in our district. After a great brainstorming session, we decided to steer our program in a whole new direction. To begin with, we agreed to include the following things in our camp:
- Team-building sessions
- Camping at least five days at one place (ours is a travel camp)
- International cooking competition
- Active Leo involvement
We believed that adding these new activities would greatly enhance the YCE experience for all of our youth participants.
Working together to serve
Many districts from India joined forces to arrange this wonderful program. District-3234-D2 Pune, District-3234-H2 Aurangabad and District 317F Bangalore worked hard to make the program a success. With the help of both Lions and Leos, our program took on the herculean task of welcoming 26 young people from 15 countries—all within a 48-hour period.
The host family portion of our program lasted six days, ending with an international camp. The day began with our first team-building session led by Lion Ananda Mehta from Thane, a city near Mumbai. The second day of camp consisted of team-building games, activities and fun. Our day concluded with a fantastic East African Djembe drum-beating session.
Exploring Aurangabad, Jalna, Pune, Delhi, Agra and Alibag
We visited the old world heritage site of the Ellora caves in Aurangabad, which are 5,000 years old. Next, we traveled to Jalna, where camp participants played games with the local youth. This is where the young people learned more about Indian culture, and the difficulties that Indian youth face, such as unemployment and the lack of educational opportunities.
After our journey to Jalna, we visited the university city of Pune where we explored Pune University, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUUCA) and the ISCON Temple. While in Pune, the international youth participated in a Lions service activity at a children’s school for autism, creating crafts and socializing. At the end of the day, everyone participated in a traditional Indian drum-beating cultural activity.
The next stop on our adventure was Delhi. Here, we toured the war memorial India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhavan, which is the president’s house, the famous Hindu temple Akshardham, e-o-d Adventure Park, Lotus Temple, Humayun’s Tomb, Dilli Haat (an Indian artifact and traditional bazaar), Gurudwara Bangla Sahib and the Gandhi Memorial. Camp participants enjoyed a tremendous amount of Indian culture visiting ancient heritage, spiritually-important and modern history sites. The most exciting part of our day was when we traveled to the magnificent Taj Mahal! There were a lot of happy campers that day!
Our final destination was Alibag, a coastal town known for its stunning beaches. We visited Korlai Fort, Revdanda Beach and other locales. Campers enthusiastically river rafted, visited a local school and participated in a question-and-answer session with school children.
Sharing cultures from around the world
The International Cooking Competition, arranged by Lions Club of Alibag-Diamond Club, was one of the main attractions for everyone. There was a wide variety of flavors of international cuisines such as seafood risotto from Croatia, crepes from France, xachapuri from Georgia, pasta from Italy, Spanish omelette and much more!
The final day of camp was in Airoli, Mumbai. The day was full of interesting activities like country presentations from the international youth, a presentation of southern India from President Lion Venkatesh of Lions Club Ramesh of Bangalore in District 317F, host families sharing their experiences and introductions of the sponsors, partners and the YCE Committee. The best part of the day was the fashion show and Bollywood dance performance by the young people. They were even trained by professional Bollywood choreographers! More than 250 Lions were in attendance for our last day of camp.
The most difficult moment was saying goodbye to all the wonderful people. I could hear young people promising one another to meet again. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house!
Making memories and breaking records
It was an incredible experience for me as a first time YCE chairperson. For the first time in our program, 26 young people attended camp, and we sent 45 youth from every part of India to 21 countries. We successfully involved Leos throughout the entire program as volunteers for camping, and hosting and organizing the final day’s event.
The program enriched me—and all those involved—to the core. I made many terrific friends from all around the world. I knew our camp had been successful when I was asked by two young people from Italy if they could attend next year.
I invite you to get involved in the Youth Camps and Exchange Program. It’s an experience you will never forget.
Lion Pravin Sarnaik is the YCE Chairperson for District 3231 A2 and a member of the Alibag Lions Club in Alibag, India.
