Cover Photo: Emese Tárnok
Text: Seweryna Lewon
Edit: Sophie Spickenbom
While the participants are enjoying their Path programme, the International Service Team (IST) is having a bit of fun on their own! On 23 July, all of the IST and planning team members gathered around at the Community Stage for the IST opening campfire.
The campfire programme was filled with diverse activities: the participants had a chance to show off their vocal skills while singing to “What makes you beautiful” and “Let it be”, have fun while playing screaming and song related games and also have a laugh while watching a sketch prepared by the campfire team.
Although it was very fun to watch, it was definitely not the easiest to organise. To find out more about the process of organising such a campfire, we had a chat backstage with Hannah (Campfire Host) and Karina (Campfire Manager) and asked them about their feelings and reflections about the evening program.
How did you decide to commit to the role?
Hannah: Karina asked if I wanted to be on stage and I needed to think about it a little bit before I could say yes. I was really scared that my English was not good enough and it was also scary to be in front of 6000 people. I needed to ask a lot of my Scout friends whether I should do it or not, but in the end I finally said yes.
Karina: So at Roverway I am the “Campfire Manager” – I am in charge of all the campfires: the IST campfire, the opening and closing campfires. Because it was only six months after I had completed a similar role to this one at a national camp, I was a bit hesitant – but then I remembered how fun it is to make campfires and how I love being creative and making things. Therefore, in the end I decided to commit, and I don’t regret standing here today. As for my role as a singer on stage, it was easy to commit to this role, since I love singing and have a bachelor’s degree in musical theatre, so my background is very fit for both roles.
What was the biggest challenge that you encountered?
Hannah: The biggest challenge was to make a campfire that adhered to every nationality and culture present at Roverway. I think in Norway we have a specific type of campfire and it was a challenge to figure out how to include all of the cultures.
Karina: I think I agree with Hannah and also it was a challenge to meet everyone’s expectations. We decided early on that we didn’t want to make a traditional ceremony type campfire with a lot of talking. We wanted to make it more loose, fun and festive, while making remarks about why we are here. I think stepping out of the traditional way of organising the campfires was quite scary.
After everything is done and finished – what is the biggest reward that you gained during this experience?
Hannah: Oh, I think I’m experiencing it right now, when I see people being happy and singing. It was rewarding to have everyone laugh with me. It was also rewarding to see everything that was planned in my head – turn out perfectly on stage.
Karina: Going off of what I mentioned previously, the biggest reward was to see that people were happy with the campfire, that they accept it, think it’s cool, even though it was very different from the traditional campfires. Now we can relax and find peace in what we’ve created and just be proud of it.
During the campfire the IST’s also received kind words from the Director of Roverway: Simmen Karoliussen and the Deputy Director of Roverway: Jens Mårtensson, both of them thanked the IST’s for their hard and invisible work, because it’s because of them we can enjoy clean facilities, delicious food and a smoothly running campground.
With such a wonderful start, we can now all look forward to the opening campfire, that will occur at Main Camp, after the participants arrive from their paths!