IFYE Program Newsletter

My experiences here in Denmark increase each day I live here. One never knows whom one will meet or what great experience will happen.

During the last part of July and the first week of August, I was at 4-H camps as a counselor and camper. The first camp I attended was a Danish regional 4-H camp July 22–25 in the northwest part of the island of Zealand near the little town of Hove.

The camp was at a small conference center one-quarter mile from the beach. The center had four rooms with bunk beds in each for 20 people. It had a dinner hall, kitchen, a small meeting room, and a few counselor sleeping rooms. There were 36 4-H’ers from age 7- 14, and 21 camp staff that were both teen leaders and adult 4-H leaders. The 4-H leaders are all volunteers here in Denmark.

At this camp the campers were divided into five groups called HOST. Each Host had 6-8 children who were led by two teen leaders. I was able to be a co-leader of the first Host. The camp began on Sunday evening. Each day started with the flag raising and singing followed by breakfast. In the morning and after lunch, the campers had five classes that they rotated through by Hosts, during the time they were in camp. The classes included The Sounds of the Sea, Learning about the Sea Creatures, Collages of the Sea, Exploring the Streams, and Message on a Sailboat.

I helped with the sailboat class and had the job of helping the kids cut out the wood for the sailboats. The campers put something about themselves or about 4-H camp on the sail as they built their ships. On the last day, the sailboats were released into the nearby sea. In the afternoon, the campers would go bathing (swim-ming) in the sea. At dinner, one Host had the responsibility of setting the table while another Host cleaned up afterward. In the evening, there would be some kind of recreation. We had a night hike, sports, and water activities. The parents came the last night to see all the things the kids had done.

Immediately after this camp and a short night’s sleep plus a quick repacking, my host family: Aff, Marie, Niels, and I, boarded a tour bus in Ringster, Denmark, and headed for the 2001 Nordic 4-H Camp in Inderoy, Norway which began on the 26th of July.

On our five-hour journey to the northern tip of Denmark, we traveled through most of the country, stopping along the way to pick up more Danish 4-H’ers. We arrived in Frederkshavn with a full bus. The bus boarded a night ferry to cross the North Sea to Norway. We shared night cabins with four persons in each.

The ship held several hundred people, plus cars, trucks, and buses. It had seven levels. I had never been on a ship this big before. I spent several hours on the deck watching the night sky, the lights of other boats, and the moon’s reflection on the open sea. I had a feeling of freedom, of being like a free spirit. This feeling continued the next day as we traveled into the mountains of Norway. The ship arrived in port at 6:45 a.m. and we boarded our bus for the trip north.

We traveled through Oslo, Lillehammer, and Dombas to Inderoy. It was a beautiful trip. After Lillehammer, we entered the mountainous part of Norway. As we got higher, there were no more pine trees, only small shrubs and moss. There were houses that had grass roofs, canyons of rushing white water, and lakes of all sizes. The tall mountains that reached straight up still had a few peaks covered with snow. The amazing thing is that the waterfalls start at the very top of these beautiful mountains then fall all the way to the bottom. There were not just a few of them; they were all over the mountainsides. Our bus ride continued on to the western coast of Norway.

We arrived at 8 p.m. and set up our camp. We camped in a large field with 1,500 other 4-H’ers from 12 countries. We had five big circle tents in the Danish camp that would be our home for the next 10 days. The Nordic Camp is a camp that rotates from one Scandinavian country to another each year. Its goal is to expose the 4-H’ers to new cultures and history and to have a fun time.

We had breakfast around 8 a.m. and held a flag raising ceremony and the 4-H Pledge afterwards. I found that this pledge is not the same around the world. We had a tour each day to a new place and we learned about art, history, nature, and wildlife. Through these experiences I learned a lot about the cultures of the 4-Hers around me, and about myself. Some of the places we visited were Kulturhus, Stranmen (a fishing town), and Swendes, a logging camp. A lot of the times we would eat lunch at the site we were visiting.

Some of the days there were activities in camp such as a volleyball tournament and a tractor-pulling contest. In the evening, we had dinner in a big circus tent. We brought our own plate and camp silverware, and we cleared our own dishes. A different country had the responsibility of providing the entertainment for that evening each night.

After that there would be a band or disco music. We had all kinds of weather, including five days of rain. It made for a “mud” camp, but did not dampen the spirits of the campers. It was a great camp and a wonderful experience. On the last day, we left at 6 a.m. to go by bus to Oslo where we caught a night ship back to Denmark.

The next day, I moved to my second family in Forslev, only five kilometers from my first family who lived near Haslev. Again it is on a farm. My host family, the Studstrups, grow wheat, barley, and grass seed for lawns. Their farm used to be a hog farm. My host father’s father had owned the farm then. My host father, Johannes, in addition to being a farmer, has worked with the Department of Agriculture. He now works part-time in farm real estate and in construction.

My host mother, Christin, is from England and emigrated here when she got married. She is going back to school now to become a home nurse for older individuals. There are two children. The oldest, Marianne, 17, is a high school student and president of the Zealand 4-H Council. She works part-time in a bakery.

Niels, 15, is a student, and enjoys working with bicycles. He is part of a monocycle club. He cuts grass part-time and delivers sales ads. His grandfather, who is retired from the farm, lives about 1.5 kilometers away in town and comes every night for supper with the family.

In the next issue, we’ll visit some other parts of Denmark with my next host families. Thank you all for your messages and support.

David Hartley, IFYE
Denmark 4-H
Landbrugets Redgivngscenter
Udkaersvej 15, Skejby
DK-8200 Aarhus, N
Denmark