By Illya Symonenko | CACTUS Director
Wow! CACTUS has just finished a couple of days ago and I cannot convey how amazed was I by its success! The staff was amazing and pulled together to bring such an amazing experience for the kids!
Overall 56 CACTUS participants had a chance to take part in classes on Teambuilding, Country Studies, Arts and Project Planning, where they designed a project to implement when they go back home. Each of the classes was summed up by an all-CACTUS event such as the Team Quest, a Model UN session, a Talent Show and a Project Fair, where they presented their own initiatives such as holding a career fair, helping out the elderly, going to an orphanage, etc. After the fair each of the groups was able to meet with its pair of project mentors who will guide them and encourage them on the tough road to implementing their first project. All of the participants will carry their own project during the fall. We will all be eagerly following their progress!
Having experienced such positive and excited feedback from the participants it would be hard to tell them that there's going to be no CACTUS next year, especially as we have so much to teach them now that they've learned the basic of planning their own projects.
That's why we decided to have a new, advanced program next year - CACTUS '10! It will retain the basic framework but will allow for a more advanced curricula in particular on leadership and self-development and also will have a bigger emphasis on creating own projects with more time for their design and feedback. We will also increase the regional scope of our participants inviting them from all over the country and doubling the amount of out of town participants - to 60. This way we will be able to create a national network of alumni ready and eager to implement social projects together!
Thank you for all your help and support with carrying out CACTUS 2009, which proved better and more effective than anyone could have imagined! You truly made a difference for all these kids and let them know how to create their own projects, be good leaders and work together for a better future!
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