A sister is a built-in friend, but after Anya and Kyra made a long and difficult cross-country move in the middle of a pandemic, they were ready to meet new friends and become a part of their Texas community.
Each of the girls took a leap into the unknown when they decided to attend Camp El Tesoro.
This was their first camp experience, but as anyone who has attended camp knows a cornerstone of camp is that no matter where you come from, whether it is your first summer or your tenth, you have a home. There is a mix of new and returning faces each summer, and while most campers start off as strangers, they soon become life-long friends.
At camp, each of the girls was able to explore unique interests – interests that were new to them.
Kyra found her home on the archery range. Through practice and spending time at the range she learned to manipulate the feather at the end of the arrow to change the trajectory of her shot, a far cry from her initial experience of struggling to even hit the target as a new archer.
Anya found her voice, quite literally, as the co-author and orator of a cabin-written haiku about what Camp El Tesoro means to them. She had never tried her hand at poetry, but at camp she was given the opportunity to learn and implement this skill with friends.
Although the sisters may have come to camp feeling like outsiders, they left as fully-fledged El Tesoro campers with new friendships and newly discovered interests to perfect.
You can help write the next chapter of summer exploration and friendship building for campers just like Anya and Kyra with a donation in support of Camp Fire First Texas Programs. Please make a gift today.
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