Former International Staff member remembers…

Summer Camp doesn’t only change the lives of campers, it changes the lives of our Summer Staff as well.  Our international staff members even take that up to another level: they uproot themselves and leave their families and country and come to a unfamiliar place which, for most of them, speaks a language they didn’t grow up with.  Obviously this takes dedication and determination, and our international staff have that in abundance.

On our main web site, former campers and staff can submit stories about their time at camp.  Quentin Hughes, a former international staff member from 1994 and 1995, recently sent us this update:

“I still remember very well, my fantastic adventure as a Summer Camp counselor at Camp Tecumseh in 1994 and 1995 as well as an Outdoor Education Leader in Autumn 1994 and Spring 1995. I truly enjoyed my experiences at Camp T and when I returned to Australia I turned my life around in so many positive ways. I wanted to give something back to our community and its people so I continued to work for the YMCA here in Adelaide for 5 years volunteering as a Camp Director and Activity Specialist. I have been a member of Rotary for 5 years and  I am 2009/10 President for my club, Adelaide EDGE.  I have also completed a degree in Recreation Management and run my own business teaching outdoor education programs, sports coaching and corporate team building. I have also spent a great deal of time traveling to developing countries in Asia and the Pacific rim doing charity work and providing technical expertise to communities in need!  I married my beautiful Brazilian wife Andrea and have a 6 year old daughter Maria Tereza and we have now just moved and currently reside in Mato Grosso, in North Western Brazil, South America where I am teaching English and soon I am hoping to be running a kayaking/ canoeing business running camping trips on the Amazon river and of course doing as much for the communities here as possible. I am certainly hoping that when Maria is a little older I will be able to send her to Camp Tecumseh as a camper and I am sure I will come by to say hello to all the staff old and new at Camp T. Good luck for Summer Camp 2010 and I hope all the campers and staff receive as much inspiration and direction in life from the Camp Tecumseh experience as I did!”

Thanks for your message, Quentin!

If you have a Camp Tecumseh story, please tell it to us!