SOLA 2017 - Behind the Scenes 
_{by Mette Volmer, Dojang Roskilde}

The first meeting for the summer camp was in 2014. 3 years of preparation is what it takes to put a one week camp together. It takes a whole lot of time from a whole lot of people. It is a huge challenge, a huge development, and a huge gift, for all involved. 
As part of the ORGA team, it is very different to be at summer camp. You are part of a small close group, that is deeply dependent on each other for everything to work, and has a great help in all the volunteers at the camp. It is stressful, fun, exhausting, frustrating, educative and enriching. 
Already a week before the camp opened, there was life on the camp site. Tents were set up for the beergarden, first aid, and kindergarden. We transported tables, chairs, outdoor kitchen, stage, decorations, sound system, bar, things for the shop, drinks and food. Everything had to be set up and ready for when the 700 guests arrived on Friday. 
The first days after the camp opened were only about our guests and getting everything to run smoothly. Food, both for the guests and the ORGA team who ate in 3 shifts, and the schedule for everything else. By Sunday evening we felt like most of these things were under control. This was good, because by Monday we had to start focusing on the big show. We had to practice for that, for the Danish part, that almost all of us were in. That happened on 7 am on Tuesday and Wednesday when most of us were free, although some were of course working. But we also had to organize the mats that had to be collected from the 3 dojangs, the decoration of the sports hall and the entrance, the boulder for Sonsanim and transportation of all the supplies from the camp. 
All this, without losing the slightest focus on running the camp, making sure that food was served on time, that toilets and locker rooms were clean, and all those other little things that hosting a group of 700 people requires. 
Oh yeah, and of course there was training, for those that had time. Those who worked the most at the camp, had another type of training. One person from the ORGA team counted 42,000 steps one day, that is just around 28 km. 
The 5 learning methods are widely used under such a camp. There are so many tasks that you must delegate tasks to others, and still have full confidence that things will be done in the best way possible. Even the smallest, seemingly insignificant, task must be respected and performed as well as you can. If the small things start slipping, the entire load can topple. And patience, lots of patience. When for example, you have to bake 650 cookies, make 20 kg of meat balls in 3 hours, or answer the same question for the 10th time, even if you have only slept for a few hours for the last couple of days. 
Humility is found through the joy of seeing that all the tasks you solve, create happiness and make life easy for others. Even if they do not know you are behind it, and they will never know or thank you for it. But simple being able to take joy in thinking "I helped do that, how nice that it helped someone have an easier, nicer, and more fun day". 
Love is the only thing you do not need to remember, because you are showered in it in large doses from everyone you meet. From the others in the ORGA team who smile when they see you, because you are working together on something larger than both of you. And from the guests, who are all well aware that you are helping making everything happen, and always run and holds the door when you have your hands full. It is the love that makes it worth working from early morning to late night, for many consecutive days, and that makes it not as hard as it could have been. 
This is the same love that is felt backstage during the show, especially the last 5 minutes before it starts, and everyone is lined up and ready to run in. Here we are all one, with the same wish and goal. That the show will go well, and that we will give the audience, and our self, a fantastic experience. 
No matter how much or how little you participate in the show or the camp, as part of the ORGA team or as a guest, you are a vital part of a larger unity, and help complete the picture that is Shinson Hapkido.