Camp Pequot director Nakisha Gilbert hopes to attract more youngsters to her Paget Island summer camp that?s been running since June 28 in this, it?s second year.

The eight-week overnighter, which has experienced a decline in numbers this time around, will run until August 25 - welcoming ages eight to 16 (though seven-year-olds who turn eight before the end of the year are also eligible to attend the camp).

Ms Gilbert said: ?Last year we had an average of 40 kids per week but this summer the average has been about 18 with 35 and 11 being our highest and lowest numbers.?

The programme, which runs from Sunday to Friday, offers two weeks for older kids (ages 12 to 16) and six weeks for eight to 11- year-olds.

?The kids are taken over to the island at 3.30 p.m. on the Sunday and return to mainland the following Friday afternoon around 3-3.30 p.m. ? with parents picking them up at about 4 p.m.

?This year we have given the children the option of returning for more than one week ? with a third week option for the younger kids as a result of the low numbers.? These weeks don?t necessarily have to follow each other they can be mixed up - e.g. a child can camp for the second, fourth and seventh weeks).

Ms. Gilbert described an average day at Camp Pequot. ?In the morning they (the campers) get up for rise & shine andwhatever counsellor is on duty that morning will chose the exercise routine. After that it?s breakfast and then, between nine and 12, there are the core activities which include kayaking, snorkelling, Outward Bound courses and wall climbing. That is followed by lunch and then ?down time? which gives them a chance to just rest and relax. Because it?s hot, they?re out from seven in the morning so they need a little break.? It is encouraged that the children bring a book to read during this time period.

?The co-ordinators are responsible for the afternoon and evening electives which vary from week to week in order to prevent it from becoming monotonous for the kids and staff coming back. The kids participate in activities such as arts and crafts, nature walks, fishing, swimming, board games and the slipping slide, which is a lot of fun - they love that.?

That continues until about 6 p.m. which is dinnertime and ?theme night? activities. Ms Gilbert gave an example of one of the theme nights. ?One night was pirates night so the kids would?ve done such things as eat certain foods with their hands, decorate the room with pirate-related things and wear hook hands,? she explained. After that it?s about time for bed.

According to Ms Gilbert, one of the great things about this camp is that it is both educational and recreational.

?You don?t often get activities such as snorkelling, kayaking and Outward Bound together,? she stressed..

?You have camps that would go to the Olympic club for a day - for example, to do the wall climb - but we do it all on the island.?

She said she realises that some parents are a bit sceptical of sending their children with people they don?t know ?but the majority of the staff have been trained for this type of programme - most of us have the Basic Camping Directors Certificate (BCDC) which is affiliated with the American Camping Association. We travelled to the training course in the United States to get trained and receive the certification.? Last year Ms Gilbert went to Chicago to get the necessary training. ?We actually went on a campsite and were doing our courses there,? she revealed.

Ms. Gilbert, who previously worked at the Somerset Community Centre, said that ?Pequot? is the name of a Native American Indian tribe.

She explained how the name was chosen for the camp. ?We had what I guess you could call an inter-centre competition where people from each centre had to think of a name and then put it in a hat.

?My boss picked the names out of the hat, called them off and which ever one we liked we voted for.?

She said Pequot was an idea that came from the St. George?s Centre, and was chosen because Paget Island is situated between St. George?s and St. David?s.

The camp intertwines various Indian related activities into the programme.

?When we split them into groups to compete, for example in volleyball competitions, we give them Indian names such as: Mohawk, Cherekees, Blackfoot, and Cheyennes,? she explained. ?And we?ve also had Indian themes when doing arts & crafts such as making tepees, Indian jewellery and dressing up Indian dolls.

?Hopefully, if not before the end of the programme this year, some of the St. David?s Indians will be able to come on board and teach the children something about their culture - because it is a part of all of our (as Bermudians) culture.?

The Camp boasts their own cook and cooking assistant with vegetarian meals being provided upon request.

?There is a total of 12 staff members every week with five of them being counsellors: four female and one male who stay in the cabins with the kids.?

Thirty-one year old Ms Gilbert said she has been working with children since the age 14.

?I was always involved in summer day camps,? she said.

?I helped out as a volunteer at the age of 14 and then worked at CARE computer services for their summer camps.

?I?ve also worked for the regular government summer day camps in the schools as a para-professional - I?ve been working for government?s summer and holiday programmes since 1996.?

Ms Gilbert said she was actually studying psychology at Bloomfield College in New Jersey and, though she hasn?t finished yet, is working on returning and completing her degree.

?I love working with children,? she pointed out. ?They teach me a lot. I?ve learned and grown a lot over the years.?

However, she made sure to note that working with children is not as easy as some people think it is.

?If your capacity is 50 kids you have 50 different personalities and you have to be able to react to their personalities accordingly,? she stressed.

Even so, she said it?s rewarding because, ?although you only get to know the children for a short period of time sometimes you grow attached to them and it can be hard to see them leave.?

Referring to Camp Pequot she said, ?some of the kids aren?t exposed to these sorts of things. It?s nice to give them that experience and see them from day to day having fun.

So why the decrease in numbers this year? - ?I think that we advertised it (the camp) enough, but I guess it?s just not catching on.

I just hope that it will because it really is a good experience for the children and the majority of them that came over enjoyed it - a good bit of them are coming back for a third week.?

However, Ms Gilbert also considered the fact that the Camp is still rather fresh.?This is only our second year so the programme is still fairly new to people.

?We put our price up from last year but we did our research and, in comparison to camps like this in the states, it?s a reasonable price. Many of them charge about $400, $500 a week and at Camp Pequot we pay for transportation, feed them for five days and its $150 a week.?

This is the second year the camp has run. ?I also think it?s because of the fact that the camp is new that we?re not getting the people that we would like to,? she said.

?Last year, the centres were closed during the programme so parents who normally send their children there were forced to send them somewhere else - like on the island (Paget Island). But this year the centres are still open during the camp.?

Ms. Gilbert said the door is wide open to any eligible young person that?s interested. ?We?re trying not to just keep it with the kids that attend the centre.

We want all the kids of Bermuda to come - but it often turns out that way, where the children from the centre in Somerset or St. George?s (for example) would come.

?We have other kids from throughout the island but the majority are from the different centre areas.?

Of Camp Pequot, Ms Gilbert said: ?It?s an excellent programme and it?s good - especially for older kids - because there aren?t that many camps out there for them.?She also said there are plans to add more new and exciting things next year.

Nine-year-old Sinae Smith attended the camp both this summer and last summer. ?It was really fun and we went swimming every day and I got taught how to kayak, snorkel and fish,? said the youngster

She said she also learned at Camp Pequot ?that the Indians used to be in the United States before all the Americans.?

Sinae added: ?The counsellors were fun and nice - they always joined in on the games with us.?

Individuals interested can go to any one of the three centres (St. George?s, Hamilton or Somersetor the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation, which is in the Perry Building on Church Street, Hamilton, to register.