ISSUE #6

POLAND

ESTABLISHING the Polish office of Camp Leaders in the city of Lublin was

an easy choice for both Pawel and Paulina.

Despite it being more than three hours travel from Warsaw and Krakow

the city provided a strong academic presence from which to recruit future

young people who would want to embark on an opportunity of making a

life changing journey to the USA.

So in 2007, the pair set about their task with an inner belief that from day

one this venture was going to work.

And given the fact that both had experience of what travel and meeting

people from other cultures had done to their lives, they felt they should

share it with others.

Ably assisted by Alex Fekete and the staff of the Hungarian office, their first

recruitment drive in 2008 brought in 67 participants to the program.

Compare that with 2014, when the Polish office had more than raised the

bar a little by recruiting 620 people, making it the third largest recruitment

country among the Smaller Earth family.

POLAND

LUBLIN, POLAND

Continued on page 4

Currently, the Polish office employs five full time staff, three interns as well

as 30 nationwide team recruiters.

Both the experience and connections gained from their stays at camp has

enabled Pawel and Paulina to establish a business relationship with one

of the biggest food service company’s in Western Massachusetts - Keilty’s

Food Service. And every year the director of the company comes to Central

Europe for the hiring trip, which results in 60 support staff placements a

season.

Smaller Earth in Poland also operates the Canago program with more than

20 participants last season.

Ask Pawel or Paulina what is special about the Polish office and its staff and

they will readily respond that it’s all about energy and teamwork

“As an office we fit very well with the theme of Smaller Earth, which is one of being part of both an energetic and performance driven team of young people. “The best expression is small team but large impact, where each member of staff strives for success in an atmosphere where they feel part of something much, much bigger.

“We fundamentally achieve this by unhesitatingly giving a helping hand to one another in what is often like a close knit family. “This cooperation extends beyond our borders and even enabled some of the team to visit the Hungarian office to exchange new ideas, as well as organising a reunion party for Camp Leaders and a Halloween party last November, in Lublin, for past, present and future participants in the program. “The staff sees their work as a life mission in helping broaden young people’s horizons and showing them that while the world is wide open, it is much smaller than they actually think.

And just like a spark to a flame, the team’s greatest joy is in witnessing those program participants and their subsequent development into the wider world.”

P A W E L D Z I E R Z A KDIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER OF CAMP LEADERS POLAND

Pawel holds two masters degrees, one from the University of Salford in security studies

and another in international relations from the University of Lublin.

When he is relaxing he enjoys long distance swimming and his New Year resolution was

to complete a triathlon in 2015. His other interests include contemporary history, politics,

law and economic, even calling his dog Forint after the Hungarian currency.

Pawel spent 10 summers at Camp Half Moon in Great Barrington, which gave him a deep

insight into how camps operate.

He is now responsible for overseeing Camp Leaders and Smaller Earth operations in

Poland and is involved in setting up tax refund service for Smaller Earth on a global level.

Pawel is married to his Camp Leader’s Poland co-founder Paulina. and a father to Bruno.

The couple are expecting baby number two come July.

P A U L I N A G I Z Y C K APROGRAM MANAGER/CO-FOUNDER OF CAMP LEADERS POLAND

After encouragement from Pawel, Paulina started out on her American camp adventure

in 2003, an adventure which lasted for nine summers.

As well as being an international Relations graduate from the University of Lublin she

has a postgraduate diploma in public relations from the University of Warsaw.

Paulina likes to understand how social media impacts on the company’s operations and

is very much a details oriented person who keeps Polish operations on the straight and

narrow.

Paulina’s Facebook campaigns help generate lots of interest in the Camp Leaders

program in Poland. As a result, as of last month, the recruitment for the upcoming

season had reached its target.

Among her other roles, Paulina oversees flights, insurance and visas in Poland.

Paulina and Pawel got married in 2011 and in 2012 their first son Bruno was born and

another little Dzierzak is due in summer.

One final word about Paulina, is to remember she does not like being on water and even

gets seasick on duck tours!

M A G D A L E N A W I E T R A S Z U KCAMP AND RESORT LEADERS PROGRAMS AND CANAGO RECRUITER

Magdalena joined the Smaller Earth office in 2012, after completing her first summer at

Camp Chingachgook YMCA, followed in 2013, by a summer at Camp Sloane YMCA.

Last year she also graduated after completing a degree in American literature and

culture at the University of Lublin. She is currently doing her masters part time in

corporate capitalism.

Her hobbies include dance and gymnastics and whenever the opportunity allows she

brushes up on her Spanish.

An amusing fact is that Pawel, whilst visiting Magdalena at Camp Chingachgook in 2013,

did not actually recognize her as a Polish participant, and it was only after a quick chat in

English they both realized they were from Lublin.

Currently, she coordinates both Camp Leaders and Resort Leaders Programs and helps

in processing Canago applications!

This summer she is going to work at Mount Washington Resort as a front desk agent.

M A G D A L E N A P E D R Y CCOORDINATOR CAMP LEADERS AND CANAGO PROGRAM

Magda has been working for Smaller Earth since 2011, as a result of her student

internship. She has already completed her studies in international relations and is

currently doing her doctorate in Middle Eastern politics. In her ‘leisure time’ she learns

Arabic and Korean and lectures at the University of Lublin.

Having spent six summers at camps, she can, to all her co-workers, be deemed ‘a camp

freak’, after visiting four different camps and before finally discovering her second best

place in the world was at Camp Pontiac (New York). And while not declaring where

her best place in the world is, she is currently putting the finishing touches to her new

apartment. When she has any other time to spare, she loves karaoke and sunbathing.

And believe it or not, her pet hate is actually sleeping in tents!

T O M A S Z A D A M C Z Y KCAMP LEADERS COORDINATOR AND IT EXPERT

After spending a couple of summers working at Timber Lake Camp, in New York Tomasz

decided to try his hand working with the Smaller Earth team. And, undoubtedly, he

could not have made a better choice. For the past 18 months, he has been responsible

for coordinating the recruitment process in all the programs available; starting with

contacting participants, through to checking their applications sorting out their visas

and preparation days. Thanks to his passion for computers, he helps solve every IT

issue in the office. It was therefore not without reason that he became the new system

ambassador. At university he graduated with a degree in geography and as well as

travelling to new countries and discovering new cultures he likes warm weather when he

can play football and go hiking. His sense of humor and positive attitude add colour to

the Polish team.

RecruitmentFair atSt. George’sHall

THE largest Camp Leaders recruitment

fair showcased itself in the historic

surroundings of Liverpool’s St George’s

Hall.

The program, which helps young people

use their individual expertise to embark

on often life changing experiences over

the summer months attracted almost

600 would-be recruits to last month’s

event, which involves up to 30 camps

across the United States.

The Camp Leader program, which

comes under the umbrella organization

Smaller Earth, aims to impact on the

lives of 20m people by 2020.

Joint founders of Camp Leaders Chris

Arnold and Dave Robinson were in St

George’s Hall to welcome the young

people and the Lord Mayor of Liverpool

Erica Kemp.

Ms Kemp said:

“I am in favour of anything that

helps develop young people’s

lives and this program has to be applauded.”

“The experience they get will be unique,

and although it will be hard work and

challenging, it will be life changing for

many of them.

“We feel it’s important to support this

type of event which will provide them

with an opportunity to meet with young

people from countries across the world

and included in that are people from

Liverpool.

“A lot of people tell me that young

people sit with their laptops all day,

yet here we have young people doing

anything but that.”

Joint founder Chris Arnold said the

original program for Camp Leaders

which started out in 1999, sent just 32

young people abroad in its first year,

now sends 6,000 annually.

Chris said: “The first of our recruitment

fairs was held in Liverpool in 2004,

when we had just six camp directors

from American camps here whereas in

2015 it was 30.

“And what I love most is to see the

queue outside and then seeing all those

young people and their enthusiasm

bursting through the doors, filled with

both excitement and anticipation at

what they are hoping to embark upon.

“A decade after the first camp fair was

held in Liverpool, I feel like being in St

George’s Hall is a real thrill. And those

six original American camp leaders

are still working with us, which means

we must have done something right.

Here’s to the next ten years!”

Bastian Weinberger, the CEO of Smaller

Earth said: “‘In January, we host a

total of 16 camp leaders fairs in ten

different countries, which will facilitate

the placements of over 1,000 young

people.

“Each of those participants will have the

summer of a lifetime and experience

some amazing personal growth and

development.

“We are particularly proud to have

hosted our biggest fair here in Liverpool

at St. Georges Hall – surely one of the

most impressive buildings in Britain.”

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O N T H E C O V E R

Culture in Lublin