Northern Tier, one of four national high adventure base camps for Scouting America, hosts guides and employees from all across the country - and even internationally - at their location on Moose Lake. The program welcomed four Bolivian staff members to their roster this year.
The staff - ranging in age from 19 to 30 - arrived through Scouting America’s International Camp Staff Program, which aims to provide a cultural exchange for Scouts visiting bases around the United States, as well as the individuals who arrive to work from across the globe.
“That’s one of the parts I really like about working here,” said Leticia Saravia of Cochabamba. “At Northern Tier we make a lot of friends, they teach you their culture, their routines in their states. And we also try to show the culture of Bolivia and all the traditions we have, because I think that’s another important part of the program, to show them where we are from.”
“You don’t only work, you make friends, and I think that’s a really big, important part of the program,” Saravia said.
Tasks can range from storytelling the region’s canoeing history to preparing equipment and outfitting Scout groups to registering visitors as they arrive.
“It’s a unique cultural exchange opportunity for kids to work with international Scouts and learn about Scouting worldwide,” said Director of Wilderness Adventures David O’Niell. “You can’t hire the international staff and stick them in the dish room. That doesn’t give the cultural exchange. It has to be jobs where they’re going to interact with kids every day.”
For many international camp staff, it can be their first experience in the United States, although most are involved in Scouting in their own countries. Saravia, 19, and Joan Guzman, 20, are both enrolled as Rovers - Bolivian Scouts ages 18 to 21 - while Tatiana Ortuño, 30, and Isabel Condori, 24, both serve as leaders for younger Scouts.
“We wanted to see how other Scouts of the world do summer camps, because we also have summer camps in Bolivia, but it’s a really good experience to see how other people do it,” said Condori, who also comes from Cochabamba.
“I really like the idea of canoeing and paddling, because we don’t have that kind of experience in our country. In Ely and the Wilderness Area, well, they have a lot of lakes, and you cannot experience that in any other part of the world,” Condori said.
Ortuño added that it can be much more difficult to access natural areas back home.
“In Bolivia, it’s most like the city. If you want to see nature, you need to travel. But here, you’ll see nature in all places. This is really nice,” Ortuño said.
Each staff member left behind a busy life in Bolivia in order to work at Northern Tier over the summer. Ortuño runs her own coffee shop in La Paz and studied gastronomy, while Saravia is a business administration student and also aims to become an entrepreneur. Guzman is in college for systems engineering, which focuses on programming and computers, and Condori worked remotely from Bolivia offering translation services for a Californian company.
The experience as an international staff member is not without its challenges, and many agree that language can prove to be a hurdle.
“I think the biggest challenge is to get out of your comfort zone, to start speaking English. Because I know English is a common language that everyone learned to speak, but it’s different, because in your country you don’t have the chance to practice that much. And here we have the necessity to do it,” said Condori.
However, Condori says, Northern Tier is basically her home now. Saravia agrees.
“I will miss the place, because everyone here was so nice. The camp, like at home, it’s the same. I have a routine here,” said Saravia. “Coming back to my Bolivia routine will be kind of a shock for me for a period of time. But if I have the chance to come back next year, I would really, really like to do that.”
Condori advises the Ely community to make the Blueberry/ Art Festival longer, while Saravia urges all Scouts to make the trip to Northern Tier if they can.
“If they have the opportunity to come to Northern Tier, they will have to take it. They will have a really amazing trip with our crews. All the staff here, we want to give them the best experience that they will have.”
