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Ethiopian Camp 2012
August 9th to 12th |
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| We are committed to keeping kids connected to their heritage so that they are well rounded individuals with a positive self image and a greater sense of community with their peers. In addition, we are committed to creating support groups in bringing together parents of Ethiopian children to share their great common goal of raising self-assured and well-adjusted Ethiopian-Americans. To that end, we organize and sponsor various cultural events, heritage camps, homeland visits. |
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| For Families with Ethiopian Heritage |
| We are sharing, we are loving, we are learning, we are growing ... |
| To connect, to be educated |
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We are pleased to announce the 2012 Heritage and Culture Camp, which will be held from Thursday August 9 thru Sunday August 12. This charming Camp and Conference center is situated in the heart of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, just a short two-hours drive from Washington DC or Baltimore, MD.
In this, our fourth year in organizing this family-oriented, 3 nights/4 night, educational getaway we continue to provide an authentic cultural experience, that is bound to be the highlight of your Summer vacation. The Heritage and Culture Camp is the ONLY Ethiopian camp dedicated to bringing together ALL families who are raising Ethiopian-American children. We are proud that our participants and families come in all "shapes and sizes". Many families come with children spanning infancy through college-age. Others are prospective parents waiting for their adoption referrals. We also enjoy seeing the grand parents joining their familes at camp.
This four day long camp will have lots of fun activities, while offering educational and self-improvement opportunities for everybody. Families are encouraged to take advantage of all the activities available, which are all age-appropriate and will appeal to parents, as well as youngsters. In addition to language and cultural awareness classes, we will also have seminars and conferences designed to help parents in raising children in a multicultural environment.
There will also be programs for the entire family - such as singing, dancing (Eskista), camp fire, a special movie, ever-growing Gebeya (market), Ethiopian coffee ceremony under a beautiful outdoor setting, and group meals. As always, we built-in free time for exploring great outdoor activities, such as canoe rides, volleyball, swimming, etc., or just relaxing with family and friends.
Once again, we will have the ever popular Ethiopian banquet and cultural dance, to be held on Saturday, featuring professional Ethiopian dancers and musicians.
For those planning to attend, we truly appreciate your wisdom in making such an important commitment.
Join us - To be connected and to be educated
We hope to see you in August!
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2011 Heritage and Culture Camp Highlights: |
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As the grey skies of winter fill many of our landscapes, we hope this newsletter will transport you back to the Shenandoah Valley, where we gathered in the long, hot days of summer for our third annual Heritage and Culture Camp. Each year, word has continued to spread among members of the Ethiopian community, parents of Ethiopian children, and others who have at some point lived in Ethiopia. Each participant comes to reconnect to the rich culture and warm community, and many of us come so that our children can grow up knowing that they are an important part of that community. This year, camp was at capacity.
Heritage and Culture Camp 2011 provided an exciting new opportunity for 13 boys and girls, ages 9-14, who participated in an Intensive Dance Workshop. They mastered traditional Ethiopian dances from 4 different regions of Ethiopia. Their hard work culminated in a performance for the entire camp on Sunday morning! Tears of joy were the reaction of the audience. What confidence these kids had in their culture and themselves to perform in front of hundreds of people!
As always, all kids were quite busy! This year the children constructed krars during art class, played against each other in soccer tournaments, learned all about Ethiopian geography during a camp-wide scavenger hunt, went riding on a traditionally decorated pony, and, of course, learned songs and phrases in Amharic!
Each year, the children build on the friendships they have established in previous years, and we realize once again that this camp is really for them. Just as they would at any camp, the children make connections based on shared hobbies, interests, or passions. At culture camp, though, they find others who understand their story, their background, and their situation. The older children and teens act as role models for the younger kids, and the adults feel pride and joy as we see these positive interactions that help to build confidence among attendees of all ages.
Though most of us attend camp for the kids, each year we gain as much as our children from the experience. We, too, make new connections and build on friendships developed in past years, and with the knowledge gained in workshops and in between, we leave camp feeling more confident about our role as parents of children who straddle two worlds.
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