Today marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year commonly referred to as Rosh Hashanah. Although Camp Kippewa does not follow any sort of religious belief system or practices, it does embrace cultures and backgrounds from all over the world.
“We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.” – Kofi Annan (UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Price Winner)
Young girls are not only able to come to Kippewa and immerse themselves in activities not found in their schools, towns, or sometimes even their countries, but they do it alongside other young people from all over the globe. They are taught by counselors who sound different, look different, and have a unique background to bring to the camp family. Kippewa thrives because at the core of the awesome classes and friendships and activities, there is a constant flow of divergent community.
We want young people to hone their skills, build their interests, and create autonomy within their class choices, and we also want them to find value, integrity, leadership, and community while doing so. Understanding that people may look many different ways and have different opinions and different histories and ways of life is a great key to building respect, trust, maturity, and deeply rooted friendships.
International Night
One of our activities during the summer is International Night, where campers get to taste homemade food from many countries represented by our community.
They might represent a new country every year in Olympics. Maybe their water ski instructor is from New Zealand and their swimming instructor is from Poland. Perhaps their bunkmate is from Korea and their camp sister is from France. They are able to find similarities and value in things that they may never experience outside of the camp world.
It is a truly unique melting pot experience that also brings with it a whole lot of fun too!
“I think… if it is true that
there are as many minds as there
are heads, then there are as many
kinds of love as there are hearts.” – Leo Tolstoy