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Multicultural Youth Adventures

Overnight Camp

Each summer the Multicultural Association of Southern Oregon and the Southern Oregon Indian Center sponsor a camp at Lake of the Woods. The focus of the camp is on learning about Native American culture including tool making, crafts, archery, canoeing, dancing, drumming and food gathering and preparation. Much of the emphasis of the camp is on exploring indigenous community values and native spirituality. We endeavor to create the spirit of a Native American village. Campers are taught to listen to and respect their elders and to look out for those younger than themselves. They learn they have a role and a responsibility in their communities. Campers are 10 -13 years old. The cost of the camp is $175. Partial scholarships are available . Click here for a Camper Application.pdf or Camper Application.doc or call 541-779-3740.

We need counselors and other volunteers to help make the camp a success. If you would like to volunteer for the 2007 camp please fill out and send us the Volunteer Application.pdf or Volunteer Application.doc or call us at 541-779-3740 For more information please contact mcaso@mcaso.org

PHOTOS OF CAMP

A special compilation of over 700 photos from the 2006 Overnight Camp are available on a CD. To order send $5 along with your name and address to:
Multicultural Association
P.O. Box 67
Medford, OR 97501
All proceeds will go to the Overnight Camp Fund.

2006 Multicultural Camp

The Week of Soul and Body Unity

By Yulia Tyukova

yulia

This year we were honored to have five guests at our Multicultural Overnight Camp: Ok San from Kyrgyzstan, Maisaa from Palestine, Radhouane from Tunisia, Rami from Iraq and Yulia from Russia. These foreign exchange students served as counselors and participated in all camp activities. Yulia (AKA “Julia”) shares some reflections of the 2006 Overnight Camp:

The first thing you see when you arrive at Multicultural Camp is a beautiful and charming nature. It’s a wonderful place located on Lake of the Woods in the Cascade Mountains.

Living here you understand the great power of Mother Nature. It gives a great experience of being yourself and living in harmony with other people and nature. The atmosphere of love and friendship is everywhere.

The every day prayer in circle of all campers, counselors and elders make all people here a big family, talking to the Creator. Here you can learn to be respectful to each other, love your country and be polite to people of other cultures.

It is very interesting to study Native American caption

culture. It’s a remarkable chance to look at the mysterious traditions of Indians and take part in some of them. Traditional crafts, rituals, archery, canoeing and fire circle, with exciting stories and tales, depended on Native American culture, history and magical Pow Wow, with dancing around the main circle: all these things make life bright and unusual.

I’ve noticed that everything here has its own deep meaning. There are a lot of things connected with circles. I think it is like a life moving in a circle. Everything you’ve done will come back to you in the future. I think it’s a moral of circle actions. The life of our soul is everlasting. And, we are all coming back to the beginning as time passes.

Everybody finds something new here, learns something from others. The youngest learn from elders to be respectful and polite, love this world and make peace in it, trying to know more about this world. Elders learn from the youngest to look at this world with wide opened eyes and heart like children and see this life from another point of view.

We all learned how to be a community, how to make everybody happy and solve problems. Sometimes it was very cold at night and early in the morning, but love and taking care of those near to you makes everybody warmer and it was heart warm, which is stronger than any cold.

The Creator made the entire world in seven days. Here you spend seven days of your life creating yourself and your own world. Your world, your life, your future depends only on you, on your actions and feelings.

As for me, it was the brightest impression of my life here in America. I think it’s a really great thing to make people good, friendly and open-hearted; it was a great pleasure for me to participate. I think the most pleasurable thing in this life is to make other people happy, because if you do it, it makes you very happy. It’s the main lesson I’ve learned in this camp. I’m really thankful to the people connected with this camp, all Native Americans, our director, all our staff, our elders, our counselors and our remarkable campers. Thank you for a great time at Multicultural Camp!

3girls