July 9 - 22, 2006
Chicago, IL
When summer time
arrives the average child is excited to go on vacation, or
to sporting camps, etc. However this July there were sixty
selected bălaks from all over North America who showed their
excitement in a unique way to join the annual National Summer
Training Camp organized at Chicago, IL. With the aim of molding
future karyakars and the leaders of tomorrow, the camp had
a rigorous schedule filled with classes, workshops, and activities.
Each day of the
Summer Training Camp had a different theme that highlighted
important aspects of satsang, such as asmita, dharma, atmiyata,
seva, satpurush, sanskruti etc. On each day, classroom sessions
were related to these themes. For example, on Sanskruti Din,
the classes were "Proud to Be a Hindu" and "Mera Bharat Mahan."
Furthermore, there was a Gujarati class every day that all
balaks had to go to, depending on their level.
Also, each balak
attended 2 separate talent development workshops, choosing
from Writing or Microsoft Office. In addition to this, every
balak that attended the camp received training in playing
classical Indian instruments - either tabla or harmonium,
and public speaking.
To give the bălaks
the "real camping" experience in addition to their usual training
and education, the bălaks were taken in a luxurious coach
bus to the Lake Monroe Camp Ground for a total of five days,
from July 12th to July 16th.
The balaks also
took part in a variety of games and activities throughout
the camp to help them get better acquainted with one another.
These included a volleyball tournament, kirtan antakshari,
satsang taboo and many more. Though the balaks had a full
schedule, with as many as nine hours of class time in a day,
the fourteen days flew by in quickly, leaving memories to
last a lifetime. When the balaks returned home, they not regret
missing their vacation or sporting camps.
Photo
gallery
