The 2010 summer camp of Open House took place between the 4th of July to the 22nd on Neve Shalom grounds with 97 Arab and Jewish children. Participants were gathered from the greater Ramle area including Lod, Neve Shalom, Kibbuts Gezer, Beit Hashmonai, Carmei Yosef, Gizo, Eshtaol, Kfar Uriah Ein Hemed Abu Gosh and Beit Nakuba.

Like last year, the summer camp coordinator was Vivian Rabia and the summer camp director was Costa Mansour.

The Program :

As usual on the first day we used all our special techniques to get the children to know the others in their own age group and their own leaders. The challenge here is particularly for new children to feel safe. Those who come back from the previous summer camp year are very helpful in helping the new friends feel at home. We wished to distribute the activities between activities in the camp and day trips. The activities on the ground included , exposure to other cultures through art music and dance {guided by our own staff and professional from outside},creation of costumes, theatre juggling and magic, creation of sculptures, huge bubbles, sports, treasure hunt, swimming pool and special learning session about birds and their migration routes. We especially wish to thank “Beads for Peace” for having approached us and offered an activity of working with beads. The children loved creating the beautiful white bracelets with two doves, which symbolize their hopes. Many of them offered them as gifts to their mothers.

Day Trips: We had our magnificent day in the Latroun Trappist Monastery with which Open House has a long standing relationship. There the children prepare their own pita bread in the beautiful grounds of the Monastery, pick grapes which they squeeze bare-footed in the ancient wine press, ride donkeys and do art work that attempts to convey the meaning of archaeological layers in this ancient land!

Our visit to the Water Park is always great fun, as is a separate visit to an Amusement Park with its excitement. The beautifully crafted animals from Dinosaur times to this day evoked the imagination about the process of evolution.

The special effects 3D movie was another outing which is “great fun”.

We had our day of “rope challenges” in the forest, which included walking on ropes and snapling (Rappelling). Learning from last year’s experience, we knew that this particular activity takes time and patience and needs a lot of individual attention. Many of the children are both fearful and very eager to go through the trial of treading on a rope in mid air. While the children were waiting their turn on the ropes, other activities were in operation like cooking, baking, using natural materials found in the forest to make fire, create a bow and arrow and needed utensils. A respectful relationship towards Nature is, in our opinion, an integral part of living a wholesome life and developing respect towards each other. The American Indian model was taken as example. The last day was joyfully spent in the swimming pool with music and huge inflatable toys which one can swim with, slide from, ride on etc.

Beads for peace

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