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“African/Caribbean Heritage Camp was about letting our children (and our whole family) be a part of something, of finding a place of belonging, and being so supported by everyone (other kids, families, and those awesome counselors!)”
In Africa, the Masai warriors and villagers would greet one another, “Kasserian Ingera”, saying to one another, and how are the children? This greeting kept the village focused on what was most important, their children. In celebration of a decade of ACHC we gather this year in the spirit of Kasserian Ingera, for our children.
Registration materials will be going out this winter, so NOW is the time
to request registration information to be placed on our mailing list.
Ten years ago, Colorado Heritage Camps developed ACHC for families who adopted: All are welcome, please join us! Adopting internationally from Africa or Haiti and adopting African American children domestically offer very different experiences for our families. Colorado Heritage Camps is working very hard to provide a camp experience that serves both families of domestic and international adoption. We are glad to continue the tradition of providing a warm and welcoming place for children to be with other adoptees who have a common racial background and therefore some common experiences growing up in North America. Our children may face life experiences that will most likely differ from our experiences in the world. One of the best and truest parts of camp is sharing your story with other parents from all over the country about our parenting journey. What's happening in 2008? During the weekend of camp, 3 to 18-year-old campers join their same aged peers for cultural activities, which includes everything from dancing to drumming to customs to crafts and so much more, plus some outdoor summer camp fun. African American counselors serve as role models and mentors to the children during camp. Depending on the registration size, we typically group the kids as follows: Life-long learning: workshops for adoptive parents We have started work on ideas for 2008 and plan to deliver a helpful blend
of culture and adoption topics. In the past, camp has offered seminar topics,
including:
Again,
we are very excited to meet families who have adopted both domestically
and internationally and hope we can continue the tradition of providing
a warm and welcoming place for children to be with other adoptees who
have a common racial background and therefore some common experiences
growing
up! Our children may face life experiences that will most likely be
different than their adoptive parents’ experiences! Come share with
families from around the country who participate in this fabulous family
experience!
Thinking about giving camp a try but want to know more? Click here to read about last year's camp. For more pictures of African/Caribbean Camp 2007 click here Though we have generated some good support from Denver's African American community, we still need YOUR help. We need more community volunteers to work with the kids, teach workshops, cook authentic cultural meals, perform dance and music, etc., MOST importantly, we are looking for high school and college-aged African Americans to be counselors at camp, acting as role models for the children and spending time with them throughout the two days of camp. Please consider volunteering for this rewarding position! As a non-profit 501 C(3) organization, African/Caribbean Heritage Camp is always seeking financial assistance to help keep camp costs reasonable for families, and still provide an outstanding program. If you'd like to help, please go to the Donations section of this web site, and thank you very much in advance. We are also in need of donations of frequent
flier miles to help defray costs of out of state speakers. If
you have miles you can donate please email us at info@heritagecamps.org
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African/Caribbean
Heritage Camp (ACHC) celebrates its 10th year in 2008 and remains one of
the only camps of its kind in the country. This year’s camp theme will
also encompass why we take our families to camp—“ Kasserian Ingera:
And how are the Children?” 
For
the third year, African/Caribbean Heritage Camp will be held in the beautiful
Colorado Rockies near Winter Park, Colorado from July 17-July 20, 2008. Our
camp location, YMCA of the Rockies Snow Mountain Ranch, is a wonderful family
vacation in itself! More information can be found at 
In
1991, the highly respected Colorado Heritage Camps introduced its first camp,
Korean Heritage Camp. Colorado Heritage Camp now operates 10 Heritage Camps,
including ACHC, serving adoptive families from all over North America.
ACHC
runs as a family camp with programming for all ages primarily led by African
Americans, who hail from the United States or immigrated, just like our campers.
We are developing a growing connection with the Ethiopian community in Colorado,
and hope to do the same with the Haitian community. 
While our kids enjoy summer in the Rockies, we parents participate in cultural
and adoption-related sessions to help us celebrate the blessings and navigate
the challenges inherent to our trans-racial adoptive families.