Co-Directors: Diana Castellion, Christine Landrum, Kathleen Luttenegger
"We love camp.....The kids didn't want it to end."
"It means facing the issues of adoption square on for a weekend; having my family wiht families that look like ours. creating an opening for conversation with my kids. hearing what other families are doing. obtaining resources and connections. Overall, a wonderful experience!!"
"Feeling like we're just another family, and not feeling like we "stick out" or that we have to explain/answer questions."
"Where to begin....time together celebrating our children and family....we all benefit and thoroughly enjoy ourselves."
Latin American Heritage Camp in Colorado is one of the few camps of its kind in the country, designed specifically for families with children adopted from Central and South America, as well as those of Latino heritage adopted within the United States. It is one of ten camps facilitated by the highly respected Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families, Inc. Latino counselors serve as role models and mentors to the children as they participate with them in cultural classes while adult family members attend cultural and adoption related workshops ranging from Latino cooking and customs to the blessings and challenges inherent in our adoptive families. Every year at camp we incorporate the roots of Latino culture into our programming for all ages, exploring different aspects of this vast and amazing culture each year, while highlighting the distinct countries and regions where the children at camp were born
We also spend time at camp exploring the unique gifts and challenges that come with our mostly transracial adoptive families. We realize that as your children grow, they will be dealing with issues faced by any child of color, no matter their country of birth. At our camp, they are with a sea of families who are like theirs, and with children who are in the majority for a few days. Though we celebrate and strive to highlight the different birth countries of our campers, the similarities of being adopted children of color in mostly transracial families is what really bonds the children, and their families so immediately at our camp.
In 2011, the camp theme was "Caliente-What's Hot in Latin America," and campers of all ages, from preschoolers through parents enjoyed exploring this topic. We had hundreds of current Latino role models in all fields, from science and technology to business and industry to the arts and music, posted on the walls of our main meeting space, and their accomplishments were certainly something to be proud of. We also had our own Latino role models right at camp with us, teaching the children of all ages, and the parents about the dance, language, arts, music, games, traditions, and current topics that make the Latin American culture "hot," not to mention the food which we all enjoyed throoughout the weekend, both learning to cook it and eating it! It will be a hard year to top all of that "hotness," but we are sure going to try!
The 2012 camp theme will be decided soon, so watch this site for updates, as well as for guest presenters, workshops, and activities as they are confirmed.
We hope to see you at camp in June. For further information, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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