2012 Director: Jared Rehberg
What does Vietnamese Heritage Camp mean to your family?
"The most valuable part of camp is the way our daughter looks forward to camp each year, and talks about different aspects of it all year. Her high level of comfort in being with kids and counselors that look like her, and being with multicultural families. Her pride in being "different" is such a refreshing contrast to how I grew up wanting to "blend in
"The kids like that everyone looks like them and they feel that they can talk to the other kids more easily because they are adopted."
"Camp is the one place where our child feels entirely comfortable about being adopted as well as Vietnamese. We live in an area with low ethnic diversity, and being able to see other kids and counselors that are so comfortable themselves has been great, especially as middle schoolers are trying to figure out how much they want to conform or be different. This is the one family activity she looks forward to and talks about all year long."
Vietnamese Heritage Camp is one of a handful of camps in the US specifically designed for families with children adopted from Vietnam. Committed to exploring Vietnamese culture and growing as adoptive families, it is sponsored by the highly respected Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families, Inc.
In 2011, the camp theme was "We're Here, There and Everywhere: Vietnamese Communities Around the World." Collaborating with volunteers from the Vietnamese-American community, including Vietnamese adult adoptees, we had an amazing time learning about how many places the Vietnamese people have settled, and the influence they have in their various communities. This was a way for our adopted children to identify with their culture in a global way, and to see that they will have a place to belong wherever they may go. The fabulous cultural performances the kids acted out at Closing Ceremony, based on famous Vietnamese people around the world, were just wonderful. We had a great time again in and around Estes Park, Colorado, with delicious meals in the park, and fun hanging out by the indoor pool.
We also always 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 birth country 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. The contributions that adult adoptees from the Operation Babylift era have been invaluable in this area for our campers, and for their parents as well.
We are excited to be staying in Estes Park for our 2012 Vietnamese Heritage Camp, but....we will be at the YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park Center! For campers who were with us at the Y's Snow Mountain Ranch facility, you will be pleased to be back at this type of "camp facility," with all the atmosphere we have missed the past two years, while still staying in Estes Park, whch has been a big plus! For those of you new to Vietnamese Heritage Camp, you will find this facility to be a family friendly, picturesque facility where we all spend time together with families, counsleors, and presenters. It will be so nice ot all be together again! Watch for more details about our new (yet familiar) site as time goes on, as well as our camp theme for 2012, and details about presenters, entertainment, workshops, and more.
We hope to see you at camp in July. For further information, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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