Camp Kupugani Blog
Challenging Reads Regarding Individual Consumption
Sadly enough, though I make sure that the programming and mission of our multicultural summer camp is consistently progressive and forward-thinking, my attention to my personal behavior is harder to change—although no less important. Here are a couple of recommendations for books that challenged me to think differently about our household consumption. As they did for me, they may help see the world in a new perspective. Check out Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, and A World Without Us, by Alan Weisman. Great reads, and challenging! Share what you think […]
Loving Yourself Unconditionally
At our multicultural summer camp, especially during our all-girls camp, we cover many topics from diversity, empowerment, to self-expression, leadership, and body image. One of our well-loved activities at camp is “Letter to a Body Part”, where we write a letter to one of our body parts expressing how much love we have for it—such as our eyes, stomach, hair, brain, etc. Why should we tell our body we love it? I was recently browsing internet feeds and noticed a variety of posts either encouraging body acceptance or encouraging diets […]
5 Ways White Feminists Can Address Our Own Racism
Kupugani camp director passed an article onto me titled “5 Ways White Feminists Can Address Our Own Racism”. Given my work at a girls-only summer camp, I was instantly intrigued; how can feminists be racist when their cause is for gender empowerment and equality? This article put an array of subjects into perspective for me. A particular quote stood out for me: “People don’t remember what you say or do but rather how you make them feel.” The article essentially outlined many of the things Camp Kupugani stands for. We […]
Encourage Kids to Appreciate Diversity
At Camp Kupugani, as a multicultural summer camp that is intentional in our empowerment and safely challenging our campers, we teach about and bleed diversity. It’s part of our mission and as such we are in a structurally and intentionally diverse environment. But what can you do if you’re at home and not necessarily in a diverse and supportive environment? How then to facilitate those important lessons? One article I checked out recently emphasizes: “Parents are uniquely positioned to guide their children to appreciate the differences that make each of us […]
Are You Overscheduling Your Kids?
I recently came across a good piece regarding our tendency as parents to overschedule our children. Even with the best intentions (we are guilty of this at times even at our multicultural summer camp), we want our children to gain so many skills, languages, and other personal development tools that we lose track of what really benefits their self- and character-development. Check out this podcast discussing “Are You Overscheduling Your Kids?” The basic points raised in it are that, to develop truly well-adjusted children need sufficient daily doses of play […]
How to Embrace Your Own Ideas
Today’s blog concerns the issue of how to love your own ideas and not compare yourself to others. This is a partnership with confidence because it involves belief in yourself and your creation. Everyone compares themselves to a friend or a colleague of their every once in a while thinking the other person has a perfect life or is at least better off. Remember: you are comparing yourself to a perception. You only see the positive things you wish you had, but in reality, their true selves could be tumultuous […]
Empowerment and Self-confidence
Camp Kupugani is a multicultural summer camp with a large focus on empowerment. The main proponent of empowerment is self-confidence, which–clearly an important thing to have as a world changer–but why? Let’s break it apart a bit. The root of confidence is the word “confide,” also meaning “to reveal”. With confidence, we reveal a commitment to trust, loyalty and honesty. A person without confidence is typically viewed as having a lack of drive and passion, and aversion to any risk. On the contrary, confidence equates or exudes competence. Confident people […]
Random Thoughts on Team Work
Thus begins part one of the series blog on how to become a world changer not only at Kupugani but in the broader world. Teamwork is an important component of striving to change our world. It provides so many opportunities for learning. You may think some parts of you are weak, but in a group there are always people there to compensate. Your strengths also compensate for certain weaknesses of others. It is important to work within a group because not only do you learn about other people’s ideas but […]
Changing the World
We are strong, empowered world changers at Kupugani. This is stressed at our wonderful multicultural summer camp for both girls and boys, but how do we get to that point? In order to make a difference in the world, there is a definite promise of many trial and error cycles and there are also many tips on how to keep your spirits up while trudging through life on a day-to-day basis in pursuit of your dreams of changing the world. In this three part blog series, we will outline a […]
Transitioning From Camp to Home/School
Simple transitions seem like a simple thing to ask for. However, when most children leave home to go to camp, it is not always easy to acclimate themselves to the routine and taking care of themselves. For many, it is more independence than they are used to at home. Once they understand the routine and begin making friends, camp becomes exhilarating and life changing! After getting used to their newfound independence, transitioning from the camp experiences and growth can make the back to home and school transition challenging. A recent […]
Hold the Summer for Ransom & Kidnap the Memories
After two fantastic girls sessions, an empowering boys session, and two great mother daughter weekends, our Kupugani camp season is over. To think our camp won’t be filled with the sounds of laughter, shouts of joy, tears of homesickness and growth, and of course without campers belting out Kupugani’s own version of “Thrift Shop” for another 300 days is unsettling. There were so many lessons learned at camp–lessons campers gleaned during teams about diversity, leadership, or positive self-image–and also in cabins and the camp community in general regarding how to […]
Mother Nurture Daughter Bond Blog
This past weekend, camp was filled one last time for the 2013 summer with almost 80 moms and daughters for Kupugani’s annual Mother-Daughter Weekend. It was an amazing weekend. Moms and daughters participated in Teams activities, camptivities, and enjoyed one another’s company and the beautiful forestry our camp has to offer. The experiences had with campers during the Kupugani sessions are moving and impactful on their own; experiencing those same activities alongside the mothers of the girls impacted our staff greatly. We truly saw the strong impact and love our […]