After campers wowed the audience with their outstanding performances in the much-anticipated talent show, campers, counselors and staff prepared for the last evening of laughter and good memories at Camp Ayandeh 2009. The night consisted of dancing ‘til three in the morning, enjoying each other’s company and fully soaking up our final hours together at camp. The night ended bittersweet as campers headed back to their cabins to sleep.

On Sunday morning after packing our belongings and enjoying the slideshow of pictures from the week’s activities, we spent the next few hours saying our goodbyes (we all know how long it takes Iranians to say goodbye!) and fitting in as many hugs as possible. We exchanged phone numbers, took even more pictures, and began talk of reunions in each region of the country. As buses arrived to take the first group of campers to the airport, emotions were running high and the tears began to flow.

It is barely enough to say that this year’s camp has surpassed the expectations of both staff and campers alike. After a week at camp, each camper left with a better understanding and appreciation for their Iranian-American culture, a newfound desire to take on leadership roles in their own communities, and a number of beautiful new friendships. We also can’t deny the overpowering effect campers continue to have on the staff and counselors, as we continue to grow and learn from them every year. We could not have been more impressed with the educated and gifted group of campers that we received. A tight-knit community was created in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, one that we all share and will cherish for a long time to come. Once again, a memorable Camp Ayandeh proved to be the “highlight of the summer” for everyone.

Camp Ayandeh is coming to a close, and while we are sad and wish to cherish the last activities and time we have with each other, we eagerly anticipate the long-awaited Talent Show, where campers perform skits within their counselor groups, sending all of camp into laughter and hysterics.
Counselor groups, divided up by age and grade, are the foundation of Camp Ayandeh throughout the week, and the majority of activities and discussions are completed in these groups. On the first day of camp, groups decided on team names, and the roar of team chants can be heard throughout the day before and after activities, during lunch, and during breaks. Camp Ayandeh aims to construct a sense of community throughout the week, while simultaneously fostering friendly competition among the groups. Campers can earn points for their groups by participating in activities, doing good deeds, being courteous, and showing both team spirit and good sportsmanship. These points and team rankings are announced nightly, recognizing campers for their accomplishments.

As staff members, we aspire to be role models for the campers. However, we realize that the relationship between the younger and older campers can often be closer than that between the younger campers and us. For this reason, we strive for our older campers to be role models for the younger ones. At the beginning of the week, we challenged them to become leaders and it has been their choice to step up to the opportunity.

Starting Day 1, each of the upper level campers was assigned to be a mentor for three younger campers. As a group, they identified a problem that affects a community of their choice and strove to find a solution to this problem. Not only did this activity encourage civic engagement, but it also allowed the campers to get to know others outside of their counselor groups and age groups. They formulated and discussed the implementation of various solutions and planned a way to promote it in the community. They presented their ideas through “science fair”-style posters and also answered questions from counselors and fellow campers.

This team building activity promoted cooperation and community engagement. For five days, the groups worked on their presentation and the only role the counselors and staff had was to be available for occasional guidance. The mentors were the leaders in the group, and in some cases the mentees felt confident enough to take on the role as leader.

For most of the camp, counselors and staff are there to facilitate the activities. The mentor/mentee project is unique in that it is designed specifically for the campers to take charge. We aim to show them that they already possess the qualities of a leader. Furthermore, we hope that this project demonstrates that they do not need adults to efficiently and effectively organize a community project.

It was amazing to watch how some of the same kids who were shy at the beginning of the week developed the confidence to take charge and become role models in the eyes of the younger campers. We challenged them to take initiative and action. We set the bar high and they greatly surpassed our expectations!

After a long rainy Thursday, the sun finally shone down on Hinsdale, MA today, just in time for the Team Challenge, a perennial camper favorite. Team challenge is a series of activities that campers must complete together in a camp-wide race: a water balloon toss, a quiz game, a game of charades, and a basketball shoot-out, where several members of the team must shoot a basket (assists don’t count!). This challenge is designed to ensure all team members work together to complete each section before moving on, while also encouraging friendly competition among the groups.

I planned to cheer along with the staff and watch the activities from afar, but once they took off I was completely drawn in! In all the excitement, I found myself running along the court to each activity along with the groups, shouting words of encouragement and cheering along with the campers.

As teammates and staffers cheered from the court, groups of teams waiting to compete cheered the competitors on from the sidelines. Ayandeh aims to maintain a strong level of friendly competition that gets campers excited about both the physical activities and cultural discussions. Sportsmanship is a key skill which campers can carry on into their lives outside of Ayandeh.

After some close calls, in the first round of the challenge, group “T-Raqs” (a play on T-rex and one of our favorite breaktime activities – raqs!) won the team challenge while the younger team of “Two Gooz For You” (sorry moms and dads) won the second round of the challenge.

This annual tradition will likely continue to be a favorite and we look forward to another great Team Challenge next summer!

Here are some pictures from IAAB’s Recap of days 3, 4, 5.  More to come….

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SATs. AP classes. Extracurriculars. College Life. Majors. These are all topics greatly discussed during a high school student’s life. Today, counselors and staff spent the greater part of the day inside – due to the unexpected downpour – and participated in various college workshops. The workshops were intended to ease the stresses our high school-aged campers often face academically, while sharing our own experiences with them.

Campers were divided by grade level: freshman/sophomores, juniors/seniors, and rising freshman in college. Staff members chose which workshop to lead based on their interests, from specific college majors, to preparing for standardized tests, to optimizing studying patterns.

College applications and SATs are often a source of discussion and stress for high school juniors and seniors. Nakkisa Akhavan, a staff member as well as an SAT tutor, led a discussion with campers entering their junior or senior year on how to plan for the ACT and SAT. Luckily finished with that process, rising college freshman joined a conversation on college life and choosing majors.

Having a reputation for pulling all-day study sessions, I chose to lead a workshop for freshman and sophomores in high school with staff member Arya Saniee, discussing study habits and academics. Campers first discussed their personal study habits before Arya and I shared our stories of lessons learned. The older campers in the group shared tips with the younger campers such as going to teachers for help whenever possible and remembering to sleep even before a huge mid-term. Here, we all witnessed a great representation of Ayandeh culture: staff and campers passing on advice and sharing personal experiences. This collaborative give-and-take of information has been invaluable to past participants and we are excited for this year’s campers and staff to be influenced in the same way!

More pictures coming soon!!

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

“Racism is still a major problem in America today.”                                                                                                                                      “Gun control in the United States is far too tight.”                                                                                                                                            “An allocated time for prayer in school is acceptable.”                                                                                                                  “Experimenting on animals is just for human research.”                                                                                                                               “To be truly Iranian, you must be able to speak Farsi.”

At the dinner table or when in the company of new acquaintances, these are the kind of topics and statements that are rarely spoken of due to the controversy they provoke in our society. Camp Ayandeh is a safe haven for campers to express their opinions freely and gain insights into the opinions of others, and the Human Barometer activity is one way to gauge the social pressures surrounding such hot-button topics.

Three yellow signs were hung across the wall. On the far left: “Agree.” On the right: “Disagree.” And somewhere in between, “Don’t Know.” Statements of opinions such as those written above were read aloud while the campers physically moved to stand beneath the sign that best fit with their opinion. The areas between each of the signs were popular areas for participants, indicating just how complex these issues are – few could choose positions as simply black or white.

After taking a stand, a few campers volunteered their reasons for choosing their positions. Having to verbally justify their choices in an objective manner meant our campers had to question themselves and outline their beliefs while simultaneously respecting and recognizing the wide array of subjective ideas that exist even within their own peer group.

Human Barometer became a very active exercise and inspired passionate dialogue. It forced each person to think independently about the issues that affect society. After each camper presented their argument, volunteers from the opposite side eagerly raised their hands to throw in their thoughts in the collective pool of opinions. Presenting new ways of looking at the same issue showed us that there is not always a right and wrong answer to the unsettled questions of society. Taking the arguments of their peers into account, campers could choose to change where they stood on the spectrum after hearing a convincing argument from a different position. Campers became so engaged in this activity that they almost missed out on their time to play vasati (and we all know how much Ayandeh loves vasati!).

It’s activities like these that show the diversity of opinions and experiences at Camp Ayandeh, and which contribute to making camp such a rewarding experience for all!

To become a successful leader, one must have a deep and confident understanding of who one is. Today’s theme of “identity” aimed to give campers a better understanding of their own individuality and leadership styles in order to actualize leadership. The highly anticipated “I Am…” activity had campers identifying the multiple roles and positions they play in their daily lives: within their communities, at home with their families, amongst friends, in school and during their extra-curricular activities. Campers were first given time to consider the various roles they fill, and then identified and expanded on the ones most significant to them. Campers expressed pride in the number of roles they fill in their daily lives and a great many identified strongly with their Iranian-American heritage. Being Iranian-American proved to be an important part of campers’ lives, and this activity was a rewarding way to see the resilience of cultural identification regardless of where they were raised.