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.

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!

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.

Camp Ayandeh 2009 is set to begin in just a few days, and 36 counselors and staff have gathered in the countryside of Massachusetts at Duquette Academy for staff training. Arash Majdi, director of this year’s camp said of the group, “Another amazing group of counselors have arrived and are training to make sure that this year’s Camp Ayandeh will continue to have a huge impact on all involved because of its unique blend of culture and leadership. I am sure that these counselors will do an excellent job of nurturing the future leaders of our community.”

IAAB counselors Idin Sany and Arian Nakhiaie participate in the Human Knot Ice Breaker

The training started off with icebreakers aimed to develop a base of trust between the participants and to build a level of comfort among the team that is characteristic of Camp Ayandeh. We introduced the history of IAAB and the Camp to the new counselors and began training the counselors on the curriculum, including the activity booths, which will be 75-minute workshops on topics such as Iranian literature, cinema, music, and games, among others. These groups will differ from counselor groups, giving campers a chance to get to know a different group of people outside their age groups.

We also discussed the “mentor-mentee” groups, which will consist of one older camper and three younger campers, who will then decide to focus on an issue they want to promote in their local communities. The older campers will serve to moderate the groups, giving them the chance to be placed in leadership roles, while the counselors are only there to provide assistance when needed.

All the counselors and staff here at Camp Ayandeh are excited to see the new and old campers, and look forward to seeing you all on Sunday!