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!

Camp Ayandeh 2009 is less than a month away and all of us at IAAB are will filled with excitement.  Camp Ayandeh is a summer highlight for all of us, but this year is especially momentous, as the majority of IAAB‘s 2008-2009 staff started as a Camp Ayandeh counselor or camper, and thus had a major hand in the improvements and expansion that have gone into planning the 2009 Camp.  In only its fourth year, Camp Ayandeh boasts an alumni base of over two hundred young Iranian-Americans, and this year promises to be even bigger and better.  This year is also momentous, as it marks the launch of our new dynamic blog, campayandeh.org!

Why are we launching a separate website for IAAB’s 2009 Camp Ayandeh blog?

At our inaugural Camp in 2006, we blogged daily updates on different activities and happenings at camp in an effort to share some of the highlights of the Camp experience with parents and community members.  We offered photographs, journal entries, and daily wrap-ups and that tradition has continued ever since.  But we want to do more.  So this year, we invite our community to Camp Ayandeh 2009 by launching an interactive web portal of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and an opportunity for you to communicate online with campers and staff.  Through campayandeh.org, we hope to bring the same joy and excitement the Camp has for our participants home to you.

CampAyandeh.org will offer:

• Two embedded bloggers reporting on activities while profiling campers and staff,
• Podcasts highlighting some of the behind the scenes action of Camp Ayandeh,
• Daily video updates offering clips to summarize the day’s events,
• Op-ed articles exploring topics raised at Camp Ayandeh,
• And for the first time, members of our community can leave video and audio comments/feedback for campers and counselors!

In the coming days we will introduce the 2009 Camp Ayandeh staff on this site and we hope you take the opportunity to meet the wonderful and dedicated young staff who have volunteered their time to empower young Iranian-Americans and continue the development of our diaspora community.

Welcome to Camp Ayandeh!

-Ramin Bajoghli, President, Board of Advisers