"Regardless of their social situations, young people aspire for spiritual and intellectual growth and to make a contribution to the fortunes of humanity." — The Universal House of Justice
Purpose
Camps offered to and planned with residents in Hackney are both local and residential. Some are centred more on secondary school students between the ages of 11–17 and others are for whole families. At the heart of the camp is the idea of service. We believe that everything we do in the spirit of helping others can be considered service.
Lasting change and transformation takes place when we try to better ourselves and take action with others for the betterment of the world. Our camps are focused on helping us develop the qualities, attitudes and skills we need to better our societies, and give us opportunities to carry out service projects and plan new initiatives as a community.
Family camps are also a wonderful way to reinforce bonds within families. While each age group has their own sessions, there are collective sessions for families to engage in arts, crafts, cooking, and recreation altogether. The camps unite people from different faith backgrounds, all of whom can share their beliefs, traditions, prayers and/or meditations with the group.
Family camp sessions include
- Children's programmes for children aged 4–10
- Junior youth groups for youngsters aged 11–14
- Youth sessions for 15+
- Parent, adult and community leaders sessions
- Collective sessions for arts, crafts, cooking, sports and other special activities
Materials and approach
The educational materials we have chosen to use are those of the junior youth programme and Ruhi Institute, as they are focused on building the qualities, attitudes, skills and knowledge needed to serve the younger generation and the community effectively. The sources of knowledge upon which the books of the Institute draw are, on the one hand, the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith and, on the other, the accumulating experience of communities dedicated to advancing the material and spiritual wellbeing of society.