Our first Community Cultural Camp was a whole lot of fun and a huge success!
The turnout for the camp was fantastic with 24 children attending over two days. The camp was an opportunity for Aboriginal children living in the South West Sydney region to experience their culture through a variety of activities and knowledge-based workshops under the guidance of cultural mentors.
This program is designed to balance recreational activities with educational, cultural and social experiences. It was added to the Community Programs curriculum of activities following repeated requests from community members. The aim of the program is to provide opportunities for Aboriginal children to expand their cultural, educational and social networks.
The kids engaged in a number of activities over the weekend. Jake Cassar facilitated cultural workshops. His presentation centered on traditional uses of native plants and traditional dream time stories, told around the campfire.
Participants were lucky enough to spend a whole day with Uncle Les McLeod. Uncle Les conducted a Smoking Ceremony and Yarning circle, which were followed by two cooking workshops. Moving onto an art workshop where children designed and painted their own boomerangs. Traditional Indigenous Games were held at the end of the day.
A day visit from KARI Ambassador Beau Champion was another highlight, who joined in with the young people in the activities.
Workshops were facilitated by KARI staff and included teaching the kids sand art, bag weaving for the girls and traditional dance for the boys.
Thank you to Jake Cassar, Uncle Les McLeod, Beau Champion, the staff at Vision Valley Holiday Camps and all of our participants for making the weekend an enjoyable one!