Fridays with Franky: Friends from All Over!
Happy Friday WeHaKee Family!
I can scroll my Facebook feed and see posts from all over the world. It still amazes me that I have so many friends from so many different places! Camp is my favorite place in the whole world, and I am so happy that so many people count in among their favorites too, so much so that they would travel near and far to get there.
I’d like to tell you today why I am so grateful for this opportunity, and speak to the benefits of our unique community a bit. Our campers not only make friends, they make deep relationships that support our community. Of course it is great to know these individuals, wonderful campers with gifts, talents, and love, no matter where they are from. But our ever-diversifying list of postal codes and experiences is important too!
In an article entitled “5 Benefits of Having Global Friendships,” published in Entity Magazine, Alicia Holliday counts language, food, and culture sharing among many great reasons to meet people from all over the world. She says, “…when people from different ends of the world meet with the intention of camaraderie, it tends to be a phenomenal experience.”
I tend to agree! And while social media has offered us the chance to make our world a little smaller, there’s nothing like the personal, in-person connections you make at camp! Establishing friendships will give perspective to the posts and pictures you see.
And on top of the individual, feel-good part of making a new friend at camp, global connections foster global citizenship in our campers. Our connection to each other exposes us to new ideas and issues that we will want to consider for the future of our world. Stephen Fine, PhD, tells us what camp has to do with this big concept in Camping Magazine: “…although youth may be informed and connected, naive or uncritical access to a vast cyber universe demands globally based insights when making personal choices and setting personal goals (2015).”
Basically what Stephen is saying that when we encounter a global issue through our “small world” media experiences, your best tool is perspective. Perspective-forming experiences with people from a wide array of backgrounds will help our campers and staff understand the complicated events in the complicated world we live in. In short, making them better global citizens!
Dr. Fine says, “Young people still need to learn to get along, accept difference, hold respect for all species, and safeguard the planet.” We may just be a beautiful place in the woods, but WeHaKee works very hard to make our campers and staff aware of the opportunity they have in meeting and living alongside each other. Without booking a round-the-globe trip, they are asked to cooperate, encourage, and care for each other, seeking to understand each other’s needs and perspectives.
If you would like to know more about WeHaKee’s international campers, head here:
If you would like to read the articles mentioned in today’s blog, you can click the links below:
To register for summer 2019, jump over here:
Hope to see you at camp!
