Reflections on Camp from an Arab Parent and Teacher

مرحباً!

لا استطيع أن أوصف شعوري كأم أولا ...سعيدة جداً بما أنجزه أولادي بهذة الفترة القصيرة و شعورهم بالسعادة و الفرح والبسمة التي ترسم على وجوههم  صباحا كل يوم لدرجة أجد صعوبة يومياً في نهاية الدوام للعودة للبيت. فهم يتمنىون لو يقضوا النهار بأكمله لما يلقون من جو عائليا و متعة و فرح للإضافة لسعادة لا توصف لقدرتهم على التحدث و الغناء باللغة العربية .

وحزينة من جهة اخرى لما بقي من أيام معدودة في المخيم الذي تعلم اولادي منه الكثير فلا حاجة  لأخذ أولادي الى الشرق الأوسط ليتعرفو على التقاليد العربية و البلاد العربية بعد الأن. أصبح أولادي الأن فخرون بلغتنا الأم و أصل أجدادهم و أهلهم . 

وثانيا كمعلمة ،سعيدة بمعرفتي بأشخاص و طلاب ...أدهشوني بذكائهم و قدرتهم على تعلم لغة صعبة و مواهبهم التي توجت بأعمال عظيمة نالت إعجاب المدرسين و زادت الأولاد ثقة و طموح ، هكذا هي الايام السعيدة تمضي بسرعة ولكن تبقى ذكريات لا تنسى.

دانية بوادقجي

Hello!

I can’t begin to describe my feelings… First, as a mother, I am very happy with all that my children have accomplished in this short period, and how much happiness, joy, and extra smiles I have seen on their faces every morning, so much that it’s difficult for me at the end of the day to take them home.  They want to spend the whole day at Al-Bustan Camp because of the familial environment and the joy that they experience.  I feel an incredible happiness at their ability to speak and sing in Arabic. 

I am sad on the other hand that there are only a few days left of Camp, a program where my kids have  learned so much, such that I don’t  feel a need to take them to the Middle East anymore to learn about the Arab world and culture.  My children have gained a pride in their mother language and the heritage of their grandparents and relatives. 

Additionally, as a teacher I am pleased to have met so many new people and students. They have amazed me with their intelligence and their ability to learn this hard language, as well as their talents in producing creative works that have gained the admiration of the teachers and increased my children’s self-confidence and ambition.  Thus, these happy days have quickly passed, and yet they will remain unforgettable memories.

Dania Bawadekji

Arabic language assistant teacher and mother of two campers ages 5 and 6 years

Arabic Alphabet Quilt Project in the Making

The traditional arts and crafts of Morocco represent myriad and diverse techniques. A group of campers have been incorporating some of these processes in a collaborative textile project, led by teaching artists Tremain Smith and Samantha Taifi. They used resist dyeing with henna inspired by Berber textiles to produce a contemporary visual celebration of Moroccan traditional arts, representing each letter of the Arabic alphabet.

The project began with resist wrapping and stitching yarn onto silk squares using beans and dental floss to produce various designs. The campers then dyed the squares in vats of different strengths of henna. They unwrapped their squares to reveal unique designs and patterns created as a result of the dyeing process. Next campers used basic felting and embroidery techniques to embellish their squares with a letter of the Arabic alphabet in wool and yarn. Now the campers are in the process of adhering all the squares together to create a complete Arabic alphabet in textile form. 

A Delicious Taste of Morocco at Al-Bustan Camp

On July 11, campers and staffers were delighted to receive a visit from the chefs of Argana Restaurant in Landsdowne. It was an excellent opportunity for campers to literally taste this year's camp themes. The chefs from Argana came on the recommendation of our Arabic teacher, Brahim El Gabli. Brahim, a native Moroccan, declared Argana one of the few restaurants in the Philadelphia area where he could "really savor" the authentic cuisine of his home country.

On Wednesday, when campers packed into the drama room to see (and taste) examples of Moroccan cuisine. The day featured harira - a spiced soup made with tomatoes, chickpeas, and vermicelli - and what may be Morocco's most famous dish: couscous - a fluffy dish made with semolina and steamed vegetables. The chefs brought in samples of ingredients they use to prepare the dishes and described the time-honored processes to produce such delicious dishes. Ingredients were introduced in Arabic and English, allowing staff and campers another opportunity to practice their language skills.

When the presentation was complete, the moment arrived that all the campers had been waiting for. The large pots emitting enticing aromas from the back of the room were brought to the front, and children and staff alike were invited to sample the harira and couscous. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive, as children not generally inclined to eating vegetables cleaned their bowls, asking for seconds and thirds. Our guests made sure no one went away hungry, and everyone enjoyed getting a taste of what Morocco and Argana Restaurant had to offer.

Day 2 / Week 1 Camp

Hello again Al-Bustan community!  Today was an exciting energy-filled day where every last camper was asking for more... at least in poetry!  I was already exhausted after the first day and wishing that I had the campers energy.  Luckily with the help of my amazing camp counselor, Reem, the groups and I pressed forward, collected our energy and put it into our varying poetry projects.

We opened up the classes with some zany writing and coloring that got the campers engaged in the project they began working on today.  For groups A & B, we had them create their own poetry journal in which they decorated with both a free art exercise and with a replicated drawing of the object they brought with them to share.  These objects will come to represent the things we carry with us and the campers, through the use of drawing, interviewing, letter writing, and of course poetry, will begin to see their object a bit differently than they did at the start of camp.

We began to ask ourselves the questions of what is similar to our object, what does it mean to us, what does it mean to describe something without revealing too much, and what is ironic about the object or even what our assumptions are.

This is one of the many great things about poetry, it extends beyond the walls of words and formulaic ideas.  We can make poetry through the use of varying art forms as a way to both understand other mediums better as well as to make our own poetry more meaningful and honest.

With Group C, we practiced a made-up form of poetry called Illot Mollot in which we participated in a free-write exercise and every minute or so, students shouted out a random word that we had to work into our work in progress piece.  The purpose of this exercise is to get students to first, get out of their own way and next to be ready for anything that happens.  A wise person once said to me that it was like being able to receive the best curve ball and at least make contact. When students become accustomed to dealing with unfamiliar things, they become more confident in situations that are unfamiliar to them in the world or even on our beloved standardized tests.

Once we got through the zany writing about sugar, food, floss, abstractions, and cake we were able to focus on what it was about these pieces that are poetic.  How does writing about a floss carrying warrior have to do with an afterlife or end of the world (an actual student piece) or how talking about nothing but Jolly Ranchers lead to the importance of repetition in any literary piece.  Tomorrow we will begin examining pictures of the student's travels and begin writing travel journals that will be modeled off of Ibn Batutta's own writing.

Until tomorrow!

Ellie

Hello Community,

This is Ellie and I have resurfaced after a semester long teaching program with a different set of students at Northeast High School in Philadelphia.  What an experience where a number of students eloquently displayed their poetic talents.

Now, I have the fortunate pleasure of sitting in with the teen group on the Arabic class here at Al-Bustan's Summer Camp.  We are learning how to greet each other, a few different dialects, and the language that is spoken in the community.  Talk about the need for repetition!

I even participated for a for minutes until my heartbeat raised in frequency and I let the kids shine at the pronunciations...

That's the thing about a raise in heartbeat frequency, all campers experience it in the first few days and it is good to know this even as a camp teacher.  The nerves of meeting new people, the fear of mis-pronouncing words or even drumming off beat, are something that actually brings everyone closer.  And now that I have experienced this on Day 1, it is off to the races tomorrow!

In the poetry class for the K-5 groups, we are going to experiment with varying forms of creative writing about an object that we take on our travels (local or beyond our community).  The Jr. High group are going to create travel journals from our own experiences modeled off of Ibn Batutta's travels. And finally, the teen groups will experiment with their own forms of contemporary poetry based off of the experiences Ibn Batutta had experienced during his travels.

Through all groups, I am excited to experiment with the creativity and colors that are represented by Ibn Batutta and Morocco.  It's going to be a magical time with the students!  And don't forget about out performance at the end of camp, it is an experience that will change the lives of everyone involved!

Peace,


Ellie

P.S. Check back often for students' sample writings and pictures!

Interview with Executive Director Hazami Sayed

Hello, my name is Mazin Blaik. I take weekly Arabic lessons with Brahim El Guabli. One of my assignments was to conduct an interview in Arabic. This is my interview with Hazami Sayed, my mom and executive director of Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture.

مقابلة مع حزامي السيد: أم و زوجة و مديرة الجمعية الثقافية غير الحكومية البستان
(Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture)

Interviewer Mazin Blaik

١.  كيف بدأتِ مخيم البستان؟

بدأتُ المخيم في سنة ٢٠٠٢. أردت أن أسس مكانا للأطفال يتعلمون فيه اللغة والتراث و الثقافة العربية. و بالذات أردت أُعرف أولادي باللغة و الجالية العربيتين في فيلادلفيا لكي يكونوا متعلمين و مفتخرين بتراثهم و هويتهم.

 ٢.  كيف أصبح المخيم الآن؟

بعد مضي ١٠ سنوات، أصبح البستان جمعية معروفة و موثوق بها  في تعليم و تقديم برامج ثقافية و فنية بمستوى عال.

٣.  هل تحبين عملك في البستان؟ 

نعم، أكيد، إنني اشتغل ليلا و نهاراً، و لكن أحيانا أواجه صعوبات و أتسأل "لماذا أبذل كل هذا المجهود؟" 

٤.  أين تتصورين البستان بعد ١٠ سنوات؟ 

أحب أن يكون  عندنا مركز ثقافي يجمع الجالية العربية و الجالية غير العربية في مكان جميل و حافل بالنشاطات اليومية. بالإضافة إلى ذلك أتمنى يكون عندنا نشاطات و علاقات في مدن أخرى في أمريكا. 

٥.  ما هو الشيء الذي تشعرين به كمكافئة على عملك؟ 

عندما أرى الأولاد مندمجين في أنشطتهم الفنية و فرح أهلهم بذلك. و عندما  يقول طفل لأهله بعد نهاية المخيم الصيفي: "أريد أن ادرس عربي!". 

٦.  ما هو أحسن برنامج في البستان؟ 

بالنسبة لي الموسيقى و الفن التشكيلي.

٧.  في كم مدرسة توجد أنشطة البستان؟ 

حالياً في ٥ مدارس أسبوعيا.  

٨.  ماذا يحدث الآن في برنامج الموسيقى؟ 

أحدث شيء هو سلسلة حفلات موسيقية. عندنا ٦ حفلات، ابتداء من أكتوبر إلى ابريل ٢٠١٢. و كل حفلة مميزة بحضور فنان عربي نستضيفه مع فرقة موسيقية عربية بفيلادلفيا.

Thoughts on Sonia M'Barek's Concert

It has been over a week since my husband and I attended the concert featuring Tunisian singer, Sonia M’Barek, but I have not been able to get the wonderful experience out of my mind!

It was truly beautiful – the song choices, Sonia and the orchestra’s amazing talent, and most remarkably the collaboration with the Keystone State Boychoir.  To hear the kids singing in Arabic was pleasant and moving, bringing me to tears. To me, it perfectly embodied Al-Bustan’s mission of highlighting Arab culture to overcome misconceptions. It is particularly important to engage young people in this mission, which Al-Bustan does so successfully through such performance activities and its summer camp.

Al-Bustan has been dear to my heart from its birth ten years ago for serving as a positive representative of Arab culture in a broader community dialogue. I am constantly impressed and continue to look forward to future events!

Dr. Nawal Khafaji