Ajawah News

I hope all of you are staying safe and healthy. As all of you are aware, Minnesota and the country have been shaken by the murder of George Floyd. George Floyd’s murder and the killing of other African Americans throughout the U.S. has pushed us to make this country safer for all of its inhabitants. For us at Ajawah, we have watched your children grow and engage in difficult topics as they have come into their own identity and we believe that your campers have the emotional capacity to navigate the topic of race. This is why Ajawah will be offering optional discussions about race for all campers via zoom. These optional discussions will be separate from the virtual Ajawah Camp session. We will be splitting participating campers into three age groups and they will engage in race centered discussions specifically garnered for each age level. The goal of these discussions will be to let your children discuss and ask questions about race in our country without fear of being judged or criticized.
Here are the dates for the talks:
Unit 1 ages 6-9: Monday, June 29th at 5 p.m. Central Time

Unit 2 ages 10-12: Wednesday, July 1st at 5 p.m. Central Time

Unit 3 ages 13- 16: Thursday, July 2nd at 5 p.m. Central Time

Please email Sofia-Bella ‘Meeko’ Vitale-Gill at svitalegil@gmail.com by Sunday, June 28th, in order to sign your child up.

COVID-19 UPDATE

Lots of information here; please read carefully.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Westminster Camp Ajawah Camping Board has voted to cancel scenario two for the summer of 2020.

We’ve scoured the CDC guidelines for opening camps, and see no way to safely open, and hold a program that still captures the Ajawah-essence, until August (scenario #3) at the very earliest. While even August is unlikely, we will let all scenarios play out as long as we can.

SCENARIO #3 is as follows:
By 3:00p.m. on Sunday, July 26, we will announce if we will cancel all sessions for the summer, or follow this schedule:
(Two 10-day sessions)
G1: Aug 2-11
B1: Aug 13-22

For now, our staff will be putting all our focus into the most magical VIRTUAL CAMP we can muster, which will mostly follow the normal camp dates (Girls Camp: June 21-July 17; Boys Camp: July 19-August 14). Please stay tuned for more details.

We have closed registration for regular camp at this time. We are in the process of figuring out the most seamless way to issue refunds and will contact you once the process is confirmed. We are also figuring out the process for registering for virtual camp and will provide the information as it becomes available. Thank you for your patience!!

We hope you are safe and well in these uncertain times. Ajawah wishes you the best to you and yours!

Calling all former Ajawah staff or Board members!!!

Wouldn’t you love to spend a day up at Camp Ajawah, the Camp of our dreams? Well, we need you to do just that.

Since we cannot have our regularly-scheduled work days, we are asking if you (along with your household) would be willing to come up to camp to get some work done. Abiding by all social distancing measures, we will oversee the schedule and take precautions for it to be a safe experience.

We will limit the volunteers to former or current staff, and former or current board members and their respective households.

Most of what we need done is good old fashioned deep cleaning, Ajawah-style: scrubbing fridges, floors, toilets, cleaning gutters, walls, screens, etc. There is also a need for some more skilled labor, some light repairs, scraping and painting, fixing floor boards, etc. We have 4-hour jobs, and 2-day jobs. Attached here is the list we need done.

Please:

Look at the list, and choose a task you’d like to tackle. Think about your group’s number and skill-level.

Decide on a date you can go up. We won’t allow more than four groups at a time, so being flexible with your dates may be helpful.

Report via email to Chingla Thao at chinglathao@gmail.com. He’ll give you further instructions.

Dearest Ajawah Family,

As the world is gripped by this pandemic, so are our hearts, wondering and hoping that Camp can go on as planned this summer. Like everyone in the world, we just don’t know what the future holds. Please know that our decisions will be made by heeding the advice of the CDC, the MNDOH, and other local authorities. Ajawah is fortunate to have a dynamic Camping Board, with varied knowledge and gifts, and a loyal and capable medical staff.

The following are our summer plans. There is a lot of information, so please read carefully:

SCENARIO #1: NORMAL SCHEDULE

Based on current data and models from the MN Dept of Health, keeping these dates is unlikely, but information is updated frequently, so we are holding out hope.

At 3:00p.m. on Sunday, June 7, we will announce if there will be no changes to our current schedule, keeping our four 13-day sessions:

*G1: June 21-July 3
*G2: July 5-17
*B1: July 19-31
*B2: Aug 2-14

SCENARIO #2:

At 3:00p.m. on Sunday, July 5, we will announce if we will follow the following amended schedule of four 10-day sessions:

*G1: July 11-20
*G2: July 22-31
*B1: Aug 2-11
*B2: Aug 13-22

SCENARIO #3:

At 3:00p.m. on Sunday, July 26, we will announce if we will cancel all sessions for the summer, or follow this schedule:

(Two 10-day sessions)

*G1: Aug 2-11
*B1: Aug 13-22

Communication:

We will post decisions on our official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/CampAjawah), on our website (Ajawah.org), and on our Instagram (@friendsofajawah). We will also send an email to all registered campers.

Parents, we need your help.

We realize that these alternative times for Camp mean that you may need to adjust your plans quickly. The same is true for us, our staff, and the many people we need to get Camp ready. Please help make these adaptations go smoother by filling out these forms as soon as possible:

*Fill out this quick survey: https://forms.gle/sDzYsDVNhYDFfbpU6

*Fill out your camp forms on your Parent Dashboard.

A word about registration fees:

Should the sessions be shortened, prices will be appropriately reduced. If you need to cancel your reservation, or will attend a shortened session(s), we will grant a full or prorated refund.

If your child isn’t able to attend, or if her/his/their session(s) is shortened, you will have the option to make a donation if you are able. Please know that any extra monies we receive will go toward camperships. A large percentage of our families use camperships in a normal year, and we anticipate they will be of even greater need this summer due to COVID-19.

You can register for Ajawah this summer at Ajawah.org.

If you have other questions or concerns, you can also contact Boys’ Camp Director, Dave Moore at (612) 747-8364 or Girls’ Camp Director, Mindy Meier at (701) 625-1544.