2009 Heritage and Culture Camp

This weekend we attended the Ethiopian Heritage and Culture Camp at Massanetta Springs Camp in Virginia. We had a ball, and learned so much. The organizers will be doing it again next year, so if you didn't get a chance to come out this year, make sure to come out next year. 

It was primarily organized by a wonderful woman named Mekdes Bekele, with the help of 4 adoptive parents. Mekdes met one of the parents at a water park in Virginia, and from that simple meeting, they came up with this grand idea!  The camp was dedicated to bringing together all families who are raising Ethiopian-American children.  

There were workshops on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We arrived Friday night after a 2 and a half hour drive. My favorite sessions were "How We Define Family" and the traditional Ethiopian Banquet and Party. The first session highlighted an adoptive mom and her daughter. They shared their families story, and let me tell you, this mom was awesome! She has really figured this whole thing out. She appeared to be s supportive and loving to her kids ( all 4 were adopted), and you could just see the love and admiration in her daughter's eyes. She shared the story of how she helped her daughter to re-unite with her birth family in Ethiopia just last year. The family actually adopted twin girls from Ethiopia in 1994. One of the girls was interested in re-uniting with her birth family. The other was not. The mother supported both of their decisions wholeheartedly. It was truly a remarkable story.

 I also finally had the chance to wear my "Ethiopian Gear" acquired during my travels to Ethiopia over 10 years ago. There was good food, live music and dancing, as well as great company. I met some wonderful families as well; one being my blog buddy Brenda and her beautiful daughter! 

We had a great time! Hopefully we will see you all there next year, and hopefully our daughter will be there as well. Here are some photos of the weekend!

Our home away from home for the weekend and the Welcome sign! BTW, the weather was wonderful!

During the outdoor coffee ceremony! There were moon bounces for the kids, popcorn, cotton candy and ice cream! Oh, and coffee for the adults. There were also a few vendors selling items at the Gebeya (or market)!

The geese and ducks near the lake on site. We had the chance to do some canoeing on the lake, but I didn't get to take any photos. I was afraid I'd drop my camera in the water.

Mr. B and I on arrival! My DH was on travel this past weekend so he missed it all, but we filled him in.
Mr. B being silly!

Dance lessons were also given for those who wanted to learn. There were also cooking and language classes.

Ducks swarming us on the lake as well as a swan! There was also fishing available. There were huge fish in that lake! But you had to catch and release.

Mr. B was so excited by the animals (skunks, deer and ducks) as well as the swimming pool.
Me in my traditional dress for the PARTAY!! Who hoo!!
Brenda and I!  It was so nice to meet her. She was great, and her daughter was so beautiful. I have some photos of other families, but I didn't want to post close up pics of kids without their parents permission. 
Traditional Musician. This one man band played like 2-3 hours straight. He was awesome. I love live music!
Mr. B and I after dinner.
Let the dancing begin!  There was a professional dancer, and she taught us so many traditional dances.  She was like Beyonce, (lots of dress changes and boody shaking..LOL) I loved it! It was so much fun. It was really a work-out, and we all broke a sweat. 
Mekdes, the awesome woman who planned this camp!

A final picture of all the kids! There were more than this, but this was the best picture I could get. In addition, we all took a professional group photo, and boy was it a hard to organize all those folks, but we did it.