They sadly had to turn away children last year due to limited space. This year, the Somali Canadian Women and Children Association (SCWCA) doubled their intake from 80 to 200 children, opening their door to almost every child who came knocking to join their summer camp.
It was a two location summer camp; Cardinal Léger Junior High School, and Glengarry School in Edmonton. Children from 6 to 15 years old had fun with lessons in arts, crafts, gym time, culture, religion, and field trips to the Zoo, Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre, and exciting times to the movies. A staff of over 21 issued certificates of participation to all participating children at the end of the camp from July 2 to 31, 2019.
While last year was focused on diversity and inclusion of the children coming through their doors, this year, the camp moved to expand with a no child left out policy, a theme Summer Camp Coordinators; Hanan Ali and Shukri Otnman were pleased with. The coordinators were however pleased with the wide range of heritage of kids at their summer camps this year; Somalia, Syria, Lebanon, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, and many more. While they already look forward to a fantastic 2020 camp maintaining the two locations, SCWCA Youth Coordinator, Abdi Wali, is already forecasting a third location. Surely more fun for more children.