Final Friday!

"There is no time left for anything but to make peace work a dimension of our every waking activity." -Elise Boulding

We spent two weeks focusing on modules such as positive body image and social awareness, and now it's time to take our knowledge out into the world!  With each other's support and love, we have learned to communicate and trust each other. With tomorrow's departure from camp, we will go into the world as empowered women and as world changers.

Olympics Day!

After a well-deserved sleep and energizing breakfast, our campers headed out to use teamwork skills like communication and trust to overcome obstacles! Later we all participated in mud tug-o-war, potato sack races, and dam jumping in honor of today being Olympics Day! We finished the day off with a whole camp game of sharks and minnows!

Backwards Wednesday!

Started backwards day with the goodnight song and ended it with a delicious breakfast. Today returning campers led a ceremony to welcome the rest of the girls into the camp community! The ceremony included thoughtful poems, gifts, and a wonderful song.  Its great to see how good of friends the campers have become with each other, and how much they genuinely care about each other. :)

Terrific Tuesday!

Another great day at camp! Started the morning with "relax & swim" earlybird and during team time, we wrapped up our body image module. The afternoon meant crate stacking, archery, pool, and chill time...we canoed and Zumba-d too. After Natasha's delicious homemade lasagna (so good), we had a thought-provoking discussion about body image and wrapped up a busy day with all-camp volleyball tourney, Smores campfire, night hikes and sleeping under the stars!  Woo hoo! Another empowering day!

Magnificent Monday!

As we get farther into the second week of this session, the girls have begun to really value and trust each other.  Tonight was the untalent show and dance, where the girls sang, danced, and performed skits for the entire camp.  Performing took courage and preparation, and every single performance was breath-taking!

Cabin Quality Day!

After sleeping-in and a cabin picnic, the whole camp participated in dam jumping, mud volleyball, canoeing, and swimming in our very own waterfall!
Later each cabin performed an awesome skit and song for the entire camp!

Friday the 13th only means good luck at camp!

In arts and crafts, these young ladies built the very bench that they are sitting on! The rain didn't prevent us from having a blast at a hip-hop dance class and arts & crafts!  In honor of positive body image day, all of the mirrors at camp have been covered up and replaced with inspirational messages!  The girls are embracing the opportunity to love themselves and each other without any judgments.

Teamwork Thursday!

"Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another's uniqueness." -Ola Joseph

This is the quote of the day, which we discuss every morning as an entire camp.  With early morning Zumba classes and late afternoon canoeing, every girl is becoming more confident and empowered to try challenging activities and make new friends.  Additionally, teams grew closer as we wrote and shared poems about our diverse backgrounds.  

Las Mujeres, go Las Mujeres! Today is the first day of teams, the ladies made team agreements and cheers! Later we went on a camp tour and had our first day of La Tienda (Aye, aye, aye!) Later we had show and tell, where the girls explained an object that represents their heritage. All of the campers come from different homes, and it was wonderful to see each one be empowered to tell her story tonight! :)

Session Two has begun! Today started off with an excellent potluck! We are sending out a great big thank you to all the parents who brought the yummy food! Our four week campers led excellent tours and helped with nametags;

we're so glad they were there to help! After our traditional introductory circle, the campers proceeded to move into their cabins! Each cabin was decked out in a crazy theme; Menchu is a winter wonderland theme! We finished the day off with a whole camp campfire and some quality cabin time. This session is off to a great start!

So the sun goes down on another amazing two weeks of Camp Kupugani. The day we have been putting off for two weeks, the final day. But what a great day it was!!!! Our last day kicked off to a great start as the campers enjoyed a morning of team building and conflict resolution skills. With our bellies full of Natasha's homemade farm fresh burgers, we headed out for an afternoon of camptivities like rock climbing, pool, and mud volleyball!!! Campers finished the day with a journey to the final campfire, including a reflective hike down trials and across the river on the two-wire bridge. Campers and counselors alike were full of emotion as Kevin read the final camp summary poem and the girls said their parting thoughts about camp.

We can't believe tomorrow is the day when parents are coming!

Beating the heat at camp on the 4th!

Another great day of empowerment.

Cool team building initiatives in the morning. A 4th of July picnic complete with banana boats for dessert. Afternoon crate stacking, pool time, drama class, and untalent show practice, followed by more pool time to beat the heat! It was so nice and cool! A fabulous evening meal of corn bread, mac and cheese, and BBQ chicken sandwiches, then to wrap up a fun-filled Fourth, we had the un-talent show and dance...a great end to another great day!

Night Under the Stars

Some refreshing morning clouds came through, helping to cool things off a bit, before powering up again for a warm afternoon of fun! We kicked today off with some team building activities, with the afternoon bringing camptivities such as hiking, canoeing, pool, Zumba, and giant-Jenga! The evening activity included a spirited game of Rainbow Tag.

Tonight is also NUTS (Night Under the Stars) and it will be nice to have a one-on-one with nature. It's certainly not boring here at Camp Kupugani, where the girls continue to be empowered!

!yaD sdrawkcaB

Yad SdrawkcaB! Woohoo for Backwards Day! We started out the morning with "Dinner" and the girls were all in their backwards clothes. After teams and "Breakfast", we celebrated Ms. Natasha's birthday in the rec hall! Camptivities today were full of fun and activities...especially the girls who got to create new camp benches in Arts and Crafts! Rounding out the day was our returning camper ceremony...we'd love to see everyone back next year!

Super Cabin Sunday

Some nice sunny weather and beautiful blue skies made for a perfect cabin day Sunday at camp! We slept in and had a lazy breakfast, took camp photos, and had cabin group picnic time at various (shady) spots around camp, while the girls prepared cabin skits and songs. The fabulous afternoon consisted of watery fun on the flats with canoeing, mud volleyball, dam jumping, and going underneath the waterfall. The girls were decked out in their water bottles and were

sure to stay hydrated, especially as they kept their voices fresh for cabin skits and songs earlier tonight. Another great day at camp! :)

Scintillating Saturday

Another amazing day at camp, filled with some awesome activities! Morning teams included lifts and lap sits, as well as talking about being PHENOMENAL WOMEN. We had great fun with camptivities, starting out with the annual camper-staff soccer game...resulting in an epic last-minute comeback by the campers to tie the game. The tour of the old schoolhouse this morning was also a success. After an evening of Game-boree, we ended the night with a campfire that focused on empathy :) Another great day spent with empowered young ladies!

Fantastic Friday

Blue skies and a fresh breeze, after some welcomed cooling rain today. After waking up to this morning, we loved the breakfast including sausages and French Toast and juice. Energized for the day, the campers moved on to their team activities on a day focusing on positive self-image (and no mirrors!). The LITs visited some seniors at a local senior center with the seniors enjoying the girls' conversations and songs! This afternoon had camptivities including pool, crate stacking, aerobics, mud volleyball, and shrinky dinks in arts and crafts! Another great day!

I'm alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic...I'm alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic! Goooood morning folks! The weekend is nearly upon us, as is the heat we have been expecting and looking forward to as a reason to do even more water activities! Adrienne's currently on a secret mission to cover the mirrors at camp so the ladies can feel empowered and recognize that inner beauty is of critical importance. Here's a clip of the positive team building they've been doing already!

Hot fun in the sun at camp!

Announcement time...announcement time...listen to Kupugani, it's announcement time!!! It's Thursday already? Wow, camp is going so fast! Early bird nature walk was lovely and peaceful, and there is already talk about who is going where for activities this afternoon...looks like water activities will be popular today as the temperature keeps on rising! Well, team time has started, so I'm off to enjoy the girls empowering themselves in the morning with stand-ups and leans!! Yaaaaaay camp!

Another great day in the books!

Hello hello! Another awesome day at camp--amazing weather, with the girls shining like the hot sun!! A productive morning was spent learning about conflict resolution; the girls used great "I statements". Pool time, crate stacking, fishing, tie-dye, and challenge hike comprised the fun afternoon activities,

and then Natasha made a great dinner of mac and cheese, rice, barbecue chicken sandwiches, and cornbread...yum! Well, the campers have been sleeping for a while, and it's getting time for me as well, night folks speak to you all tomorrow. Hey Ho, Kupugani's got soul! G'night! xxx

Teams, camptivities, and great evening activities make our day!!

A great first full "regular" day at camp...river walking and floating, fire building, rock climbing, archery and pool time! Camp Kupugani...these days just get better and better, no wonder we all love camp! And, after Natasha's tasty lasagna dinner, we all continued our bonding with Diversity Bingo and cabin time

. Time for bed! J Catch you all tomorrow xxx

Kupugani 2012 Has Begun!

Yee hah!!! Camp Kupugani 2012 is here! The campers arrived yesterday, having a nice potluck with families, before hoisting the Camp Kupugani flag to fly high. Later that evening, we had a beautiful opening campfire. Today, the girls enjoyed their first full day in their summer homes :) A busy schedule...Today, there were swim evals, camp tours, and morning and evening group activities. Natasha's homemade baked chicken for dinner; WOO HOO! Camp is back and better than ever!

why we celebrate instead of tolerate

tol·er·ate [tol-uh-reyt]

"to endure without repugnance; put up with"

"to experience, undergo, or sustain, as pain or hardship"

"to endure or resist the action of without serious discomfort"

"to allow to be or to be done without prohibition, hindrance, or contradiction"

Examples of TOLERATE

Our teacher will not tolerate bad grammar.

I can't tolerate that noise.

The government cannot tolerate lawlessness.

How can you tolerate such laziness?

These plants tolerate drought well.

I don't like my boss, but I tolerate him.

Those are a few quick examples of some online dictionary definitions of tolerate.

For me...

I tolerate the strong smell when passing by newly fertilized corn fields.

I tolerate the expressions on certain faces if I'm somewhere where I feel unwelcome.

I tolerate when people make rude comments.

I tolerate intrusive questions when made with ill-intent.

I tolerate the seemingly interminable wait times when on hold with certain large companies on the phone.

I tolerate when people make inaccurate assumptions about me.

Ask you can see or feel from reading the above. “Tolerate” doesn't have a very positive connotation. That's why at camp we prefer to set our goal higher—to “appreciate” difference, “cultivate” free thought, “celebrate” those who may not share similar surface characteristics.



Instead of “enduring with repugnance” or “tolerating” those who have a different look, we celebrate them.

Instead of “resisting with serious discomfort” or “experiencing pain or hardship” when presented with an alternate viewpoint, we appreciate the different perspective.

Words and how we use them make a difference. They shape our experience and help define our outlook. By “appreciating” and “celebrating” instead of tolerating, we can go a long way to empower everyone, not just those who look, talk, and think similarly. A world where difference is celebrated instead of tolerated is a world I'd like to see everywhere.