Planetwalker John Francis said it best, "How we treat each other when we meet each other. This is where it starts." I believe more and more that the path towards creating a truly sustainable society begins from within, and the earlier in life we learn that we are all loveable and have the capacity to love the better off we will be. In a society were time is as much of an endangered resource as water or clean air, many parents simply aren't able to impart many of the fundamental skills young adults need. I became inspired when a friend told me about this camp for young girls in Northern California called North Star Quest Camp (http://northstarquest.org). Here is a brief summary of what these young girls are exposed to:

"The North Star these girls find in themselves is like a beacon of confidence guiding our sisters through the troubled waters of a society that emphasizes consumerism and sexism. It is "a safe place for early adolescent girls to start a quest to discover who they are, explore the issues and pressures they face in our culture and to learn the skills needed to develop their own values." What a concept!! If only every adolescent girl (and boy) had an opportunity like this, what a better world it would be.

I think that for a lot of people the word "camp" conjures up images of a bunch of kids (usually coed) running around the woods, doing crafts, playing sports, learning science, etc. This is not to say that these are bad things, to the contrary in this age of TV violence, childhood obesity, video games, and countless organized sport teams the notion of kids getting out and spending even a few hours in the woods is refreshing. But in my opinion, North Star Quest Camp exemplifies what "camp" should be. The list of workshops these luck girls participate in really tells just how empowering this experience is:

* Communication
* Personality types
* Conflict resolution
* Healthy relationships
* Self-defense/assertiveness
* Career opportunities
* Stress reduction
* Forming your own body image
* Expression through music/dance/poetry

Not your typical "camp." In searching the internet I was hard pressed to find anything else like it. Your typical “feel good”, crafty camps are plentiful as well as a slew of math/science based camps designed to get kids into the best colleges. Sadly, I couldn't find a lot of really good examples of what (I think) is needed. With that said, there is one "program" that exemplifies what I am talking about and it is called the Mosaic Project (http://www.mosaicproject.org/). They are doing amazing things with full classes of students from different socio/economic backgrounds.

I am in the process of networking and writing a plan to get a camp off the ground here in the Bay Area. The vision at present time is to create a "curriculum" that is repeatable and that can be shared with many other communities. I am just getting started and would certainly welcome any/all feedback. I will be using this Blog to capture ideas and collaborate with others as the idea matures and comes to fruition.