During the last days of their
summer break, children from across the city came together for a one-day
‘Brilliant Stars’ children camp. The purpose of the camp was to promote
unity among participants in neighbourhood-based classes from across the
city – which focus on learning and applying Bahá'í teachings related to
kindness, love, and oneness.
The camp started with the excited arrival of 30 children and 12
teachers from different corners of the city. The children got to know
one another before beginning an educational program at the Nature
Museum. After a fun-filled morning at the Museum, the children walked
to the neighbouring park to begin the afternoon’s activities.
Following group songs and prayers, the children broke into age groups
(5-6 / 6-8 / 9-11) to study lessons from the Ruhi curriculum focused on
promoting unity and being a good friend. They studied quotations from
the Bahá'í writings, read an illustrative story exemplifying the theme
of the lesson, and played co-operative games.
Before starting the artistic component of the camp, the children were
surprised with a birthday cake sent by one of the mothers to celebrate
her daughter’s 8th birthday. She sent a cake large enough to feed 50
participants!
The finale consisted of painting a banner with the quotation “Make us
as waves of the sea, as flowers of the garden, united, agreed through
the bounties of Thy love,” which summarized the day’s activities. The
children also decorated wooden frames in which they placed a group
photo that had been taken earlier in the day and developed for the
participants. These frames were cherished mementoes of the
day – the teacher of one class later visited a family that had the
frame placed prominently in their living room.
As the children began to prepare for their journey home, one could
sense the bonds of friendship formed from the day of activities. It
reinforced to all the importance of neighbourhood-based children’s
classes in building unity based one oneness and love. The children are
eagerly anticipating the next camp, scheduled for mid-winter.
