Ethiopian Heritage and Culture Camp

In late July, our family attended ET Camp in the mountains near Massanutten/Harrisonburg. We really had a wonderful time, despite 100+ degree temps and I don't just mean the weather. Mama and Jetu had a little visit to the ER as the little one woke up Saturday morning with an unexplained 102.8 degree fever. I was just going to pick up some tylenol, but she was complaining of stomach pain, so I thought better of it and had her checked out. They checked for ear, nose, throat, urinary tract and appendics issues, as well as bacteria and determined that it was viral. The doc said she didn't need to be quarantined so we kept her fever down with Tylenol and monitored her.



In her little gown




Not too sick to be goofy - this was prior to the IV insertion, poor thing....


Nebyat was so excited to go and then was nervous upon arrival - she suggested perhaps we should stay in the room and watch movies on the computer. After dinner a lovely group of sisters reached out to both of our girls and the rest was history. She had so much fun and you'd never have known there was an initial reluctance.

At the camp, there were activities for the children, activities for the adults, and activities for the whole family. The kids focused on Ethiopian art, music, language, history, culture, etc. The adults had various sessions on hair/skincare; incorporating ET culture into our kids lives; travelling to Ethiopia, etc.; as well as, panel discussions with 1st/2nd generation young Ethiopian adults and another with siblings of adopted children from Ethiopia. For the whole family, there were numerous opportunities to be together - all of our meals including the big banquet with wonderful Ethiopian food, music and dancing; a couple of coffee ceremonies, cooking lessons, dance lessons, swimming, etc.