Arts Camp gives 8 weeks (43 camp days) of fun & friendship to 100 orphan Cambodian children with HIV/AIDS. Dance & music teach self esteem and build life skills that help prevent future exploitation.
During the 2 month summer break there are few activities for orphaned children who sit idle in the walled compounds where they live. Our Summer Arts Camp provides 8 weeks of friendship and exposure to Khmer dance,music and culture. Daily classes are fun and build self esteem,discipline and life skills. Classes are taught by peer teachers:senior students from Kasumisou Foundation's Apsara Arts Assn. Dance school, several of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds of poverty, HIV and abandonment.
New campers learn the basics of dance. Returning campers learn to dance our original "green" play " Our Friends in the Forrest" to learn about the importance of ecology. Children expressing an interest will study traditional voice and music.
Education and exposure to successful peer role models helps breaks the poverty cycle! Campers develop life skills such as self esteem and self discipline that will help to protect them from exploitation when they grow up and leave group homes.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
