Summer vacation is a time for children to relax, play, and enjoy themselves. Learning and working are meant to be done during the school year. But this July, balaks from all over North America came to Edison, New Jersey between July 10 and July 23, 2005 to take part in Bal Summer Training Camp 2005. With the theme of "�darsh: Now and Forever", this camp was designed to help the balaks progress in satsang, develop their talent and abilities, and strengthen their moral character.
With the aim of molding future karyakars and the leaders of tomorrow, the camp had a rigorous schedule filled with classes, workshops, and activities.
Each day of the Summer Training Camp had a different theme that highlighted important aspects of satsang, such as asmita, dharma, atmiyata, seva, satpurush, etc. On each day, classroom sessions were related to these themes. For example, on Sanskruti Din, the classes were "Proud to Be a Hindu" and "Mera Bharat Mahan." Furthermore, there was a Gujarati class every day that all balaks had to go to, depending on their level.
Also, each balak attended three separate talent development workshops, choosing from public speaking, nirupan, decoration, graphic design, singing, and writing. In addition to this, every balak that attended the camp received training in playing classical Indian instruments - either tabla or harmonium.
For five days, the balaks were taken to the Appalachian Campsites in Pennsylvania, tucked away in the mountainside. In addition to their regular training, balaks got the true camping experience by living in wood cabins, eating outdoors on picnic tables, and taking part in camp activities. These camp activities provided a fun way for the balaks to learn leadership skills and to develop the ability to work well with others in a team.
The balaks also took part in a variety of games and activities throughout the camp to help them get better acquainted with one another. These included a volleyball tournament, kirtan antakshari, etc. Though the balaks had a full schedule, with as many as nine hours of class time in a day, the fourteen days flew by in quickly, leaving memories to last a lifetime.
Due to the grace and inspiration of Param Pujya Pramukh Swami Maharaj, this training camp turned out to be a huge success.