July 9 - 22, 2006
Chicago, IL
When summer time arrives the average child is excited to go on vacation, or to sporting camps, etc. However this July there were sixty selected b�laks from all over North America who showed their excitement in a unique way to join the annual National Summer Training Camp organized at Chicago, IL. 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, sanskruti 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 2 separate talent development workshops, choosing from Writing or Microsoft Office. In addition to this, every balak that attended the camp received training in playing classical Indian instruments - either tabla or harmonium, and public speaking.
To give the b�laks the "real camping" experience in addition to their usual training and education, the b�laks were taken in a luxurious coach bus to the Lake Monroe Camp Ground for a total of five days, from July 12th to July 16th.
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, satsang taboo and many more. 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. When the balaks returned home, they not regret missing their vacation or sporting camps.