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Rights in the Sun: Summer Camp Youth Program 2006 Print
This summer, the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights will again be offering human rights sessions to summer camps/programs in Edmonton and the surrounding area. New this summer, we will also provide training for facilitators and camp counselors, allowing them to integrate human rights education into their everyday program.
The John Humphrey Centre is an Edmonton based non-profit organization. Established in 2000, the centre is active in a number of projects and conferences aimed at promoting human rights in Alberta and worldwide. Our mandate is to increase human rights education, particularly for children and youths. Awareness and education about human rights will make youth better citizens who can contribute to making this world a more peaceful and just place.
Rights in the Sun offers children and youths ages 6 to 17 the opportunity to experience ideas and issues regarding human rights vis-à-vis fun, interactive and participatory workshop sessions. This is the sixth year the program will be offered, and it has received extremely positive reviews from past participants and facilitators.
“I found [the session] interesting because the games and skits were fun but still taught us stuff and I liked the prizes too”
– Surprise Lake Camp. (Camper)
“I learned that I don’t need to be bullied and that they don’t have a right to bully me”
– Kiev’s K-Hi (Camper)
“The activities helped kids appreciate multiculturalism and the importance of human rights. The discussion got everyone thinking critically about making a positive difference in society”
– Camp Kasota West. (Camp Director)
Rights in the Sun introduces human rights concepts and values into the curriculum of existing summer camps/programs through games, activities, discussions, art and videos. The goal is to reach children and youth in enjoyable, informal settings, and to encourage greater sensitivity to the need for human rights in both our own communities and around the world.
The education program’s primary aim is to encourage sensitivity to the need for human rights both at home in Alberta and globally. We will achieve this aim by focusing on three fundamental questions concerning human rights:
What are human rights?
Why are they important?
How can we promote human rights?
There are two options available to best suit the needs of each individual camp:
1) The JHC can specifically design a Human Rights Session to meet the needs of each camp, which we will then administer at your camp. Tailoring the program for an individual camp’s participants, schedule and philosophy will ensure that the session will be compatible with existing camp curriculums. Various human rights themes can be explored, such as:
Issues of diversity, unfairness, and discrimination,
Human rights of children and issues of child labor,
Human rights and the environment,
Women’s rights as human rights, and
Building respect, compassion, caring and interdependence among youth.
The Human Rights Sessions are flexible in length. They can be as brief as 90 minutes or can be incorporated into a half-day or full-day session. The sessions are offered entirely free of charge.
2) The JHC can provide a training session for camp counselors/facilitators of about 2-3 hours in length. This workshop will educate facilitators about how to implement and teach Rights in the Sun programming to participants, allowing camps and programs to reach many more children and youths.
The workshop will include:
The philosophy behind Rights in the Sun,
Educational games and activities that focus on human rights, and
Additional information about specific aspects of human rights, such as multiculturalism.
Regardless of which option you choose, and how each session is structured, our main focus is to provide dynamic, enjoyable activities that are specifically geared to the appropriate age level, addressing human rights issues in a manner relevant to youth. Sessions teach skills and introduce perspectives that can benefit youth in their day-to-day interactions, and empower leaders to provide these sessions.
For more information or to schedule a session please fill out and return this form, or contact:
Darcie Tymrick, Program Coordinator Rights in the Sun
John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
Phone: (780) 453-2638
Email: [email protected]
Fax: (780) 454-1519