the community and not offend or exclude them; but once again, include them. Camp professionals should understand the nuances of their specific local communities, but are there any things in general that they would need to know about these communities? Be Mindful of the Culture We are a collective culture. As a family, we do things as family; we make decisions as family. At ACA’s national conference, I talked about my memory of someone coming to speak to my mom and sign me up for camp. It was evident that she knew nothing about who we were from the very beginning. She did not want to enter our home, and in my culture, refusing to come into my house was not respectful. Needless to say, she did not make a great first impression. We had very little, but what we had was a home — it was important that she enter our home and let us greet her. She also didn’t understand the language, and she used me as a translator. That was another sign of disrespect. If you don’t speak the language, find someone who you’ve already built a relationship with who can be your ally to speak the language. The recruiter didn’t understand our decision-making style, and she was only focused on her task at hand. She wanted to sign me up there and then, and she was perturbed that my mother needed to talk to my father and my grandmother before making a decision. But as I said, in our culture, it is very important that families make decisions together. Be Mindful of the Messaging Messaging must also be mindful of the culture. The representative kept talking about “taking me away” for a weekend camping trip. This was an ineffective approach because in our culture, we don’t take children away from their families. It’s hard for us to think about camping removed from the family situation. We love camping, but we have to do it as a family. Camp professionals would be well served to think about how they will engage a child knowing that the whole family needs to be a part of that. Maybe it’s hosting a “getting to know us” family camp experience. That’s a first step. And once parents continued on page 40 CAMPING magazine • November/December 2013 39
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