followed by a tour of Washington, Boston, and New York. In the summer of 2014, she plans to bring groups to at least four camps in the U.S. and Canada, with additional programs scheduled in Hong Kong and Australia. At home in Shenzhen, just over the border from Hong Kong, LeShine has begun weekly programs for high school students. Motivated by her experiences, she completed the International Camp Directors Course, attended the Asia- Oceania Camping Congress in Australia, and is quickly establishing plans to purchase property for her own camp in China. A School without Walls, an Education without Boundaries The Initiate Development for Education and Service (IDEAS) Foundation, a nongovernmental organization committed to the overall development of young people, is one of the first organizations to pioneer an actual camp in China. Its predecessor was the Little Angels Action Fund, which was founded in 2008. The mission of IDEAS is to empower youth to better explore themselves and to ref lect upon social issues. Through educational innovation, the IDEAS Center, the camp program of the IDEAS Foundation, aims to cultivate youth into global citizens equipped with international perspective, team spirit, leadership qualities, and awareness of civic engagement. The IDEAS Gehua Camp, a multimillion-dollar, ultramodern facility, opened in 2012 in the seashore resort city of Qinhuangdao, about 280 kilometers (approximately 174 miles) from Beijing, and has already served 8,000 campers. During the summer of 2013, 200 youth from mainland China, U.S., Canada, Russia, Australia, Japan, Germany, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong participated in a full-scholarship, international camp program developed by IDEAS and instructed by talented program teams recruited from Duke University, MIT, Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Oberlin College. Inspired by the latest, evidencebased research on experiential learning, the IDEAS center has four educational pillars: character development, nature exploration, humanities and arts, and science and technology. The IDEAS summer camp also featured popular activities with Chinese cultural themes such as archery, calligraphy, dance, ink making, music, stone carving, and traditional paper making. 50 CAMPING magazine • March/April 2014 In addition to the international summer programs and traditional Chinese cultural programs, there was also a Whole Person Camp that focused on perception of the world through six senses in a crossdisciplinary program that included arts, drama, robotics, and music. Campers related these activities to society through ethnographic projects in which they explored various social issues first-hand and brainstormed creative solutions. A fourth program, LEAD Camp, was designed for high school students and teachers. Through various activities, such as experiential learning and creative arts, students had opportunities to see themselves differently as they explored a new world. The teachers, under the guidance of professional educators, gained an understanding of the concept and practice of youth leadership development through experiential learning and observation of student activities. Because Yingdi is a new concept in China with new programs developing each year, IDEAS hopes to position itself as an education and research center for the fledgling camp industry. With the guidance and leadership of the IDEAS staff, it is hoped that eventually camp professionals will come together as an association of educators. Implications for North American Camps There is evidence that camp exists in at least a quarter of the world’s countries, although the label of “camp” may not be consistent. The emergence of a camp industry in China will perhaps have a more profound effect on American camps than developments in most other countries. • Camper recruitment — With the recent announcement that Chinese regulations regarding family size were being relaxed, the number of camp-aged children may reverse the trend of a declining population of children, which still has a staggering number of about 150 million being camp eligible (ages eight to sixteen). Cultural exchange opportunities are plentiful as Chinese parents seek opportunities for their children to experience American life and to learn English. Agencies, youth organizations, Chinese camps, and families are already contacting North American camps for placement of children. Interested camps should update their profiles on ACA’s Find a Camp database to indicate their interest in accepting international campers. • Staff — Just as in the U.S., there are large numbers of Chinese college graduates who are not yet employed and seeking ways of enhancing their resumes. A growing number of college students and graduates in China are seeing the value of a season at an American camp to practice English language skills and gain experience in a western culture. Accompanying a group of Chinese children to a summer camp as a chaperone is an attractive opportunity, and U.S. staff placement agencies with the ability to arrange J-1 visas are receiving inquiries from China. • Sharing of resources — ACA CEO Peg Smith has reaffirmed her commitment for ACA to be a global resource partner for developing and emerging camps. The ACA Professional Development Center is experiencing interest from the global community, with 230 international users of digital learning resources, While there is often discord and distrust between governments, camps, for many years, have been venues for greater global understanding. webinars, and conferences in the past year from twenty-six countries, including China. Chinese who are seeking to build and promote camps are anxious to avail themselves of current knowledge in the industry, and ACA’s online resources will continue to be an attractive and economical alternative to traveling to another country for courses and conferences. The number of international attendees at the ACA national conference has also grown each year, and there have been Chinese professionals in attendance for the past five years. International Camping Congress, 2014 While there is often discord and distrust between governments, camps, for many years, have been venues for greater global understanding. The intrinsic benef its of staff and camper exchanges in North American camps are understood, at least anecdotally, and have served to bring children and staff together for the outcome of cultural understanding. Global and
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