For many children from poor or war-stricken communities, the summer camps and other activities are an opportunity to have fun and grow in the faith in a secure environment, accompanied by religious and Church animators.
Almost 100,000 children are benefitting from summer camps and other activities funded by pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), this summer.
For many years ACN has helped local dioceses and Christian organizations set up and run camps for young people, especially those who live in extremely poor communities, or in countries affected by conflict.
For example, this year over 6,000 young people from Ukraine will have the opportunity to attend summer camps, retreats or, later on, winter camps, away from the daily tragedy of the ongoing war.
Camps are also currently taking place in the Holy Land, where 350 Arab-speaking, and 100 Hebrew-speaking Christian youths can get away, if only for a few days, from what for many is a dramatic and desperate situation.
Syria and Lebanon are two of the countries where most camps and activities are taking place this summer. In Lebanon, almost 43,000 young boys and girls are participating, and in Syria the figure is close to 26,000.
Other countries that are hosting activities for children and young people this summer are Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
For many of the young people involved, these camps and activities are the only real break they get, since often their families cannot afford to pay for holidays. The camps are also a formative experience, where the children are given the opportunity to pray together and grow in the faith.
“ACN’s experience over many years of supporting summer youth activities around the world, is that the impact of the camps in the life of the participants goes much beyond what one can imagine. The chance to live some days of serenity in the company of priests, animators and other young people, joyfully sharing the common faith, is often the sole opportunity for them to keep hope and try to heal the wounds of their soul, in a context often marked by violence and hate”, says Marco Mencaglia, director of projects by ACN.
By Filipe d’Avillez.
