Camp Walden

2007-08-24
Greetings from Mexico!!!

Hi, My name is Michele Sobol (now Agami) and I have been Walden's liaison in Mexico for more than 10 years. My relationship with Walden dates back to 1971 when I was a camper for the first time. Since then, Walden has been a second home for me, my mom, my sisters and our children.

One of the most important things we learned at Walden was that there were other people that were similar to us yet different in many ways, people that still remain our close friends today.

Walden has now become one of the best known Canadian summer camps in Mexico thanks to more than 300 families sharing their wonderful experiences. And the one thing that these families treasure the most is that their kids have been able to make new relationships with people that are different than them in many ways.

This has helped them greatly in their daily lives and has given them a much wider world view. The only way one can make these types of close relationships is getting to know, respecting and honouring the differences between us and other people - in other words learning tolerance.

As Walden's “voice” in Mexico, I encourage parents and children to be open to this experience by appreciating all the new things they will see and learn and to be tolerant and respectful of all the people they meet at Walden.

So, the purpose of this letter is to thank all the staff and parents who have assisted this program by supporting Walden's children in forming wonderful new relationship with all kinds of people from all kinds of places. Thank you for recognizing how important it is to get to know, respect and honour the different kinds of people they have met at Walden this summer from their own country and from others.

I believe that these experiences are more important in society today than they ever have been before. If we could appreciate the richness in differences, many of our personal conflicts and, on a greater scale, many conflicts between the nations of the world could be avoided; we could all benefit from learning and relating to other human beings in a respectful and honourable way.

So let us, Walden families, continue teaching this to the future generations! I am sure we will make a big difference in our lives, in our families' lives and ultimately in our society and the world.

Gracias de parte de todos los Waldeneers en Mèxico!

P.S. Let me also take this opportunity to share with you a poem written by one of our former campers!

CAMP WALDEN

Camp Walden is going to be a summer camp.

And we are going to go to a swamp.

There is going to be lots of entertainment.

Even if we sleep in a tent.

They will be a lot of sports.

But we will never make snow forts.

In this camp you are never lazy.

Even if you get a little crazy.

By: Andrea Bauer Sobol