Mocha Moms Southwest Regional Conference

I am on a crusade for diversity at camp!  One of my jobs - as I see it - is to speak to diverse parent groups about the benefits of camp (whether it is my camp or another camp).  To that end, I just got back from Phoenix speaking at my first Mocha Moms Regional Conference and it was great!  What a lovely group.   The title of the workshop was Experiential Learning for Children of Color and it was - I hope - a very candid and thought provoking look at camp.  It didn't even matter that I wasn't able to use my PowerPoint.  I think not having it made things even more relaxed.

Several conversations I had after my presentation are motivated me to push one of my plans to start a Multicultural Camp Association to the forefront.  Sigh.  So little time.  Soooo much to do.

I had a memorable conversation with a self-proclaimed helicopter mom who said there was no way she would let her kids go on a sleepover, let alone to camp (not unless she was able to go, of course).  What I loved about her was that she was willing to admit that she hovers and I would like to think she was giving the matter of camp some thought.  =)

I also got my locs done (unexpectedly) by RoShae, a loctician from Columbus, Ohio that's living in the Phoenix area.  She had a booth at the Mocha Marketplace and, on a fluke, I asked her if she had time to do my hair later that evening.  She had me sit down right then and there while she hooked me up and MMs Claire and her mom checked out RoShae's technique.  That was really cool.  =)  (Claire & I are going to work on a unique outdoor adventure for her Girl Scout Brownie Troop!  What a treat!)

And then I got this lovely email from Lorraine Mejia-Green:  "I was just at the Mocha Moms conference this weekend (I'm the Latina woman who was selling the multicultural books), and wanted to thank you for creating this wonderful company! My daughter just turned six, and I can't wait until she's 11 to join one of your camps. . . I've raised her with lots of nature, music venues, museums, etc., and I think OBG is wonderful. . .! I wish there was something like this for me when I was young - it would have helped me tremendously with my negative self-concept issues I had as a girl/young woman. I also really appreciate that you're including brown girls of all ethnic backgrounds. . . We have a lot in common, and I wish there was more collaboration between women of color ---- hopefully what you're doing will create a foundation for this for the future. . .   Thank you!"

Niiiiice.
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TTFN (tah tah for now)