Update: the 2016 summer program needs your help! If you’re able to help with grant writing, summer planning, or the camp itself, please contact Ruben Garang.
Emmanuel Mission is pleased to be offering their summer learning program again this year,
held at Mulvey School in Winnipeg. The program, which runs for seven weeks over the summer and has over 80 children registered, began two years ago as a way to bridge the language and culture gap between South Sudanese Dinka children and their parents. Now, it has blossomed into an enrichment program for both Dinka and other area children.
The day camp is run by volunteers from Emmanuel Mission and supported by five youth hired by the Winnipeg Green Team, as well as a $5000 grant from the Diocese of Rupert’s Land. Each day is filled with both play and learning for the children, many of whom do not have a parent at home who is able to assist them with all they are learning during the school year. Tutoring, math and language supplements, teamwork, sports, singing, and field trips fill each week.
Meals are also provided for the children, many of whom come from low income families who struggle to provide nutritious meals. While funding for the camp is always a challenge, it is important to the organizers that only the healthiest options are provided for the children. The church also dreams of one day having a 15-seater van to be able to pick up children whose parents can’t get them to camp. May other day programs have such a service, explains Abraham Thon Duot, a camp coordinator and member of Emmanual Mission’s vestry. For working parents and those without vehicles, dropping the kids off on time can be difficult. Unlike some camps of its kind, the Summer Learning Program draws both children and volunteers from all corners of the city.
Congratulations, Emmanuel Mission, on this incredible accomplishment and work of service for our neighbours and these little ones.
